NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 16: Unmasked
---
The Arc slept.
Not pulsing. Not whispering. Just… quiet.
The battle was over. The Fiend was gone. The truths had been told.
But peace?
Peace was another thing entirely.
---
The Next Morning – East Courtyard
The sun filtered through the golden branches, casting soft patterns on the stone pathways. The Guardians—still bruised, still a little shaken—sat around their usual spot behind the old statue near the east dorm.
Carl tossed a rock between his hands.
Nora leaned back, eyes closed.
Henry, ever alert, fiddled with the crystal core in his staff, waiting for the next wave of weirdness.
Kai hadn't said much.
And Natasha was still watching him.
Just when the silence became unbearable—
"You're bad at lying."
The voice came from behind the statue.
Every head snapped up.
Leo.
Hoodie pulled low, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Natasha stood immediately. "What are you doing here?"
Leo stepped closer, voice calm. Not threatening. Not loud.
But sharp.
"Watching. Like always. Like I did the first time you vanished mid-class. Like when Carl claimed he was using the tunnels for a 'drama project'."
Carl blinked. "Okay, first off, that excuse was genius."
Leo didn't smile.
He pulled something from his bag. A notebook.
Worn. Edges dog-eared. Pages full of symbols, notes, photos.
Evidence.
Kai frowned. "What is that?"
Leo flipped it open.
"My suspicion journal."
Carl blinked. "You have a suspicion journal?"
"Since day one."
---
Flashback: Entry One
"Six students all excused from Professor Varlan's class on the same day. No explanation. Professor seemed confused. Checked the school log: No official hall pass recorded."
Attached: a blurry image of Carl 'sneaking' down a hallway.
---
"It started small," Leo continued, walking in slow circles around them. "Your disappearances. Excuses that didn't line up. Electrical surges around your dorm rooms. Random windstorms in your training fields. Weird readings from the south tunnels."
He flipped another page.
"Entry Thirty-Six: Carl claims he has allergies. There's a lightning crater on the south side of the forest two hours later."
Henry groaned. "Seriously, bro?"
Carl shrugged. "The weather changed fast."
---
Flashback: Entry Forty-Two
"Campus footage shows five heat signatures entering the Arc hall. Only four exited. One vanished. Thirty seconds later, news of a Shadow monsters attack breaks on a forum I follow."
Attached: infrared screenshots from the maintenance cameras.
---
Leo stopped.
"You kept saying the myths weren't real."
He looked directly at Nora.
"You said the tunnels were sealed off. I checked. They weren't."
He turned to Natasha.
"You said your fire spells were theory only. I saw you burn a training dummy in half."
She crossed her arms. "It was already damaged."
"Was it?"
He took a step closer to Henry.
"You said you were a 'normal student.' But three nights ago… I saw this."
He pulled out a tablet.
Tapped it.
The screen lit up—
And there it was.
Footage.
Grainy. Low-light.
But real.
---
Footage: Mistvale Forest — Night of the Battle
Wind swirled. Fire burst across the screen.
A glowing blue trident struck through smoke. A shield blocked a dark tendril. Lightning exploded midair.
And then—
The Guardians stood together. Armored. Glowing. Weaponed. Faces visible just enough.
And then—
They reached for their Oria.
And detransformed.
The camera caught it—barely. Just seconds of light fading, armor dissolving, and six exhausted students standing in a crater.
Leo paused the screen.
All of them stared at their own faces.
No more guessing.
No more suspicion.
Proof.
---
Silence.
No one moved.
Not even Jay, who had appeared silently in the background, arms folded.
Kai finally spoke.
"How… did you get that?"
Leo didn't answer right away.
He simply looked at the screen.
Then back at them.
"I wasn't trying to expose you. I just wanted to understand."
His voice was lower now.
"And now that I do… I want to know everything."
---
---
The screen dimmed.
Leo stood silent, arms at his side, face unreadable.
Before him—the Guardians.
Unmasked. Cornered.
And for the first time…
Exposed.
---
"So?" he asked. "What now? You wipe my memory? Lock me in the Arc?"
Carl opened his mouth. "We can do that?"
Jay gave him a flat look. "No."
Kai stepped forward. His voice was calm, but laced with steel. "You saw what you saw. So we're going to tell you everything."
