The couple reluctantly parted in the morning. Lana returned to her routine. Sil returned to his search. He was tired and frustrated. They were a few months into the school year and each day yielded nothing. He wanted his brothers back. The more time went on, the more it consumed him. He was able to forget temporarily when he was in Lana's arms but the more he was away, the harder things were on him. He was getting more and more on edge. He was afraid to discuss this with her. She had enough to worry about.
Sil tried to ignore the bullying. But he also knew what Vorden and Raten would do if they were here. So far, with Chucky nearby reminding him Quinn wanted him to focus on the task, he was able to resist doing something. For now, Sil was able to continue with his classes but he was becoming depressed doing so.
In beast weapons class, the size of the class was too big for Quinn to effectively teach but Quinn was doing the best he could. One day, Shiro asked Quinn if he could learn the shadow ability. Quinn hesitated. He wanted the ability to be for those loyal to his faction only. He didn't feel Shiro was quite there yet. But it did get him thinking. Could humans learn the shadow ability if there was an ability book?
Quinn had started writing one and shared it with the vampires in his faction that had no ability. But then Quinn started thinking about the abandoned 14th castle in the vampire world. It was the castle the Punishers, led by Arthur, used before they left the settlement. He wondered if there were some secrets in there that may help him determine if humans could learn the ability.
He turned his homeroom class over to Hayley and left to go to the vampire world. Kaz accompanied him. While there, he read all of Arthur's memoirs in which he detailed exploration to understand abilities as Arthur was very curious where they came from. In another part of the castle, Quinn found a locked door. There was a blood crystal throne that he sat in. The throne offered to allow him to become the 14th leader and take ownership of the castle. Quinn accepted.
This gave him a map of the castle. He found the training room and was able to learn three more shadow skills. Back at the cursed ship, Quinn decided to learn more about martial arts before returning to the school.
While Quinn was away, an Earthborn took over his beast weapons class. The problem was the Earthborn hated the Cursed. They hatched a plot to show how weak the Cursed were. The teacher chosen to lead the class berated the students for being weak, unable to activate their weapons and more. Mandy told Fiza that first night who then called Lana. Lana advised Mandy to start teaching people how to activate the weapons. She was only one person but there was no reason not to help out Quinn's students.
Each day, the substitute teacher was more mean, angry and denigrating than the day before. The morale of the class was dropping. Worse, they were told there would be a tournament of the top five students from each house at the end of 2 weeks. Lana was angry when word reached her ears but she was powerless to step in. All she could do was advise her people.
By the end of the first week, only 20 or so had learned how to activate the weapons. The teacher brought in some of his own students to teach the Cursed students. While the teacher was speaking, he was called away and the students bullied the Cursed students. Quinn had returned and was not happy to see Shiro had been bullied in his absence. He was able to teach a few students but realized he didn't have time to teach everyone.
Later that evening, a message went out to all Factions under the Cursed. They received a call from Sam. Quinn needed the best weapon users from the factions to report to him. Lana smiled when Kattie told her.
"Match the pay for those who step up to respond," Lana replied.
Kattie grinned, "how are your apprentices doing?"
Lana responded, "there is a snooty teacher teaching Quinn's class which is way too big to be effective. I'm sure this is to get help for a competition at the end of the next week."
Kattie smiled, "I'll make the announcement."
A little while later, Kattie returned to Lana's side. She wasn't smiling this time. "Lana, I need your help. My parents are reporting people are vanishing. Without Mona Bree, those with the family ability are no longer protected. I fear for my family."
Lana nodded, "can they get to a teleporter?"
Kattie nodded, "I think so.'
Lana nodded, "in that case, inform your family I am offering sanctuary to the members of the Bree Family. Mona would have done the same for me. Make sure they understand the terms of living here before they arrive."
Kattie nodded and ran off to call her parents. By the end of the week, half the shelter was filled up. There were tamed beasts everywhere and new businesses were being created. The school quickly became overwhelmed and more people swore allegiance to the Plantwell family. Lana was able to assign teachers specifically to the Blade kids who simply lived in their area. This enabled the kids to learn and not have to be brought up into the shelter. They were now more safeguarded. Lana could breathe easier knowing her in-laws were now safer.
Sword training was now on hold as the teacher was no longer there. However, there were now experts in the shelter with different skills. Additional weapons training was now being offered. The training room now had a schedule that had no room for overtime. Lana smiled as she saw the training of her people was increasing, their skills expanding. There was also exposure to new abilities as some members of the Bree family had spouses with other abilities. She decided to ask if any of them had what her husband needed. The answer was no, sadly.
Lana received an invitation from Oscar toward the end of the week. She was attend the contest. She grinned broadly. She was excited to see Quinn's class teach the Earthborn a lesson.
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