Annabelle’s Bastion

Gromak was out of his mind if he expected Aria to be capable of falling asleep.

Unless she took to knocking herself out, that just wasn’t possible.

Instead, she was stuck anxiously waiting for whatever Gromak decided was the plan. She had little choice but to trust him.

From the way he ordered her to leave, it seemed someone was already coming to the dorm for her. They were probably here by now.

Within her… anger, wrath, and shame.

She was never one for plotting, not when she was so much stronger than her peers. Being subjected to subtle maneuvering for most of her life made her despise such acts. If she had an issue with someone on her level, she’d use her physical prowess.

Even if she wanted to come up with a snake-like plan, she just didn’t have it in her.

But yet again, she had fallen into someone else’s.

She shouldn’t have taken that phone back to her dorm. Even unaware of what such a device was capable of, a compromised tool should not have been in her possession. It was an amateur mistake. A mistake that could spell the end of the possibility to enter Sorana.

Above that shame, she felt an overwhelming anger.

Ashton Wells.

She didn’t think much of him, being someone only capable of action due to those backing him. But the abhorrent man first took Annabelle away from her… and now was stopping her from getting Annabelle back.

That man had to die.

She had never felt so strongly about something like that in her life.

He should be at the bottom of the ocean before Annabelle returns.

The only thing keeping her from just going to Ashton immediately was Gromak’s seeming lack of concern over it. He knew before she even arrived, yet still seemed calm. She would trust him.

“Aria…” Gromak’s grim voice came from the speaker nestled in the corner of her room. “Wake up and get down here; I need to speak with you.”

There it was.

Was it acting?

She could tell, and Gromak was more than capable of it.

Everything came down to how she behaved here and how well Gromak could handle the situation.

Her chest couldn’t get any tighter.

She waited a few moments.

“ARIA!” Gromak’s booming shout came from the speaker. “Wake your ass up!”

Finally, she got up.

Was that good?

She didn’t know, but she assumed it would be better to pretend she was somewhat asleep.

Before leaving the dorm, she made her hair slightly messy and wrinkled her clothes as best she could. She didn’t grab her katana, either.

That should be good.

Aria slowly left her room, leaving the door unlocked behind her.

“This better be worth my time, human.”

“I assure you, Mr. Gromak, our reports are valid.”

“Valid. If it were valid, you wouldn’t be the one here today.”

“Sir… murder of a fellow student isn’t something we can treat lightly. We are being courteous by just sending—”

Gromak scoffed. “There are more of you outside, jackass. You think your paltry strength can fool my senses? Please—you’re a hundred years too early.”

“I— We’ll be gone after a few preliminary questions, sir.”

“You better— Ah, there you are, girlie!” Gromak shouted as Aria descended the final flight of stairs.

The man he was talking to wasn’t one she recognized, but he was presumably an academy investigator. It wasn’t the one who interrogated her after Jack’s death. Rather, he seemed to be of greater importance. He had clean black hair and eyes covered by dark sunglasses. His outfit was typical for the investigators: a longer black coat covering a dark business suit.

That outfit was just a crude imitation of the true Bastion investigators—the ones in the academy were considered their rejects who still craved that position.

Gromak knew that, which was why his tone couldn’t be more dismissive and disrespectful.

Unfortunately, Aria didn’t have that option.

“What’s the problem?” she asked.

She felt like every word she used was under scrutiny. Not by the investigator but by herself. Did she say it wrong? Was her tone bad? Would she normally say that line? She had never thought of such things before… it was incredibly uncomfortable to be in her own head.

“This stupid-lookin’ human has a few questions for you.”

“Student Aria,” the man said, his deep voice trying to mask his annoyance at Gromak’s words. “I take it you can guess why I am here?”

“No.”

He probably squinted, but she could only tell by his eyebrows going down. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t have theatrics here, human,” Gromak warned. “Get to the point or get out of my dorm.”

“Fine,” the investigator said, barely hiding his anger. “Student Aria, do you know a man named Gregory Martin?”

“Yes,” Aria immediately replied. “He tried to kill me near the start of the academy. That was when your people tried to make me the villain.”

“When was the last time you had communication with him?”

“Never.”

“You’re lying, Stu—”

“Boy,” Gromak interrupted. His tone implied he realized what the investigator was getting at. He started darkly at him. “What’d I say about makin’ claims you can’t back up?”

“We have received reports that student Aria is responsible for the murder of not one,” he turned toward Gromak, meeting his gaze, “Not two, but three fellow students.”

“Absurd,” Aria said.

“What reports?”

“With all due respect, Mr. Gromak. This isn’t a matter worth your concern.”

“Ah. On the contrary, boy. She is a protected student of my dorm, a student I intend to make full use of in the coming competitions. You will not take her so easily. Now, explain.”

Gromak seemed like he was about to attack him, but that was likely just an act… most likely.

“Are you sure you want to do this, sir?”

“Do what? Say it plainly.”

“Protect her.”

“From what?”

The investigator didn’t reply.

Of course, he couldn’t. The investigators were partly just tools used by those who were against her; they were not fair in their duties. They could do what they wanted to her, but not to Gromak.

