[CHAPTER-10] Moments

Pale light slipping through the curtains, thin and weak. The room was quiet, No laughter. No complaints. No Aqua humming.

Valentina lay awake long before anyone else, Her body was stiff every muscle tight, as though sleep had never truly claimed her. The bruises on her neck were hidden beneath the blanket, but she could still feel them. A dull, aching reminder that something had touched her in the dark.

She stared at the ceiling, counting her breaths.

Beside her, Aqua slept curled inward clutching the blanket with her small trembling fingers. Luna lay on her other side, one arm stretched protectively across Valentina’s waist even in sleep, her brows furrowed as if still fighting something unseen. Eva was nearest the edge, half-awake, eyes open, staring at the wall.

No one had slept well.

The room smelled faintly of iron and soap, as if the night itself had left a residue behind. Every creak of the building made Valentina’s heart jump. Every brush of fabric against skin felt louder than it should.

 Eva finally sat up slow and careful but that movement alone made Aqua flinch awake.

“M-morning?” Aqua whispered, her voice thin.

No one answered right away.

Luna exhaled sharply through her nose, pushing herself upright. “It is,” she said, though she sounded unconvinced.

Valentina didn’t move. She didn’t wanted to.

The window was intact. Clean and Silent.

Still, none of them looked away from it for long.

They decided not to go to the mess hall.

No one said it out loud but It simply happened. Eva brought food back instead, her arms full of trays and wrapped bread, her jaw set in quiet determination.

They ate on the floor.

Aqua held her cup with both hands, sipping slowly as if afraid the noise might summon something. Luna picked at her food, chewing without tasting. Eva ate more than the others, not because she was hungry, but because doing something felt better than sitting still.

Valentina barely touched her plate.

Every sound felt too sharp. The scrape of cutlery. The rustle of paper. The wind outside.

“So…” Aqua began softly, then stopped. She swallowed. “Classes are… off today, right?”

“Yes,” Eva replied. “Official ones.”

Luna glanced at her. “But not Lilith’s.”

Eva nodded.

Eva changed her night dress into casual wear and left room for training. 

While walking in corridors all in her mind was how she can protect her friends...How can she get stronger enough so they don't have to fear anymore.

The training yard was empty.

Only stone tiles stretching wide beneath a pale sky, scarred from years of combat drills.

Eva stood at the center, dual swords resting loosely in her hands. Her posture was ready, but her mind was restless. She kept glancing toward the far gate toward the academy beyond as if something unseen lingered there.

Lilith noticed her and starts walking towards her.

"Yo! not even giving time off on holidays huh? " said Lilith in gentle smile and funny way. Eva smiled just a little.

"Ya not even gonna complain even a bit? what are you a old hag to bored to respond ? said lilith with funny gestures likely to annoy eva.

"Lilith....i want dont want to see my friends cry....I want to protect them....I want to get stronger....so stronger that i can protect them all" said Eva with dramatic and determined look.

Lilith's smile changed and it looked like it reached to her full face and happy with her all heart , she patted eva's hairs then she stepped past Eva, boots scraping against stone and stopped several paces ahead. 

A thick training pillar stood there with reinforced stone and  enchanted to endure.

Today i'm gonna teach you a special move....a move that could finish your enemy but if you handle it not carefully can harm you as well.....Watch closely, Eva.

Lilith  took position three steps away and closed her eyes.

Eva felt it in her chest, like pressure before a storm.

Lilith’s left foot pressed into the ground.

Stone cracked beneath her heel.

Eva’s eyes narrowed.

Lilith didn’t charge.

She turned.

Her shoulders rotated away from the pillar, her torso twisting while her hips stayed locked in place. For a moment, it looked wrong. Like she was abandoning the target entirely.

Eva almost spoke.

Then Lilith inhaled air and opened her eyes.

The sound was quiet, controlled, but the space around her seemed to draw inward, as if the air itself leaned closer.

Her muscles tightened. Not bulging. Not straining.

Contained.

 she moved.

The motion wasn’t forward.

It was lateral.

So fast Eva’s eyes lost her for a fraction of a second.

Lilith’s planted foot remained rooted as the rest of her body snapped around it. The rotation was tight, violent, compressed into a single heartbeat. Her blade followed last, whipped by the torque of her body rather than pure swing by her arms.

There was no flash.

Just a low, grinding thrum that vibrated through the stone under Eva’s boots.

The pillar didn’t shatter immediately.

For one breath, nothing happened.

Then the surface split.

A spiral fracture bloomed from the point of impact, twisting downward, carving through the pillar as if something unseen had reached inside and crushed it from within.

The structure collapsed inward, stone folding and imploding.

Dust exploded outward.

Her blade hummed once, Then silence returned.

