Author's Notes: Blaine sighed as he climbed out of his car and shut the door behind him. He’d hated school before, but now it was worse. Before, Blaine didn’t like sitting in class for hours. He didn’t like tests. He didn’t like lectures. The only positives about school were swim and Kurt.

Blaine had always had a crush on Kurt. For as long as he could remember, he’d watched the boy walking to classes, sitting at lunch, standing by his locker. Kurt had this way of making literally anything seem like he was posing for a photo-shoot. His hair was always perfectly coiffed. He wore the latest fashion trends. He held himself in a way that drew you closer, made you want to be near him. And Blaine had, for a very long time.

But now everything was different. Blaine had Kurt. Blaine knew what it was like to be in Kurt’s light and now his world was dark and bleak.

Everything reminded him of Kurt, from coffee to music, even his own bowties. Blaine thought it might be easier if he heard anything about Kurt, but when he asked Tina the other day, it only made things worse. Blaine had heard that he went to stay with his aunt in Cleveland, but Blaine knew Kurt’s aunt lived in Columbus, not Cleveland. He’d heard another story that he’d transferred schools to Dalton Academy School for Boys in Westerville, but Blaine had called their Admissions Director and no one had even heard of Kurt. Blaine didn’t know why everyone was lying to him, why they couldn’t just tell him.

Blaine made his way toward the courtyard when he heard a familiar voice. He looked over and saw Brittany sitting on one of the steps, hunched over and laughing. “Hey, Britt, what’s so funny?” Brittany looked up and smiled at him.

“Clark just told me a joke.”

“Who’s Clark?” Brittany gestured to a small brown bird that was perched about a foot away from her.

“Blaine Bowtie, Clark. Clark, Blaine Bowtie,” she introduced. Blaine stared at her blankly. Brittany may not be the smartest person he knew, actually she was hands down the dumbest, but he never thought he’d see her talk to a bird. This was almost too much for a Monday morning. The bird tweeted and Brittany started laughing again. “Clark says you’re shirt’s so ugly he wouldn’t even use it for his nest.” Blaine opened his mouth to argue that his shirt was nice, and that it had been a gift from his brother, before he remembered that this was Brittany and a bird and he didn’t have to partake in imaginary arguments. “Also, he wants to know if you have any seeds.” Blaine closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. It was really too early to be dealing with this.

“Sorry, Clark, but I’m fresh out. I gave the last of my seeds to a blue jay in the parking lot.”

“He said he gave them all to Jessica,” Brittany said to the bird and Blaine could feel a headache coming on because what the hell was going on? The bird tweeted. “Clark says to stay away from Jessica because she’s a whore.”

“And on that note- I’ll see you in Glee Club.” Blaine walked away, making his way up the steps and toward the school building, shaking the past five minutes from his mind. He pulled open the door and made his way down the hallway when someone called his name. “Hey, Sam,” he said when the blond haired boy came up to him, his Guardian right beside him. “Hey, Tom.”

“Hey, Blaine.”

“Dude, please tell me you watched Game of Thrones last night.”

“Like I would miss it!” Blaine said excitedly, happy for a distraction from his thoughts. “The White Walkers are-” Blaine broke off when he heard a loud clang. All three boys jumped to a halt and looked over to see a confused and frightened Artie frozen in front of his locker. The three boys made their way to him quickly, weaving between students to get to the boy who was looking around nervously. “Artie, what happened?”

“Did you guys see that?” he asked quickly. “Did you see that? That happened, right? Tell me I’m not crazy.” Blaine’s brows knit together and his nose scrunched as a foul burning smell reached his nostrils. Blaine looked over at Artie’s locker and felt his jaw drop when he noticed there was a perfect circle burned straight though his locker door, a thin trail of smoke still wafting from it.

“What happened?” Blaine asked again, looking over at Artie who seemed a little afraid to answer.

“I couldn’t open it,” Artie said, staring at the hole in his locker. “I couldn’t get the damn thing open. One minute I’m pulling on the lock, and the next-.” The three boys looked between each other for a moment.

“How did that happen?” Tom asked and Sam tentatively stuck his finger through the hole, as if checking to see if it was real. Artie looked down at his hands, still looking terrified and confused, shaking his head slowly.

“Wait, you don’t mean- but that’s impossible.” Sam looked over his shoulder to Tom. “That’s impossible, right?”

“Artie, this hasn’t happened before, has it?” Artie’s eyes bugged out of his head as he looked up at Tom.

“I think I’d know if lasers were coming out of my hands.”

“Have you talked to Santana?” Blaine asked softly. Maybe he and Santana had Sealed and didn’t tell anyone. Or maybe they did and since Kurt was gone, now Blaine was out of the loop. Blaine looked over at Sam and Tom. He didn’t think they’d do that to him.

