Qayid was laid out right in front of them, still breathing as he lay there on his back, with his sickle in hand. Midas stopped to look down at him as he whinced slightly in pain of having fallen off the scaffolding, which lay in shambles around them - a mess of wooden splinters now. Whether he should simply look forward or end him for good weighed heavily on him; as their time ran shorter with every passing moment, he weighed out his options.
Was he even allowed to influence this? After all, this had nothing to do with him, his only goal here being, after all, to find out whose body this was and, more importantly, what these memories he had meant. A riot most likely made it harder to cross the border of the kingdom, yet the fact it had even come this far would most likely be enough of a threat to the knighthood that stricter border checks would become a logical solution to them.
The fact that he'd soon have to move north, then somehow get back to the west coast in order to get to the island of Thunder, somehow, made that fact even more bitter to realize. Sighing at the fact that the revolt destined to go wrong will make his life inevitably harder, Midas eventually looked up at Foulard, who was squinting at one of the many windows of the building. One of them suddenly shattered as a high-pressure bolt of water came flying out of it - the sound of someone cursing in a Southern tongue followed shortly from inside the building.
"Foulard, we need to get going - this had to have been Fils."
Seeing him nod back at him, Midas waited for him to come closer as his hand made contact with the ground under their feet - making a pillar of stone rise up beneath them and allowing them to reach the already broken glass. Using the dull side of his sickle, Midas created a bigger opening for them to climb through as they widened their eyes at the sight in front of them. The hall in front of them was riddled with bleeding bodies of multiple foreign students, one of them panting heavily as they clutched their hip with a distressed frown.
The clashing of swords became clear from here now, a sign of Fils being just around the corner. Judging by the number of beaten students, he and the knights that surrounded him had been cornered for quite a while now - the sounds of their fight had already been noticeable before they ran into Qayid. Amongst the students, a fallen knight lay between the masses, showing that the sheer number of people that had gathered for this cause was large enough to even overpower some of the personal guards employed to shield one of the most important nobles of the kingdom.
"What do we do if he's hostile towards me...?"
"Don't worry, I'll convince him that you have nothing to do with this...!"
The thumbs up that Foulard gave him didn't give Midas much reassurance; the only real point he could reach him at was Skye - which he doubted was enough to convince him to leave the building behind. Judging by how long he managed to keep going despite being so gravely outnumbered, there was also a chance he stayed here out of pride in being the heir to the current head commander.
Peeking out from behind a corner, the sight didn't become any more pleasant; now only having two remaining guards to defend his back, Fils was facing off a group of southerners by his own - a frustrated frown on him as a ring of water floated around his waist, his hand firmly holding onto his blade in which handle sat the blue-shimmering water stone.
"They must've overwhelmed most of the guards positioned on the higher floors and around the campus at nearly the exact time... I don't think they'd only employ three of them to guard someone like him."
"You're right... I didn't see Fils around the halls much often, but there were at least always five of them positioned to guard him."
Facing off a group of five southerners armed with swords and shorter blades, Fils took advantage of them, hesitating - swiftly redirecting the swinging blade of one of them with the blade of his own weapon and summoning a slash of water out of the ring that floated around him, the blow to their shoulder made their arm go limp - forcing their enemy to drop his sword and directly following it up with a slash right across their chest.
Agitated by the attack, two more began to charge from both sides right onto him, flicking the wrist of the hand that held onto his sword. Fils managed to summon two slashes of water going out to both of them. Hitting one's stomach, he collapsed and kneeled the other, barely able to slice through it - making the slash of water burst apart and forcing them to flinch at the bursting liquid. Watching his enemy lose track of him, Fils used his weapon to cut deeply into their forearms - kicking them down onto the ground.
Having lost track, one of the students managed to get behind him, their short dagger rammed into his calf - making him groan through fletched teeth as he used the body of water to accumulate around their head, the blue shine of the stone brightening while the students' limbs began to frantically move - unable to get their head out of the body of water. Pinning one there, the last one began to dash towards him - glaring at him over his shoulder, Fils kept his control over the bubble of water.
Able to make them levitate as he used the mana-stone to control the body of water - Fils let the struggling student crash into the other, having them pinned on the ground; he pointed his blade down at them as the ring split apart into a barrage of water, which he hauled down at them - stunning even the last of them for good. Hearing one of the knights call out to the other as they got surrounded and couldn't keep up, the two of them were forced to watch as their comrade was stabbed right under their chin, choking out on their own blood and collapsing.
