Luke was surprised not to find the bed covered in shit after having such a dream. Luke knew that Uriel was behind that dream. Everyone had now acknowledged Luke as belonging to Uriel's camp and Uriel wanted to remind Luke what it means to be his pupil. If Luke chose the wrong side and betrayed God—Uriel will literally have his tongue.

Luke thought back to his battle with the demon Lilith that had possessed his girlfriend back in D.C. The demon knew that Luke had been adopted by Uriel and that this was a first for him. If Luke recalled correctly, Lilith had said that Uriel hadn't taught anyone since some guy named Penemue, an angel.

But the angel in his dream, his name was Jorahel.

You'll never be able to say your name again Jorahel.

That line, was it a hint? Were Penemue and Jorahel the same person or two totally different people?

Luke was so lost in his confusion, he didn't realize that it was morning and Sirius was in the shower until the water shut off and he came in wrapped in a towel as steam flowed into the room.

"You're awake," he said. "Sounded like you had a rough night from all the tossing and muttering I heard."

"You can say that," Luke groaned.

Sirius went through his drawers and wardrobe and pulled out his uniform. "Wanna talk about it?"

Yes, Luke thought. But Luke knew Sirius would think he was crazy.

But not as crazy as Luke thought Sirius was for dropping his towel to put on his clothes. Luke averted his eyes, but he had to admit he was impressed at what he saw. Sirius had the complete package: looks, smarts, abilities...

If Luke wasn't in a relationship with Nellie, then he would've found it hard to resist looking in the first place. "You know how nightmares go. Just gotta get over it." Luke got up and walked over to the sink to wash his face with cold water.

When Luke turned off the faucet and stared at himself in the mirror, he found Sirius standing behind him in his white tight-fitting boxer briefs. He placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. "You know I'm here for you right? You won't go through this struggle alone." In his other hand he held a white towel.

Luke grabbed it and dried his face. "Thanks man."

Sirius quickly threw on his sweatpants and a hoodie. "Now, let's get this morning workout over with."

Luke's morning wasn't any better than his evening. For starters everyone was completely silent when he walked into the mess hall with Sirius for breakfast. The only noise he heard were whispers from the students and a couple of giggles from George and his group of thugs.

Then his math exam went about as well as a constipated bowl movement. Luke left that quadratic equations test knowing he had flunked it. He'll be lucky if he got a zero and not anything in the negative for putting stupid answers.

The defenses at the school were getting tense as well. There were more security guards roaming the campus itself carrying large swords and guns. Patrolling the towers were also Tempest students, dressed in black, alongside regular soldiers in their white and brown winter camo.

About the only good news was that Mr. Faustin didn't fling him outside the classroom for disobeying a direct order yesterday. In fact, he would've preferred that over the complete disregard he showed Luke whenever he raised his hand to ask a question or skipped over him when handing out papers.

At lunch, Luke was frustrated and asked Sirius, "Why is everyone acting like this?"

"You mean being poo-poo heads?" Alpha cut in as he dunked his chicken nuggets into a tub of barbecue sauce.

"Yes," Luke said. "Poo-poo heads."

Alpha was making airplane noises as he flew the nugget into his mouth and then said, "The eagle has landed."

Sirius ruffled Alpha's hair and answered Luke's question. "I don't know. I'd imagine they'd get over themselves by now. But, looking at it from their point of view, I'd say they're confronting the fact that they're about to go to war."

"War? For what?"
"This one looks like a camel," Alpha said as he made the oddly shaped nugget walk along the table. "The camel goes ergh!"

Luke couldn't even try to reproduce that sound let alone entertain the notion of comprehending how Alpha did it.

"The final war," Sirius cut into his parmesan chicken. "It's what SGA students train for, to fight with God and the angels during the final war against Satan and his demons."

"So, this school has been training Nefs for hundreds of years for a war that might come?"

"Will come," Sirius corrected. "It's already starting. That Iumenti attack yesterday was no accident. Either it snuck in, or somehow let it in."

"A sneaky yak," Alpha said. "Secret Agent Yak, spying for Satan."

"He might have a point there," Sirius said while chewing into his food.

"So somehow because I'm here, this war that they've been training for feels more real?"

"Pretty much," Sirius took another bite out of his cheesy chicken. "Just because you prepare for something your entire life, doesn't mean you are ready to face it."

Meanwhile Alpha was pitting two chicken nuggets against each other in a battle to the death. "Secret Agent Yak versus Chicken Camel," he said. This kid had quite the imagination. Sometimes, Luke wished he was as oblivious and innocent as Alpha was.

"So then, everyone here knows about the prophecy? Does the Dean show it to everyone?"

"No, but he summarizes it sometimes to his favorite students, and rumors spread. Basically, you'll choose a side, and whichever side you choose, well it's believed they'll win. And since the students don't know you well enough yet to figure out which side you're on..."

"They don't trust me," Luke finished. "But why would I choose a bad side? I'm a good guy?"

"Evil can sometimes be disguised as goodness. What's the old saying—a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing."

"A wolf goes awooooooo at the full moon. And a sheep goes baaaa when the wolves come after them," Alpha interrupted this discussion for an update on animal noises.

"Thanks bud," Sirius ruffled his hair again. The way Sirius treated Alpha, it was both weird and adorable at the same time. Alpha was a teenager, and Sirius was treating him like a five-year-old younger brother. Luke wasn't sure if that was enabling Alpha. The real world won't be as kind to Alpha.

"How many friends do you have Alpha?" Luke realized how condescending the question was after he had already asked it.

"Just two: Luke and Sirius."

That's sad.

"Why don't you have more friends?" Luke asked. "You're a cool kid."

"They say I'm too slow for them because I was dropped on my head when I was little. But I have a strong head. Watch." He emptied the last two chicken nuggets from the plate he was using and slammed the ceramic plate over his head. It shattered into a million pieces as onlookers shook their heads and laughed at Alpha.

"See, it didn't even hurt me one bit," Alpha said.

"Retard!" Someone shouted from across the lunchroom.

"Thank you," Alpha said to the unknown voice.

Sirius scooped up the shattered remains and tossed them out. Meanwhile, Luke was looking for the person who said that. But it was hard to find them over all the laughter.

Luke felt the pain for Alpha. Alpha couldn't understand the shade being thrown his way, so Luke empathized and felt it for him. The anger got to him. His left hand started to tingle, and his right hand went numb.

He got up and walked to the center of the room. He spoke with a normal voice at first. "Who said that?"

People ignored him and kept on going on with their chatter.

"I said, WHO SAID THAT!" Fire exploded from his right hand, sending a geyser of fire soaring over the heads of the students in one half of the cafeteria, singeing the hair of the taller students. The other half of the cafeteria got a dose of electricity that made the hairs on their head stand up as if they had rubbed a balloon on top of them.

Luke had their attention.