“Guys, I just shot freaking lasers out of my hands. Are we going to completely ignore that?” Blaine sighed. Well, at least that meant they weren’t keeping stuff from him. But if he and Santana hadn’t Sealed, how did Artie have his power?

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Blaine said and Sam shook his head.

“I thought we couldn’t get powers until-”

“We can’t,” Tom said. “Something must be wrong.”



“Nothing’s wrong,” George said, looking up from his desk to the three boys.

“But Artie and Santana haven’t Sealed yet. How does he have his ability?”

“In the time of war, Paladin may receive their abilities without the Sealing ceremony. It is a sign that dangerous times are near, and I’m afraid we now have no time to waste.” George pushed back from his desk and sighed as he pulled out a stack of slips. He began to fill a few out as he spoke. “If Mr. Abrams has acquired his power, Miss Pierce must have as well.” Blaine thought about that morning when she was talking to a bird. If she got her power, would she even be able to use it? Blaine thought she might end up destroying half of the United States before they even went to battle. “I am regretful to say that you three and the other four will no longer be attending classes here at McKinley High School.”

“What?”

“From now on, you will be reporting to Iron Bolts Gym, over on North Collett. You will arrive at seven am and stay until five pm. I will send a few other Guardians and Paladins from the area to train with you, as well as an Observer. You all will train together and learn how to use your abilities effectively. I will also send one of our older Paladins to help with your training.”

“Wait, Iron Bolts? Isn’t that the creepy, old, empty warehouse?” Sam said and George looked up at him. He handed the boys each a slip of paper, including ones for Artie, Santana, Brittany, and Chet.

“To some. To us it is the perfect place to train without being noticed. It has protection barriers set up around the perimeter, so you will be able to work without interruption.”

“How long are we going to be training?” Blaine asked.

“I don’t know. We are unaware of the Eradicates’ decisions, but it seems they could strike at any moment. All you need to do is make sure you perfect your ability as best as possible in the time we have.” Blaine looked down at the paper in his hand. All of this was happening too fast. It seemed like he’d just barely found out he was a Paladin, and now he had to hurry up and train for a war that could very well kill him and all of his friends? How were the Eradicates even still around? They’d disappeared back in the 90s. That is, until they kidnapped Blaine and blocked him from receiving powers. But were they still around now? Nothing in his life made sense and Blaine was really getting tired of it. “You boys may go now. Tomorrow morning you will report to the gym.”

“Yes, sir,” Tom said immediately.

“What are we supposed to tell our parents?” Blaine asked.

“I shall notify them promptly of the needed information.” Blaine sighed. “Tom, let the others know there will be a meeting today; you won’t be going to Glee Club, but I’d like you all to walk your Paladins to the choir room before coming here.”

“Yes, sir.” The three boys began to walk out of the Biology Lab when George called back Tom.

“Don’t forget,” Blaine heard George say before they were fully out in the hallway. Sam leaned against the wall and let out a long breath.

“I can’t believe it’s actually happening. I mean, I read the books, but I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”

“What I don’t get is why no one knew when it would be. If the Superiors supposedly predicted this third war, why didn’t they know it would happen now, in 2011?”

“I don’t know, but if it could happen at any moment, I don’t want to start training tomorrow.”

“You thinking about going over to the gym today?” Blaine asked. Tom came out into the hallway and over to the two boys.

“Everything okay?” Sam asked and Tom nodded. “Well what did he want?” Tom looked over at Blaine for a split second, but Blaine noticed.

“Just making sure we keep on with what we’re doing.” Sam looked at Tom quizzically for a moment until Blaine could practically see the light bulb light up in his brain.

“Oh! Right, right. Okay, good. So he knows about-”

“Us planning the Sadie Hawkins dance. Yup, he knows. Had a few ideas too. Anyway, Blaine, what class do you have next?” Blaine raised a brow at him, knowing he was hiding something, but decided to ignore it. It’s not like he’d get answers either way.

“History.”

“Great, we’ll walk you.”

“Guys, I’m not helpless,” Blaine said, sounding a little harsher than he’d meant. He wanted to know what Tom and Sam were hiding. He wanted to know about the war. He wanted to know where Kurt was. He wanted to know and was tired of people shutting him out.

“We know, Blaine, but we have to make sure you’re safe.”

“Yeah, but why? I get that we have to be careful because Miss Pilsbury and Coach Sylvester said there’re people flying under their radar, but I can take care of myself. Whatever they throw at me, I can throw it back. I’ve fought them before and I don’t need you guys to babysit me.”