His stance was less stable after the injury he suffered. Fils grimaced at the sight of another group of students coming down from the staircase that led down from the higher floors, some of them having a book under their arm - most likely having made use of the library. Hearing them drop their goods and pull their weapons, Fils rose his sword up at them, seemingly not paying attention that with each moment the ring of water became thinner - his back now only covered by one knight.
"What do we do...? How do we get him out of here?"
There were eight of them left, none of them seemingly possessing any mana-stone - five facing off Fils, three of them the other knight, none of them having picked up on either Midas or Foulard, having made use of the flights of stairs to reach the place.
"Foulard, I will create an opening for you to block off the set of stairs - if you block it off successfully, it will buy us enough time to take care of them and get Fils out of here... hopefully."
"You sure you want to do the talking with him...?"
"I have to at least try; besides, if I were the one blocking it off, we would become vulnerable to someone with a sunshard, since they would just bend the rock that I use away..."
Their starting gun was the arrow of water that pierced right through the blade of one of the charging students - the remaining four too occupied to find a way to get closer to Fils without being targeted by the mass of water surrounding him - to notice Foulard skipping across the hallway, using the open arch between the stairway and hallway as a frame for his water bending - establishing a thick film of water that would drastically slow down anyone trying to enter.
Acting at the same time as Foulard, Midas crept up on one of the four students who tried to get a hit on Fils, each of them seemingly taking turns on hitting then retreating. Catching him in the midst of retrieving - Midas pulled at their hair, exposing their throat and cutting right through it with his sickle, able to take care of another with a sharp pillar of stone that rammed into their stomach. With two left, Fils quickly decided on what was more important, taking out the third, who simply watched another southerner fight against them in sheer confusion.
"Sir...!"
Hearing one of the knights call out to Fils, he turned, glaring at Midas for a long time before reluctantly turning back to the knight he had to rescue from being overwhelmed by the two students that got him pinned on the floor. Not being attacked on sight was enough for Midas not to bother with worrying further about the commander's son for a moment - taking care of the last student as they sloppily swung their sword at him, ducking behind the strike and charging up his fist to deliver a blow to their face - knocking them out.
The ring around Fils' waist slowly began to expand and thin out until he was surrounded by an orb of water - detonating it shortly after crossing the distance to stand right between the last two enemies, slashes of water connected with the bodies of the students, making them groan at the slashes cutting into their flesh and collapsing under the force. Wasting no time, Fils immediately went down to the knight, holding onto him as he inspected him - helping him on his feet and slowly turning back to Midas and Foulard, both him and the knight still having their sword in hand.
"You being here most likely means that you left Skye on her own... Worrying about me isn't worth discarding her, and if she gets into trouble because of your incompetence, that would mean I have wasted my time."
"I don't think you have to worry about her this much... despite being alone, she still insisted on me making sure you'd get out of here safely - she was thankful for the effort you've shown her."
Their tones were flat; Midas only managed to bring over the words with heavy reluctance, both of them sternly staring each other down across the hallway - however, getting him out of the academy campus alive was much more important than his own grudges he held towards him. Fils too didn't hold much of Midas, having lost every person he spent time training, equipping, and convincing against him - now Skye included; however, the fact he was here and saved him from this attack was something he couldn't look over.
"If your words are true... then this means that it was her who insisted I be escorted out...?"
"Yes, if it wasn't for Midas... she would've done it herself."
Seeing Foulard now also step in for Midas, Fils stopped for a moment; the hallway was left in quiet carnage as the sound of blood still lingered in the air. Turning to one of the windows through which the muted color of the setting sun shone through, he eventually turned back to Midas, taking a step - almost collapsing as his eyes widened while registering the sharp pain of having been cut deep, the knight who stood beside him now stabilizing him.
"Tell her I'm sorry... but I am the son of the new head commander of the water kingdom knighthood - I simply cannot withdraw from an attack against the heart of our kingdom, and as his son... I am obligated to fight for the people of this kingdom and their safety until the threat is fully taken care of. I'm sure... that after them, those pirates that have attacked the grass kingdom follow... and until my father arrives, I need to hold the position so they can get a foothold inside our city walls..."
"You think you'd help your father if you die right here...? There is no point in proving anything if you can't come back to him alive to prove your worth enough - think about it, if pirates will follow after them, you're done for if you stay here... We're not talking about some unexperienced students anymore; these people kill every day, and you're the perfect target..."
"Sir, this person is right... there are reinforcements already at the gate - we just have to get you out of here. I'm sure your father won't hold you back now against you, especially since you have already shown your bravery by making sure at least one of your men could escape alive with you."
