IN VERSION

"Orion Academy is the only academic institute developed solely for Ability Users. It is segregated from all nations and is an independent institution. It consists of the primary, secondary and tertiary learning required for education."

YEAR: 2161

LOCATION: Adele, Lagos State

The next few days passed by without any activity. Tenny spent most of his time watching Subjugations as well as reading. Darey spent a lot of his time just sleeping in his room. The strain in the previous battle was taking a toll on him, and he needed lots of rest since is body could not handle that level of stress. Kyron was staying in the Visitor's room, but spent most of his time in the study, using the computer and Virtual screens, assimilating as much information as possible.

Somehow Darey and Tenny's parents had allowed him into their home, since he was an orphan and was involved in the recent events, he was put in the custody of the officer in charge, Frank, and his wife, Lara, pending the time he would attend Orion academy. Due to the confidentiality and sensitivity of the matter, documents on adoption were made, and the couple ad to accept it without question, since it came from The Major General, Lanre. All according to Darey's instructions.

After Darey had talked about training, Tenny thought they would commence almost immediately. He was very excited to explore his abilities, but he was disappointed.

"The recent events have put a strain on my body. I'll need to rest for an indefinite amount of time." Darey had said, which burst the bubbles Tenny had already started imagining.

Darey only gave Kyron instructions on what to do, and how to go about his study. He then told Tenny to instruct Kyron on how to operate devices and handle normal things that would seem foreign to him. "That includes clothes as well" Darey pointed out.

This was because he had noticed Kyron was uncomfortable with clothing, but they were essential. He had used an ability of his to duplicate and alter Tenny's outfit so that Kyron could wear it, since he was naked back in Valeria. He also had to duplicate an attire for himself, since his was badly damaged during his fight with Kyron. This was to reduce the suspicions the SAD agents would have.

Mr and Mr Carew went shopping for Kyron, and also gave him special attention, since he was a peculiarity. Lara Carew was happy about a new addition to the family, same as Frank, who he had some lingering suspicions but decided to ignore them.

Kyron was in the Study as per his master's instruction, and was reading up on history. He had learnt the rudiments of the English Language, and while mathematics proved a bit challenging for him, he was coping fairly well, at least better than most earthlings. He, however, found history to be fascinating, and spent most of his time reading on it. He was usually alone in the Study, but would occasionally be interrupted by Tenny, for meals, and his newly adopted parents, for sleep and rest.

"Interesting..." Was all Kyron would say as he delved into the world of information.

A week passed, and Darey was still not responsive. He only showed up for breakfast in front of his mom, since his dad was usually not home, and after his mom left, he'd leave for his room and resume his sleep.

"Is he slacking off in there?" Tenny would often wonder aloud.

After breakfast, Lara would leave for work, Tenny to his room, Kyron to the study, Darey to his room. The only progress made toward achieving their goal was Kyron's successful integration into the Nigerian society, and all of them being registered as Ability Users. Orion Academy applications were to be handled by their parents so it was out of their hands.

Kyron was initially unbothered about any of this, as he was convinced that everything was under the control of Darey, however, after five days he started getting a bit worried. He was shown his new identity, but he was unfazed about that.

His name was Kyron Carew, with his last name being Khalid. Registered to be an orphan whose parents died in an actual homicide, with him being among the survivors when he was 9. He was taken to various foster homes, until finally being adopted by the Carews. His Ability registered was TRUE SIGHT, explained to be enhanced visual prowess, making him seem harmless in nature. His National Identification Number, BVN, International passport, certificates, and all his essentials were sorted out. He would be in the 2nd year of his Senior Secondary Education, same with Darey and Tenny. Everything was in place.

Darey was asleep in his room, as he had been for a week, only waking up for breakfast and dinner. It would seem as though he was dead, if not for the constant rising and falling of his chest which indicated breathing.

Tenny had grown bored of watching Subjugations, and in impatience rushed to Darey's room to confront him. Darey had told them that no one was to enter his room, but he could not take it anymore. Kyron was also growing in anxiety and so decided to check up on Darey in order to ensure his safety and remove his worries. Both Kyron and Tenny bumped into each other by Darey's door.

"Oh, so you too uhn?" Tenny was the first to speak up.

"Me too? Does that mean you are also..." Kyron said in surprise, as he motioned to complete his sentence.

"Bored to death" Tenny said at the same time Kyron said "Worried about Darey."

They both paused, looked at each other and realized their confusion. They both came for different reasons, but the important matter was that they were here, or so it should have been.

"What? You mean after a week of doing nothing but reading all you can think of his Darey's safety?" Tenny said in utter disbelief.

"It's more surprising that the brother of Master would care more about his own boredom than Master's wellbeing." Kyron countered as he was honestly shocked at Tenny's reaction.

"Ehn? What did you say?" Tenny said as his voice grew louder.

Kyron, realizing he might have offended the only brother of his sworn master stopped himself from raising his voice even louder.

"I apologize for speaking out of bounds. I have no excuse. The wellbeing of Master is my top priority." Kyron said defeatedly.

"Bro, you just had to make this weird" Tenny said as a ball of sweat dropped and he looked with embarrassment. "It's not that I don't care about Darey's safety. After all he's my brother" Tenny said.

"Then why?" Kyron asked puzzled.