“Blaine, we’re not-”

“Yes, you are. Look, I appreciate you guys wanting to protect me or whatever, but I can walk to class alone. I can change in the locker room alone. I can drive home alone. I don’t need you guys breathing down my neck every second.”

“Blaine-” Sam began, but Tom cut him off.

“Look, Blaine. I know it must be frustrating for you, but we’re just doing our duty. The war is coming, and there’s nothing we can do about it except train for battle and make sure we survive until then. Kurt’s gone.” Blaine knew that, of course he knew that, but hearing it said out loud still felt like a blow. “He’s gone and he’s not coming back. That means that you’re Guardianless. Now, I can’t see when something’s going to happen to you, but I can still help prevent it if either Sam or I’m with you.” Blaine blinked at Tom. What did he mean by Kurt’s not coming back? “You’re a crucial part to winning this war, Blaine, so I extended my Oath to make sure you live to see D-Day.”

“Why am I so important?”

“Because it’s part of the prophecy.”

“Tom,” Sam said, his eyes wide. Sam put his hand on his Guardian’s shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?”

“It’s time he knew, Sam. He needs to know about the war before it starts. He needs to know what will happen-”

“The Supers are supposed to tell him.”

“We can’t trust them anymore, Sam! You know what happened to Kurt. I’m not going to sit around and let another friend of mine get screwed over by the Supers.”

“Wait, what happened to Kurt?” Blaine asked, looking at between both boys. Tom sighed.

“He broke his Oath.” Blaine thought back to all the books he’d read about the Oath of Protection and sifted through details until he remembered what they’d said about Guardians who broke the Oath. The Guardian’s Guide said the Superior who granted a Guardian their Guardianship was the one responsible for deciding on their punishment. Blaine wondered just how bad it had been.

“What happened to him? How bad was it?”

“Look, Blaine, we’ll get to all that. But for right now, there are more pressing matters at hand. We need to get you ready.” Didn’t Tom understand that Blaine didn’t care? Yes, he would fight in the war, but he didn’t understand what could be more important than Kurt. Blaine almost hated that he still cared so much about the boy, but he couldn’t help it. Even though every time he blinked he could see Kurt’s lips pressed against Chet’s. Even though he could hear Kurt on repeat telling Chet he loved him. Blaine still felt connected to Kurt, could still feel that clench over his heart from the Sealing. He knew he still loved Kurt, and he probably always would. “Blaine?”

“Huh?” Blaine asked, shaking his head and looking at Tom.

“I asked how much you knew about the prophecy.”

“Oh, uh, not much. I only know that there was one.”

“As a Guardian, I was told a long time ago that the third war would happen this year. They told all of us, just before taking our Oath, to be sure we were dedicated. They even showed us a copy of the official scroll. It had said, ‘In the eleventh year of the twenty-first century, the second battle shall reconvene. All will join forces, for if lost all will lose. When the day is upon us, A Boy will stand taller than all. He will lead and bring peace.’”

“I still don’t-”

“A Boy. Capital A, capital B. A. B. Anderson, Blaine. It’s you, dude. We’ve known for years that it’s you. You’re the one who’s going to win the war for us and bring everyone peace.”

“I’m sorry, what? You think I’m the one who’s going to save everyone? How the hell am I supposed to do that? Yeah, no, you’ve got the wrong guy.”

“He’s right, Blaine,” Sam said. “You are the Chosen One,” he said, using one of his voices and trying to make light of the situation.

“No, I’m not. This is ridiculous.” The bell rang overhead then, echoing through the soon to be filled hallway. Blaine didn’t know why they were telling him this. There was no way in hell Blaine was “the Chosen One.” And besides, Tom had basically told Blaine a few minutes ago that he was helpless without a Guardian. And now he was being told that he had to save everyone else and “bring everyone peace?” How the hell was that going to work? Blaine was done. Done with Guardians and Paladins and wars and thinking.

The hallway quickly filled with students on their way to their next class and Blaine just really wanted to be alone. “I’ve got to get to History,” he said, walking away from Sam and Tom before either of them could stop him. He weaved through students, hoping that even if the two did follow him, they wouldn’t be able to stay on his trail. Blaine made his way up, up, up until finally he reached a heavy metal door. Blaine propped it open with a brick and walked across the rooftop, sliding off his backpack and sitting down, slipping his eyes shut and inhaling the fresh air.

It was nice to be alone for once. The only down side? Silence brought forward all of his thoughts and problems. Blaine groaned and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his forehead on his arms and forcing himself to keep his mind clear. It worked for a little while, but eventually his thoughts went back to their default subject. This time, he didn’t push them away, but instead let himself drown in those images of Kurt.