Lilith turned her head slightly. “That is Spiral Requiem.”

Eva stared at the ruins, “That wasn’t… a slash,” she said quietly.

Lilith nodded. “No.”

She lowered her blade.

“It’s a release of stored motion. Every step, every muscle, every turn compressed into one rotation.”

She looked back at Eva, eyes sharp. “It ends fights. It also ends you if you’re careless.” 

Eva stepped forward as now it was her turn.

Lilith’s expression softened, just barely. “Watch carefully. Then we move together.”

She repositioned Eva.

“Foot first,” Lilith instructed, pressing Eva’s heel into the stone. “This stays planted. Everything depends on this.”

Eva nodded.

“Your hips lock,” Lilith continued, adjusting her stance. “If they move early, you lose power.”

She placed a hand between Eva’s shoulder blades. “You turn away before you strike. It feels wrong. That’s how you know you’re doing it right.”

“Breathe in,” Lilith said. “Hold it. Feel the tension. Don’t release it until I say.”

Eva inhaled.

Her muscles tightened instinctively, her body humming with restrained speed.

Lilith stepped beside her.

“Now,” Lilith said calmly. “Turn.”

They moved together.

Eva twisted her torso away from the pillar, heart pounding, every instinct screaming that she was exposing herself.

“Hold,” Lilith commanded.

Eva froze mid-rotation.

Her legs trembled.

“Again,” Lilith said. “This time, don’t hesitate.”

They reset.

Eva inhaled.

Turned.

Released.

Her body snapped into motion.

The rotation was rough, unrefined, but fast. Too fast. Her swords lagged behind for a fraction of a second, then whipped forward with a shriek of air.

The impact came harder than she expected.

The pillar cracked, not clean tho.

Fractures spidered across its surface, shallow but real.

Eva completed the rotation and staggered.

Her knees buckled.

Lilith caught her by the shoulder before she hit the ground.

“Again?” Lilith asked.

Eva nodded, breath ragged.

They reset.

Eva planted her foot.

Inhaled.

Turned.

Released everything.

This time, the world seemed to lag behind her.

The sound vanished.

Her vision tunneled.

The swords became extensions of her spine, her motion tightening into a single violent spiral.

The strike landed.

Stone collapsed inward, spiraling down, dust exploding outward as the structure folded into itself.

Eva finished the motion but immediately lost her strength.

Her fingers went numb.

The swords slipped from her hands.

She collapsed forward.

Lilith caught her before her face hit the stone, lowering her carefully to the ground.

Eva’s chest heaved. Her vision swam.

“One,” Lilith said quietly, kneeling beside her. “That’s your limit.”

Eva tried to laugh. It came out weak.

“Feels… worth it,” she muttered.

Lilith smirked. “Rest. Tomorrow, we make it survivable.”

Eva’s eyes fluttered shut.

The dust settled around them.

Meanwhile in Dorm

"Come on valentina you have to take a bath it's been 3 days" said Luna.

"No i don't want to go in there alone.... If you both come with me then i'll go" said Valentina who is still lying on bed.

"Huh? come on what are we supposed to do there? make a film of you bathing "? said Luna.

"I don't know you guys not bathed yet so we can together i guess, even aqua dont have any issue with it" said valentina .

"Like hell she will do it, right aqua?........aqua? now where the hell she go....hey aqua...!! shouted luna .

"Yes you called me?" said aqua who was standing in bra and teddy panties in bathroom. Let's bath together it's fun i know...i used to bath with my mother.

"Everyone does when they are kid" said luna who was still in shock that how aqua agreed to this. 

Aqua said nothing. " You bathed with your mom when you were just a kid right?...........right?" said Luna is suspicious tone.

Again aqua said nothing but with a blush on her cheeks she ran inside bathroom.

"Guess someone is mommy's little princess, well well sounds like all are in" said valentina as she takes hers clothes from closet and moves towards bathroom.

   "Huh i ain't joining you both in this" said luna getting angry and sat on the bed while crossing her arms.

But as soon as valentina enters into bathroom , luna also gets in.

The bathroom door shut with a soft click, sealing the world outside.

Instantly, warmth wrapped around them. Not just heat, but humidity. Steam rolled lazily along the ceiling, catching the soft light .

The tiled walls gleamed faintly, reflections bending and warping in the thin mist. Water murmured quietly in the large tub near the front wall, the surface trembling with gentle ripples as heat rose from it.

For the first time since the nightmare, Valentina exhaled.

"Look like someone is here" said valentina looking at luna with a gentle smile and teasing tone.

"It's not like in eager to bath with you two , in any case if something happens aqua can't handle it on her own.....you need me here" said luna removing her clothes in a tone that it doesn't matter to her.

"Yes i need you all" said Valentina with a bright smile and pleased look on her face.

