Protector, Protector (BL)

Chapter 3

“Come on, come on!” Ajax hissed as he came running up behind Azame and slapped him on the shoulder. “We’re going to be late!” 

This morning, Ajax had tied his long black hair up tight with a bright blue hair tie. A few strands had still fallen out and dangled beside his face. His coppery colored skin seemed radiant yet his eyes held the ever present dark circles. He was a spitting image of his latino father, an immigrant who’d moved to America to pave the path for his family down in Argentina. His father had been a genius, math and science held no bounds for the man. 

He flashed Azame a gummy smile before saluting lazily towards him. Azame smiled back, glancing over his crumpled uniform. He’d straightened it a hundred times, but eventually, it went back to its normal state. His black slacks were wrinkled beyond repair and the jacket over his white shirt had a few cheese cracker stains. His striped black and red tie was still hanging loosely around his neck. He seemed to be a normal, everyday boy at Broad River Academy of Excellence. BRAE. It was a private school ranging from sixth grade up to twelfth and the pair had been there since they could remember. It was nestled deep into the trees of the Appalachian mountains, hidden from society. The closest place to the school was the all girl’s school that lay less than a mile due North. 

Ajax fit in, like he was supposed to. Like he was trained to. The only thing that deviated from the typical dress and the typical attitude was his heightened senses and the small pouch that lay beneath the school jacket, nestled close to his back. It was his most powerful weapon, a dagger fused with his blood and Azame’s, sealed on the shaft made from Azame’s own bones. A weapon no human could touch and if it were to ever touch Azame’s skin, it would burn down to the bone. It’s power was so strong that normal humans couldn’t see it. Their eyes would be compelled to look at it, the dagger infused with the ancient magic. The same magic that no longer existed in the world save for the rare exceptions. Ajax’s species. They were the only ones still able to tap into that endless energy and bend it to their will. It gave them super strength, stamina that exceeded far past any known species, and it gave them unique abilities. It was the pure untapped power left over from when the universe first formed. The same power that kept supernatural species alive, descending down through time. 

At the base of Ajax’s neck was a tattoo unlike anything Azame had ever seen before. The crest symbol was ancient, yet achingly familiar. Every Protector had one, signifying which family they belonged to. Ajax’s was that of a sun.

“Azame?” Ajax asked, peering into his eyes. “You still with me?”

“Hm,” Azame replied before hefting his bag over his shoulder and started to descend down the path leading to the school building. The building lay uphill nestled between a thick grove of pine trees that hid it completely from sight from the road. The campus, though, was beautiful and well kept. There were no extra leaves fluttering in the wind and flowers adorned the rock beds for the short time they stayed there. Boys were destructive.

The building was massive in square footage with three full levels that ascended up into the sky. For as long as Azame knew, its white walls were always clean without a trace of dirt or smudge. The groundskeepers were persistent with their care. The sidewalks were always wiped clean at the start of each morning and the hallways clean and glistening. Even the cracks that appeared between the concrete slabs seemed to get fixed overnight, providing them with nothing but smooth walkways.  

There were only six schools in the entire US that were capable enough to hide a Siren in plain sight. He’d been the lucky one to remain in the same country as he’d been born in. The other five Sirens were far from home. A distance that severed any possible connection they could ever have. He didn’t even know where they were. But that was for the better. 

Having grown up at Broad River Academy of Excellence, he’d grown to love the staff and campus. It’d grown on him. Being a senior, he’d graduate in May and move on from this life to a new life. College life at a university Grandmother had already picked. They called her the Grandmother, the lone woman who saw over all Sirens. She lived in the Manor, and dealt a steady hand when it came to most human affairs. Sometimes, she could be a loving Grandmother. Other times she seemed other worldly with ancient eyes and even more aged knowledge. Growing up, The Grandmother wasn’t just a figurehead, but someone with high power. She knew everything. Or at least she acted like she did. She placed Sirens in the safest places throughout the whole world and with her, the Sirens had been able to survive for as long as they had with as many casualties that they had. Grandmother’s knowledge was great, but that also meant that she chose everything in regards to the lives they’d live and the professions they’d take on. As soon as Azame graduated, he’d go to college and study whatever she had chosen and then he’d hide once more. Very few professions promised to bury the newcomers.  He welcomed the change, he hoped for it because here… well. 

“Hey screamer!” Someone laughed and a small branch was hefted against his back. Boys rushed past him laughing while pointing at him. They cackled and screamed with each other before picking at Ajax. It sounded like a roost of birds shrieking at the threat of a predator. Annoying. 

Azame had never quite given up his act of pinpointing violent things. Dark things. He was regarded as the school crazy, someone even the teachers would steer clear of. Something as different as him would make anyone uncomfortable. His ‘episodes’ were completely unpredictable and uncontrollable. The closer it was, the longer the episode. He’d gotten up in class, red faced and pointed out a window and screamed. Thankfully, no one was allowed phones in class so videos didn’t leak out often onto the internet. When they did, Ajax’s side would quickly take them down before they could get shared. His episodes were embarrassing and the other kids truly hated him for it. 

The bullying wasn’t bad though. He wasn’t afraid of it. It may have hurt at some point in his life, but Azame had become a master at stashing feelings away that didn’t pertain to his immediate survival. For the other kids, school was just one phase in their life that they could screw up. But for Azame, it was a battle of survival and who was quicker. He knew how to keep his head down, take the brunt of what was coming, because he was powerless to do little else. And if the mighty Ajax could do it, then so could Azame. 

He was lonely though, he wasn’t ashamed to admit that. Ajax was great, but even Ajax didn’t understand the full brunt of what Azame saw. Just the same as Azame not understanding the brunt of what Ajax dealt with whenever they got too close to the school. As the years went on, Ajax had to face fewer and fewer Shadows chancing upon them. Azame even thought that they had found one of the few places they were untouchable by the darkness. He longed for the others to be at BRAE with him, so they could chat and laugh about all the things they’d done and seen. So that Azame wouldn’t be the only one among a million.  

The only way he could communicate with the others was via letter, and those letters were far and few in between. And they weren’t like a sit down talk with the others, just a brief message about where they last stayed and events that had happened. However, those letters had begun to underlie one very important fact. The Shadows that hunted them were getting stronger, and getting closer. More numerous. The others were constantly on the move now with no chance to settle long enough for education or to make relations. It was terrifying, because Ajax and Azame had been in the same place for six years with very little instances that warranted them to move. 

He knew the others were alive, though, by instinct. It was like a force tugging him towards each other. And they felt him to, waited for his letters to. They missed him just as much as he missed them. That was the only thing that made it easier to bear. 

“Azame! I got the schedules!” Ajax shouted as he came barreling down the hall once more, waving the pieces of paper in hand. 

Azame couldn’t help but smile as all that weight was lifted from his chest. Sure, things were hard and uncertain and he should really be a hermit living under a rock. But Ajax was there and that meant that no harm could ever come to Azame, and he could live his life in peace.