Looking at Midas with a burning sense of determination, he simply stared at him for a quiet moment - each of them returning their opposite gaze before Fils reluctantly sighed, shifting his weight on his other foot, allowing the knight to stabilize him as he put one of his arms around their neck. Foulard stepped out towards the window, the gate still crowded, but the mass of people had mostly been filtered out already - eventually turning back to them and giving them a nod.
The hallways were quiet now, the only sound that echoed through the place being the sound of debris crunching under their soles as they made their way outside. Somehow, someway, Midas actually managed to not only escape Qayid but also successfully convince Fils to get out of there for Skyes' sake - quietly watching him as they stayed behind the knight that supported him with walking forward, the question of whether they would really be able to just walk out of here now, unable to suppress as he slowly grasped the handle of his sickle.
"Man... I can't wait to get out of this mess... I'm sure they will close the academy for a few days until they finish up fixing all of the destruction that happened inside that building - meaning... I don't have to attend classes...!"
The cheerful tone of Foulard met no answer; Fils' head was sunk as his stern eyes looked down onto the tiled floor - the fact that out of the five guards that usually surrounded him, now only stood one to carry him back served as a painful reminder of how much he still had to improve when it came to his strategies. Then, Midas came into his mind - that person who successfully managed to pursue each of the three people he hired to take care of while also swooping in and stealing the only person he had to take care of right under his nose, while despite that, still able to come for him and aid him in his need.
"Midas... why did you do this? What is your motivation for all of this..."
"I don't know... I just... saw Skye worry about you, and for some reason I thought it would be better to help you. I think I wanted to free Skye from something - I just don't want her to feel guilty, I believe..."
"I see... I must say, I underestimated you. Tell me, what happened to Raqisa? You probably were also able to pursue her just like the rest of them - am I right...?"
His tone was laced with genuine curiosity now; even Foulard, despite his best efforts to try and hide it, couldn't resist keeping quiet for an expanded moment and looking at Midas. Nearly losing his breath, his expression darkened - the grip on the handle of his sickle tightened as the knight sat Fils against the wall, pushing the doors of the main entrance open. Suddenly hit with the dizzy feeling of nearly dying that night, a lump formed in Midas' throat as he tried his best to explain it, opening his mouth without having any words to speak.
Seeing this reaction from Midas, Fils narrowed his eyes slightly, his chin tilting up in a sly manner as he scanned the pale expression of Midas across the room - wearing an expression of someone who suddenly found out they did win something at the end of the day.
"I see... so you do have moments of struggle."
"What does that mean...? What did you do? You didn't...kill her, right...?"
Clutching his collar with a pleading expression, Foulard wore a heartbroken frown at the blank face of Midas, who still grimaced at the events of his encounter with Raqisa. His eyes sunk onto the ground as he allowed for Foulard to ruttle him, unable to give him a response for an extended amount of time.
"I... I didn't have control over myself in that moment."
"You idiot... I swear she had a thing for me..."
Whining at him, Foulard's palms clasped over his eyes as his head tilted back dramatically, groaning at the loss of the girl whom he had paid so much attention to - his plans of talking to her now falling to dust from one moment to another.
However, just as the two of them were occupied, the sound of someone choking began to come from beyond the opened door, all of them collectively freezing at the sight of the only knight clutching his throat - blood sprouting from beneath the fingers of the hand holding onto it. Stumbling back and falling onto the ground, he tried to reach out for Fils, unable to warn him, as the only sound he produced was a dry whistle of air from his throat - his body was already too weak to close the door.
The sight that followed made Midas almost drop his sickle; there was Jakal, his red-rimmed eyes wide, almost beyond human rage written across his face, an aggrivated sound of pure hatred growling through his fletched teeth as he sprinted towards the injured Fils with tears in his eyes. Clutching the bloody dagger and running the tiny distance right towards him, Midas and Foulard scrambled to reach him before he could reach Fils, who stumbled onto the ground, unable to walk away because of his injury.
"Jakal...! What do you think you're doing...!"
Shouting at him as he tried to reach him in time, Midas was forced to watch Jakal throw himself onto Fils, seeing him successfully grab the wrist of Fils and pin one of his shielding arms onto the floor - the blade already having made contact with his throat before Midas could tackle and punch him in his face. Kneeling right there, defeated, Midas slowly turned his head towards Fils, whose hand clutched on the fabric of his trousers.
"Jakal...!"
Screaming his name, unable to understand why he would've done this, Midas looked back down at Fils, who had already begun to leak blood out of the corners of his mouth - gasping for air as best as he could.
"You... leave... he... father is here..."