"It's exactly for the reason that he's my bro that I know. Darey is alright. As long as it's him, he'll be fine." Tenny said. "Besides, I don't think he'd want us to be worrying about him"

Kyron marveled at what Tenny said. As it turned out, it was he who was at fault. He did not trust enough in his master's strength, which led to his unneeded anxiety, or so he thought.

"Exactly right!" Darey said calmly

Kyron and Tenny froze at the sudden voice of Darey. They turned their faces slightly, away from themselves and toward the door leading to Darey's room. It was open, and there Darey stood, in front of the door's entrance. They never noticed it until he actually spoke, not even Kyron.

"H-How...?" Was all Kyron could say.

"It's simple. With this I know you've not used your abilities even once for the past week. If you have, you would have sensed me." Darey said, smiling softly.

"When did you wake up?" Tenny said, his eyes widening with surprise.

"With all the noise brought about by your arguments, It'll be even more surprising if i was still asleep." Darey teased. "How long was I gone for?" Darey asked expectantly.

"You mean today?" Tenny asked.

"I mean since our last talk." Darey said.

"Oh, you don't know? A whole week!!!" Tenny stated energetically, as though expecting an apology.

"I see... That was longer than expected, but it's still fine." Darey thought aloud.

"Then why didn't you wake earlier?" Tenny said. "And why did you not talk to us immediately mom left, or at least check up on us once in a while?" Tenny said, getting emotional.

"That's because that wasn't me." Darey stated flatly.

Tenny's expression changed a bit "What do you mean by that?"

Darey moved inside his room as he said "It's rude to keep you outside, come in."

Tenny looked at Kyron who was still a bit shaken up, and Kyron looked at Tenny too. Sensing mutual agreement, they both decided to enter. Darey sat on the chair by his study, while Kyron and Tenny sat on his bed, with Darey's affirmation of course.

"For your question Tenny, I told you my body needed a great deal of rest, right?" Darey said, with Tenny nodding his head. "Well, if possible, I would have liked to remain shut in until complete recovery, but since mom would end up worrying and reacting, and you guys might overreact, I decided to use an alternative instead." Darey said.

"A-Alternative...?" Kyron said, confused, while Tenny flushed with embarrassment on what Darey had said.

"Yes, it's one of my ability 'SENTRY PERFORMANCE' which allows me to program my body to only do particular things at intervals in order to allow my brain rest during that period." Darey stated.

"What? Is that even possible?" Tenny asked, astonished.

"It is" Darey answered. "And since my body only does specified things like waking up, freshening up, having breakfast, sleeping, waking, having dinner, sleeping, then rinse and repeat, it allows me to save energy doing other miscellaneous things. That's why I never talked to you, because it was not programmed. I needed to conserve enough energy in order to recover early. I hope you understand." Darey said.

"When you put it like that, you know we can't object." Tenny said, pouting.

"I am just glad you are fine Mas-Darey" Kyron said as he met Darey's face. "So have you made a complete recovery?" Kyron quickly added.

"As far as recovery goes yes, but I still have a long way to go in properly syncing my abilities with my body." Darey said while moving his right hand with his eyes fixed intently on it. "It would have happened sooner if I had just slept without interruption, but there's no use complaining now." Darey stated.

"So, what now?" Tenny asked, hoping it would be what he was hoping.

"Oh, we train" Darey said, almost naturally, and then looked at Kyron to ask "How have your studies been going? Good, I hope."

Darey smiled, proud of Kyron "That's good, you've exceeded my expectations.

Kyron's heart trembled as his eyes widened at the sudden praise given to him by Darey as he turned away and said "I am not deserving of such praise" which made Darey half regret saying anything in the first place.

"Well, for now, fill me in on the important matters that have happened, then after that we'll start our training." Darey said.

"About that, how do you expect us to train our abilities? We obviously can't do it in the house, and our parents have eyes on us so we can't just go about doing whatever we like." Tenny asked in curiosity.

"We use you." Darey said.

"What? Me?" Tenny questioned, raising his voice a bit.

"Yes, you. You opened the Gate to Valeria, and so you should have synced with it's frequency. Valeria is the perfect spot for training. You should be able to open a new one at any given location if you have the skill." Darey said.

"But I don't even know... Oh wait, don't tell me... You're going to use that forceful ability activation?" Tenny said in dread.

"Bingo! And we'll keep using it to open the Gate to Valeria and back everyday, until you get a hang of it. It's part of your training. Simple enough right? Darey said smiling.

"Eh... Y-Yes I get it..." Tenny smiled nervously, clearly recollecting the hurt he felt when it was used on him the first time.

"Well, that's enough idle chatter! Let's go!" Darey said as he stood up and started stretching his body and doing light exercises in preparation.

"Wait... Now?" Tenny asked in shock as he looked at Kyron, expecting him to back him up.

Kyron turned, looking at Tenny's desperate face and nodded in seriousness, making Tenny relieved that Kyron got the message.

"We are ready when you are Darey" Kyron said in earnest.

"What the FU$%" Was Tenny's exact thought, but it was too late to back out now, since he was even the one who was the most fired up for the training.

"Y-Yeah... Whenever you're..." Tenny was still speaking nervously when Darey suddenly touched him, forcefully activating his ability, and sending Tenny into indescribable pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH"

TO BE CONTINUED....