His voice, low and serious, "We need to talk."
Dusty, not realizing how hungry he actually was, had already finished his meal.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin, looked up at Alistair, and replied, "Alright, sit down then."
Alistair smacked his forehead, still maintaining his low tone, "No... I mean, we need to talk as a class. Follow me."
As Dusty got up from his chair, the servers swiftly cleared his dishes.
He trailed behind Alistair as he led them to the dormitories.
As Alistair opened up the door to his room, Dusty's first thought was "Unfair."
Alistair had a palace in comparison!! He had a whole ass living room, multiple couches, carpeted floors, and he had a bed that looked even better than the one Dusty had!
The rest of his classmates were gathered. Some were chatting nervously, while others, like Abigail, remained silent. As Dusty entered, Alistair closed the door behind them, the room fell quiet.
"Alright, everyone," He began, his voice now much louder and commanding than before. "Now that we're all here,"
Every eye turned towards him.
"We need to talk," he continued, "I'm sure we all heard the angel before we left. There is a demon among us. Does anyone have any leads?"
For a few moments, there was pure silence. Then, the room erupted. People pointed fingers, accusations went back and forth, voices rising; complete chaos.
Suddenly, Connor's voice boomed, "SHUT UP YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF!"
The sudden outburst stopped the chaos.
Alistair took the chance to regain his control, "Alright, let's try this again. Who has actual, legitimate evidence that there is a demon among us?"
No hands rose.
Alistair sighed, and as he was about to talk, a voice spoke out.
"How about we approach this systematically? I mean. We could start by reviewing the events leading up to our summoning," his voice trailed off.
Alistair continued, "That's a great idea! Each of you, in turn, will recount the experiences from the moment of our summons until our arrival. Be thorough, leave nothing out, no matter how small it may seem."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the faces of his classmates. "We should be looking for a pattern or something that sets one of us apart. The traitor is most likely going for the long game and trying to take us out one by one."
Another person raised their hand, "Well... didn't the angel say they were a demon? She never said they were a traitor. The instructor also talked about how demons are creatures who attack on sight. Since we haven't been attacked yet, that could also mean they're a high-level demon who could have already obliterated us..."
Alistair thought for a moment, running his hand through his hair, he replied, "Yeah, that's a fair point. Let's still assume this demon is a traitor, though. Now start recalling your event, and we can go in the order we announced our abilities."
They each began recounting their events. Dusty listened intently, his mind racing, trying to find a story. Mark described a blinding flash of light and falling in space. Abigail said she had a dream about the ocean, but didn't say much more. Connor stated he had seen explosions and landmines.
As the accounts continued, a pattern began to show itself. Each hero had experienced something unusual, yet different each time. Dusty hadn't experienced any such event on the way. His clock was ticking, it was nearly his turn, and he didn't have a story.
Alistair recalled his own experience, describing a yellow-flashing sword that had called his name.
That's when it hit Dusty.
Each hero's experience was tied directly to their own ability! All he had to do was talk some mumbo jumbo about fire, and he'd be in the clear!
As it got to his turn, he confidently stated, "I was falling into a volcano and right before I hit the lava, I was teleported here."
Alistair's eyes narrowed, a little bit of suspicion, "That's all? You didn't experience anything else?"
Dusty forced a shrug. "Nope. Just the standard 'whoosh' and then boom, I was falling into a volcano. It was pretty scary at first. I thought I was going to die." He tried to sound casual as if it had actually happened.
Connor, already having a bias against him, seemed unconvinced. It was like he had already marked him as the demon!
Alistair, however, seemed to accept the story, for now, "Alright, let's move on. We've all shared our experiences. Now, did anyone notice any specific patterns?"
Mark raised his hand and spoke in a barely audible voice, "Each of the recounts was connected to our abilities. For example, I got the ability to manipulate gravity. Alistair, you received the ability of the Holy Sword, and your recollection fits that. That also clears Dusty since he received fire manipulation." his voice stopped for a second, and then he continued, "That means... Either one of us became a demon after we were in The Above, or one of us caught on to this pattern and faked their story."
As he finished, all the eyes turned to Dusty.
Alistair quickly said, "Well, I believe Dusty. I've known him for quite a while, and he's not the type of person to lie."
Well, the previous Dusty might not have, but this one definitely would!
The suspicion seemed to fade from everyone except Connor's face. After all, Alistair had a significant influence on the class.
Alistair continued, "Alright, that's enough for today. It's starting to get late, and I don't think the demon has any intention to harm us... yet. If anything happens, report to me immediately."
He opened the door to his room, and the others dispersed to their rooms.
Dusty had barely managed to scrape by. When he got into his room, he began to create a more detailed alibi in case of further questioning.
While he created his story, he practiced his Reality Manipulation on the desk a few more times until his mana reserves were depleted. Satisfied with his findings and feeling tired, he finally went to bed.
[Middle of the night]
I really had to pee. You know that feeling when you gotta go like really bad? Yeah, it was like that. I was practically running to the bathroom when I heard a door open behind me. I didn't think much of it; I had other, more important things to do.
I finally made it to the bathroom and took care of my "business". I had training in the morning and needed to rest, so I headed back to my room when I heard creaking behind me. There was definitely someone behind me. I quickly turned around.
Nothing. It was just the hallway. Probably my imagination. I kept walking down what seemed like a never-ending hallway.
Wait a minute... Why isn't this hallway ending?
The doors stretched on forever.
Stab
IT HURT! Like really, really bad. Getting stabbed in the heart isn't fun. It felt like there was a burning hole in my chest. Wait, heart? I got stabbed in the heart? Oh fuc-
I turned my head around, my last few breaths being ragged and weak.
"so it was you two huh?" I coughed up a little bit of blood.
I closed my eyes, laughed for a second, and then I died.