The group glanced at Jay, who nodded once—reluctantly.
Nora sighed, shoulders relaxing. "No more secrets."
Leo straightened. "Good. Because I've got a thousand questions."
---
Later – Inside the Arc Chamber
The glowing stone runes cast pale light across Leo's wide, awestruck face. His eyes darted over the floating crystals, the ancient carvings, the Arc itself—humming like a live heart.
Henry crossed his arms. "This is the Arc. It holds everything—memories of past Guardians, battle records, enemy data."
Leo's jaw dropped. "So… a magical living hard drive that runs on mythic soul resonance?"
Carl gave him a sideways glance. "He's going to be annoying, isn't he?"
Nora grinned. "Oh definitely."
---
For the next hour, they told him everything.
The Shigamis. The Shade Fiends. The Merge.
The lies. The truth. Their father's disappearance.
And how truth itself could be a weapon—or a weakness.
When they were done, Leo was quiet.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
"I won't tell a soul."
He looked at each of them.
"Not because you asked. Because I get it now. You're not heroes on a poster. You're students—trying to survive something bigger than anything anyone teaches in class."
Henry studied him carefully. "We've handled it so far."
"But you won't forever," Leo replied. "I figured it out. Someone else might too."
His tone shifted—more excited, more certain.
"Which is why you need a tech guy. A support op. Eyes. Ears. Sensors. Encrypted files. Surveillance blind spots. Comms. Custom gear."
Carl blinked. "Okay, Iron Man."
Leo held up three fingers. "Give me three days and I'll build you a stealth cloak that scrambles facial ID software. Five days for a voice modulator. And once I get access to the security grid, I can black out every camera from here to Mistvale when you Merge."
Kai raised a brow. "You've… thought about this."
"I've been thinking about this since Entry Four," Leo said proudly.
---
But Henry shook his head.
"No."
Leo blinked. "What?"
"You can't be part of this. It's too dangerous. We barely survived last night. And we're… trained."
Jay added, "There's risk in what you're asking, Leo."
Leo turned to each of them, determined. "You don't get it. I already am part of this. I've been watching your backs without even knowing it. Now let me help on purpose."
Carl grinned. "Honestly, I'm kind of sold."
Nora smiled. "Me too."
Natasha looked at Henry. "He saved us from being exposed to the whole school. He's earned at least that."
Henry hesitated…
Leo's voice softened.
"I'm not asking to fight. I'm asking to protect you from the things you can't see."
Long pause.
Then finally—
Henry sighed. "Fine."
Leo beamed. "YES."
Carl clapped him on the back. "Alright, Oracle 2.0. What's first?"
Leo's eyes gleamed.
"First, I set up a secure channel between all your Oria relics. Second, we link it to a remote base—your lair."
Carl suddenly stood straighter. "Thank you! I told them we needed one!"
Leo raised an eyebrow. "You have a lair right?"
Carl grinned. "Kind of…"
---
Later – Carl's Backyard
The group gathered in Carl's backyard.
It wasn't impressive at first glance—just an old tool shed, a cleared space with gym mats, and a few practice dummies made from punching bags and broomsticks.
Carl waved proudly. "Behold—Guardian Base Alpha."
Leo stared. "This looks like a garage that got rejected from a video game cutscene."
"It's got character," Carl defended. "We train here. Bond here. Broke a rib here once."
Henry added, "It's where we practiced Merge control before the Arc chamber let us in full-time."
Leo nodded slowly. "Okay… okay, it's got potential."
He tapped his tablet. Blueprints loaded onto the screen.
"I'll reinforce the shed walls, install a hidden lift, run fiber optics underground for encrypted data lines, and rig up a motion-triggered illusion barrier so anyone looking sees a garden shed, not your secret HQ."
Carl's eyes widened. "Can I have a chair that spins?"
"You're getting a holographic map table and a coffee dispenser," Leo said seriously. "Live a little."
Carl turned to the others. "Told you guys. We needed a lair."
---
As the sun began to set behind them, the six stood in a circle.
Five Guardians.
One Tech Genius.
And the beginning of something bigger.
Something smarter.
They weren't just a secret anymore.
They were becoming a team.
---