Secrets, Confessions and Masking Emotions

As the rain cleared away and the clouds parted, the blinding light of the full moon showered Sol Academy with all its beauty and splendour. Down on the ground, the headmaster’s personal guard had arrived to clear any traces of the murder at the shed.

Nearby, Kami stood alone, watching them lift Meline onto a stretcher.

As the wind blew the white sheet slightly askew, Kami saw it again. The details the teachers had been too focused to notice.

He saw the way the buttons of Meline’s blouse were misaligned, hastily torn open. He saw the tangled mess of her hair, the same hair she usually spent an hour brushing every morning. He saw the dirt on her knees, not from falling, but from kneeling.

It wasn't just a scene of a brutal murder but one of intimacy interrupted by horror.

They were making love, Kami realized, his stomach churning. 

They were finally happy. And in that moment of pure vulnerability... she was taken!

He turned away, unable to look at her body anymore, the weight of his secret feelings heavier than the departed rain.

Inside the academy, the fireplace in Ezekiel’s office crackled softly, casting a warm, orange glow against the stone walls. It was a stark contrast to the cold hell outside.

Noah lay on the velvet sofa next to the window, wrapped in a thick blanket, unconscious and vulnerable. The memory wipe was done and, as a result, he looked pale, hollowed out, like a shell that had been scrubbed clean.

Ezekiel sat in the armchair opposite him, holding a mug of warm tea, sipping on it every few moments to distract him from his racing thoughts. His shirt was still untucked, his grey hair drying in wild waves around his face. He watched his Noah lying there deflated, with a profound, aching sadness.

Noah blinked, slowly gaining his senses, his eyes groggy as he tilted his head and looked at Ezekiel, confused.

"Instructor?" Noah croaked.

"I'm here, Noah," Ezekiel said softly. "You're safe."

Noah stared at the ceiling. The sharp edge of the trauma was gone, replaced by a dull, throbbing ache. He remembered Meline was gone, but the image of her torn throat was blurred, like a nightmare he couldn't quite recall.

"I wanted to be like you," Noah whispered, his voice cracking.

Ezekiel froze. "What?"

"I hate my family. I hate being the spare," Noah confessed, the barriers of his mind lowered by the exhaustion. "I wanted to be strong. Like you. I wanted to become an Instructor. I thought... if I was strong like you, I could save her."

Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. "But I'm not you. I'm nothing... I can’t do anything except rot as a failure. My entire life has amounted to nothing and no matter what I do, it never goes right! I'm lost, and I’m trying my best, but it just doesn’t seem to work! Please…help me find my way.. Oh God please…"

Ezekiel set the tea down, his hand trembling at the confession. He moved from the chair to the sofa, kneeling beside the boy. He brushed the hair from Noah’s forehead, a gesture of tenderness he rarely showed.

"You are not nothing Noah," Ezekiel said fiercely. "You survived. And you will be stronger than I ever was. I promise you that."

He stayed by his side until Noah’s breathing evened out, watching as his precious student slowly drifted back into a dreamless, magically induced sleep.

Ezekiel stepped out of his chambers, closing the heavy oak door with a soft click, his expression hidden by a shadow upon his face.

He stood in the hallway, the silence of the Academy pressing in on him. The mask of the calm, supportive teacher dropped suddenly as his face contorted.

A guttural snarl built in his chest, trapped behind his teeth which he ground furiously as if he were biting down on a leather strap! He slammed his fist into the stone wall.

CRACK.

The stone spiderwebbed under the force of his blow. dust and blood trickling down his fist.

He had failed at his sworn duty to protect them. He had promised to shield their innocence from the cruelty of the world, unlike his own, and tonight, under his watch, a child had been butchered and another's mind had been shattered.

Ezekiel rested his forehead against the cold stone, his grey eyes swirling with a storm of self-hatred.

"I will find it," Ezekiel whispered to the empty hall, his voice shaking with rage. "And when I do... God help it."

"Oh there you are Ezekiel!" Aureli called out from the other end of the hallway, approaching with the others behind him. 

Ezekiel stiffened, dragged out of his trance by the sound of the cheerful voice, grating against his raw nerves like sandpaper. He quickly swept his bleeding hand behind his back, taking a sharp, shuddering breath to force the emerging beast back into its cage. By the time he turned around to face the group, the mask of the composed instructor was back in its place. However, hard as he may try, his eyes remained hard as flint.

"Is he asleep?" Aureli asked, stopping a few feet away, immediately observing the facade. He was flanked by Silver, Arachna, and a nervous-looking Vanessa.

"Yes," Ezekiel rasped, his voice rougher than intended. "He is safe for now."

"Good," Arachna cut in, her tone leaving no room for further sentiment or empathy. She adjusted the sword on her back, her gaze shifting sharply to Vanessa. "Because we have delayed long enough. The boy is secure, but the Queen’s interest in her remains a threat we cannot ignore."

Vanessa shrank slightly under the scrutiny, feeling the weight of the "Prime Suspect" label Arachna had placed on her earlier.

Silver stepped forward, flicking the butt of his cigarette onto the stone floor and crushing it with his boot. "The Mythical Archives," he said, nodding toward the spiraling darkness of the stairwell at the far end of the corridor. "If there are answers about who she is, and why she looks like the carvings on the walls, they’ll be down there."

Ezekiel looked at the group, then down towards the dark path leading underground. He thought of the predator that had taken Meline, and the secrets of this Academy seemed to be bleeding from every crack, curling his head back towards Vanessa for one final look.

"Then let us not waste time," Ezekiel said, stepping away from the spiderwebbed wall to join them.

He took the lead, marching toward the stairs that led into the belly of the Academy. As they began their descent into the cool, musty darkness, the heavy silence returned. They were leaving the tragedy of the surface behind, only to walk straight into the ancient mysteries buried beneath their feet.