"Huh wha..what do you mean by that? said Luna getting flustered and blush on her face. Meanwhile aqua was playing with a soap that slips from her palm and slides over tiles and stops in front of luna but she didn't notice and aqua starts playing with bubbles .

Valentina gets done changing her clothes and gets ready to get in tub , on other side luna is almost done but she gets annoyed by curves of her and also jealous.

As luna starts walking towards tub her feet gets on soap and she falls on her backside, "ouch....dammit it hurts" says luna trying to get up.

"O-ho luna you are a adult you know not a kid , how can you slip like that.....here take my hand" says aqua as she offers help to luna.

"I don't know where the hell this soap came here....when i entered it was not there" says luna, her face was red due to anger and she kicks the soap and it slides near to tub.

Aqua just remembered that this is the same soap that got slipped from her, she thought it might be better to let this be a secret and takes luna's hand and go to bathtub.

Valentina smiled despite herself.

Valentina stepped closer to the tub first. She paused her fingers resting on the rim, watching the light ripple across the surface. The water reflected her face in fragments, broken by drifting steam.

They climbed in one by one.

The water welcomed them with a soft splash rising and spilling slightly over the edge. Steam thickened instantly, Aqua made a small noise of pure happiness as she sank down shoulders relaxing for the first time all day.

“Oh. Oh wow. I might live here now.”

“You’ll turn into a prune,” Luna said lowering herself in more cautiously. “A very tall, annoying prune.”

Aqua splashed water at her in retaliation missing completely and sending a wave slapping gently against Valentina instead.

“Hey,” Valentina laughed, leaning back against the tub wall. “Careful. Someone might get jealous .” 

The water lapped quietly around them, light shimmering over skin and bubbles. The surface reflected the light that danced with every movement. Steam drifted between them like slow clouds.

For a minute, no one spoke.

The silence wasn’t heavy this time. It was soft as if the moment itself was alive.

Then Aqua shifted, scooting closer without thinking, her knee brushing Valentina’s leg beneath the water.

She froze. “S-sorry!”

Valentina didn’t pull away. “It’s fine.”

Aqua relaxed again, resting her head lightly against Valentina’s shoulder, eyes closing. The contact was casual, unguarded, the way you lean on someone without realizing how much you needed it.

Luna noticed immediately.

She pretended not to.

Instead, she grabbed a handful of bubbles and dumped them onto Aqua’s face “There. You needed volume.”

"But you need volume most right valentina got most volume....i got it too but luna your volume is not developed i guess" said aqua in her way saying true thing but at wrong timing.

Valentina burst into laughter , so does aqua but luna sinks deeper in tub.

Valentina laughed, the sound echoing softly off the tiled walls. She reached out, gently brushing the bubbles away from Aqua’s eyes. “Easy. You’ll drown in soap.”

Luna came up and leaned back with a huff, crossing her arms. “You’re both ridiculous.”

But the edge in her voice had dulled.

Steam curled upward, carrying the scent of lavender. Water shifted as they adjusted, knees bumping, shoulders brushing. Every contact was small, unimportant, and somehow grounding.

Light refracted through the steam and water, turning the room into something dreamlike. The outside world felt very far away.

After a while, Aqua started tracing patterns in the foam absentmindedly. “You know… when we’re like this… it’s kind of hard to imagine anything bad happening.”

Luna’s eyes flicked toward the fogged window.

“That’s why it’s nice,” she said quietly. “Not because the bad stuff’s gone. Just because it shuts up for a minute.”

Valentina nodded. Her fingers skimmed the water’s surface, watching the ripples distort the reflections. “We won’t stay scared,” she said. “We’ll find out the truth. About Irim.”

The name cooled the air instantly.

Aqua swallowed. “Together?”

“Together,” Luna said at once.

Valentina smiled, genuine this time.

They stayed in the bath longer than planned. Jokes returned in small bursts. Aqua tried to stack bubbles on Luna’s head again and got splashed for her efforts. Luna complained about the water being too hot while very obviously not moving. Valentina leaned back, letting the water hold her, letting their presence anchor her.

Eventually, the heat began to fade.

Valentina stood first, water streaming down her arms as she stepped out. Steam parted around her. She grabbed a towel, wrapping it securely, and turned just in time to see luna next attempted to come out and immediately slipped on the exact same bar of soap she kicked earlier and landed again on her backside with a wet thump.

Silence.

Then Aqua burst into laughter, followed by Valentina. Luna groaned, face burning.

“I hate all of you.”

But she was smiling.

They helped her up, arms around shoulders, towels slipping and readjusted as they moved together back into the room. The fear wasn’t gone. It lingered, quiet and watchful.

But for tonight, it had loosened its grip.