Still, it was annoying… and Aria couldn’t resist saying something now that she had the ability to freely.

“You are aware I have been targeted by my so-called peers. I assume these reports are also from them.” Aria said. She approached the desk, standing directly before the investigator. Status aside, she was just as tall as he was. “You’re here on blatantly untrue words.”

“Yet, all three are dead—this is fact. And as you said, student Aria - they targeted you. You have a motive.”

“Motive, yes. I wonder if you’ve found their motive for targeting me and Annabelle Frost that day yet.” Before he could speak, Aria continued, “Regardless, I have not left this dorm beyond my normal activities, and I will not be subjected to your nonsense.”

“Nonsense? You’ve grown arrogant—” He stopped once he felt the pressure from Gromak, one even Aria felt. He cleared his throat. “And… can you verify your claims? You have not been attending your classes.”

Seeing them have to do their investigations properly was satisfying. All Alisha needed was an excuse to get rid of all of them in one swoop. The excuse was originally going to be their handling of her ambush, but they claimed it was just a matter of student drama related to Annabelle’s defeat of Jared.

With their benefactor behind well-hidden, it couldn’t go anywhere else.

That ambush case was their first one, too. It wasn’t enough to truly show how biased they were toward Aria.

But now… now they had to prove it—to truly show their capability. Gromak’s position wasn’t something anybody in the academy could mess with. Not even Alisha could mistreat him so easily.

“I can verify it, boy. Not only does Aria help train her dormmates in melee combat, but she has been helpin’ me with somethin’ in my crafts.”

“Sir…” he trailed off.

“Yup. Been makin’ a beautiful mithril ring, you see. Don’t got my normal assistants around.”

“Sir, you…” the investigator was clearly at a loss for words. He had better be careful with his words.

There it was, the power of Gromak vouching for her. While the Dwarves’ positions were precarious, their contributions to Bastion went beyond adding more power to their mages. Their past connection may seem suspicious, but he had never done something like that before.

To most, it was just him saying facts—Aria was with him. They would have to find her doing something during the day, where Gromak couldn’t provide an alibi.

Gromak wasn’t just a dorm master in the academy, and he wasn’t someone a fake investigator could provoke unwarranted.

“What?” Gromak scoffed. “You about to accuse me of somethin’, boy?” He scoffed again and turned toward Aria. “Girlie, tell me honestly; did you kill them?”

“No.”

“I’d be shocked if you somehow managed to do that without me knowin’,” Gromak said. He turned back to the investigator, who appeared to be unsure of how to continue. “Boy, if you come back to me with real evidence, I will not stop you. If you can prove to me that my trust is misplaced?” He darkly chuckled, shaking his head. “I’d kill her myself for darin’ to use me. But I will not be the one to stain the reputation of my people to kill a mere student over a rumor.”

The room went silent after that.

Aria didn’t take her eyes off the so-called investigator, meeting his gaze so cowardly hidden behind sunglasses.

Why did this man hate her so much? Was it just a general order calling for her death, or was it in some way personal? Without Gromak, he really would have been fine just charging her.

She hadn’t been reminded until then how ridiculous her treatment was.

One day, he would die too—so would all those who let what happened to Annabelle happen.

She just needed more power.

Finally, he heavily nodded. “Sir, allow me to investigate her room. If I don’t find anything, I will formally apologize to you… and her. “

Absolutely not.

“Not poss—”

“Girlie,” Gromak said, interrupting Aria. “If you are innocent, then this is permissible. At the very least, I gotta let him do his job to a fair level.”

“But…”

“No buts, girlie… unless you’re hidin’ somethin’ from me?” He said, squinting at her.

“No… fine.”

Gromak probably had her notebook, too.

It wasn’t her, of course. That didn’t phase her beyond the basic annoyance and frustration at the audacity of those people.

But this man was going to rummage through everything.

The thought of someone digging through Annabelle’s stuff made her blood boil. She hadn’t touched any of it since she left the academy six months ago. Not even her bed had been touched.

Yet…

“Thank you, sir.” The investigator smirked at her. “Please, student Aria.” He gestured upward.

“Naturally, I’ll be joinin’ you,” Gromak said. “Come.”

Gromak walked around the front desk and went forward, clearly assuming they would follow.

Aria stayed closer to Gromak to avoid the temptation flooding into her body.

She wanted to turn and stick her sword as far into this man as she could.

But she resisted, instead tightly clenching her fists and feeling her nails dig into her palm.

However, that was probably misinterpreted by the man behind her, who likely assumed she did have something there he could find.

“Here we are!” Gromak pat the door to Aria’s room. He grabbed the knob, but before opening it, he turned back to the investigator. “I’m sure you understand the consequences of an unjustified invasion of a student’s privacy, boy.”

“I would say three murders is enough justification to enter any of these rooms, sir.”

“Wanna bet?” Gromak said, smirking at him.                      

Aria wasn’t sure about the specific rules, but if the walls and material were built for noise isolation, they likely took the student’s privacy very seriously. It was an odd thing to pay extra attention to when they were fine with students dying.

“Please, sir.”

Gromak chuckled once more. “I’m sure you’ll be able to explain this to the headmaster - the first case of a student's property bein' searched.”

With those words, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.