-Six hours later: Jormungandr dorm-

Kasey had rhapsodically been concentrating on her cooking within the dorm, filling it with a delightful warm scent of garlic and onions sauteing mingled with a rich, savory aroma of simmering chicken broth. She was humming folk-like cheerful songs until her immersive bubble was suddenly shattered by the sound of the front door being unlocked. In response, she put the fire on low heat, placed a cover on the pot, and walked towards the living room with raised eyebrows.

The ones strolling in were the group shortly after their lecture of the day, all dressed in their dark green Gaian student robes. Everyone except Caelum seemed to be in a normal mood. The white haired young man looked as if he had just come out of a street fight, solemnly standing behind Vaelen, who, despite looking normal, had a worried undertone on his face.

However, it seemed that Kasey didn’t notice this at first glance. As soon as her eyes met Declan’s, she donned a wide smile, and tilted her head as she asked with a bright tone.

“Hiya! How’s everyone doing?”

“We’re good,” Declan responded. As he noticed the delicious smell, he smiled. “Seems like you got busy already.”

Yet, right as Kasey was about to respond, a shadow fell over Caelum’s eyes as he abruptly walked towards the stairs, muttering in a solemn tone.

“…I’m going to take a nap.”

Vaelen desperately stepped towards his direction, as all the others turned towards Caelum with slightly perplexed expressions.

“Do you want me to accompany you?” he asked. But he was met with a cold response.

“No.”

As Caelum ascended the staircase, Kasey stepped towards the group, her arms folded.

“What happened?”

Declan sighed, staring at the staircase with his hands placed on his hips.

“He failed a test we did today. He just needs some alone time right now, I assume.”

“Oh… what kind of test?”

“T’was a battle simulation against mannequins,” Geneve chimed in from behind, her arms also folded. “I can imagine how he must feel after losing while everyone else triumphed.”

***

-45 minutes ago: The Gaian Academy-

The grand hall had been encumbered in a deafening silence, punctured slightly by Caelum’s haggard breaths. The others were seated on the wooden pews; Lunar held a composed, but intrigued expression, whilst Geneve, Declan, and Vaelen were visibly distressed upon seeing the state Caelum was in.

Vash stood right next to him as he lay defeated on the ground, his Grimoire slowly dispersing in the air. He slowly reached his hand out to Caelum, speaking with a soft tone.

“You’ve tried your best. Come, take a recovery po-”

Smack!

With a swift motion, Caelum slapped his hand away. Mustering up every ounce of strength he had left in his body to stand up.

“I… don’t need it,” he spoke in between breaths. Vash, setting his surprise and shock aside, decided to remain calm once more.

“But you’re going to get significantly more burdened if you don’t.”

Caelum then grinded his teeth, frowning deeply at him.

“I said I don’t need it.”

Without speaking any further, Caelum stormed out of the grand hall, the thundering sounds of the doors closed with force reverberating throughout the space. Vaelen sprung out of his seat, but Vash turned towards him with a serious expression, and said,

“…Let him be.”

—

Following his outrage, Caelum was strugglingly wandering through one of the hallways, firmly grasping the upper left corner of his chest as his breathing became profuse. It appeared that he was trying to reach a restroom or any place that could provide him some privacy. Unfortunately, his agony was not over yet.

Someone was approaching him from the other end of the hall, causing him to slowly raise his sweat covered face to see a tall, well-built fellow student with short trimmed dark blonde hair. A distinct rebel-like face. And upon speaking with a loud, taunting tone… it would be enough for any familiar person to recognize him.

It was Emory.

“Aren’t you Caelum Jinton?”

Not knowing who this person was made the inner turmoil swirl even more prevalently within Caelum’s chest as it grew heavier with each second passing by. He could already feel the sheer imposing sensation emanating from him. It was not enough for him to cower in fear, but it certainly was to keep him quiet in response.

Emory then stepped further up to the point of standing right before Caelum, who could barely keep himself on both feet at this point. He then asked with an authoritative tone, his hands perched in the pockets of his black jeans.

“Not feeling like talking?”

“…Sorry, I’m not feeling well,” Caelum said solemnly, frowning slightly. Numerous questions started to arise in his mind. Who is he? What does he want? A friend of Qlint?

Sadly, he was not given any chance to properly consider Emory’s presence.

“I don’t care about that. I’m asking you something, so you’re supposed to respond to me,” he said, almost acting as though he only meant harm. He leaned over, their faces only centimeters apart from each other, and spoke once more.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I’ve heard some interesting things about you. What did you do befor-”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Emory raised his eyebrows, visibly surprised by Caelum’s sudden intervention and choice of words. He was of course considering the possibility of Caelum being a lot less collected than his older brother, but he could never have guessed him to be as ‘straightforward’ as this. He recoiled his head and raised his hands in the air as if surrendering himself, and spoke with a joyful, ecstatic tone.

“Woah! Quite the big talker we have here, ey? Do I not scare you whatsoever? Aren’t you pissing in your pants just by standing in my presence right now?”

Caelum only further stared at him with now furrowed eyes in silence. Prompting Emory to continue.

“So what did you do before coming here?” he said, placing his fingers under his chin. “Let me guess… bad shit. You look so skinny and weak, I doubt you’d ever be able to survive in the real world. You’re just another goody two shoes like your punny older brother.”

A dark shadow fell over Caelum’s eyes as he muttered.

“…What did you say?”

“Did you not hear me?” Emory chuckled as he closed his eyes. “Your bro-”

Right before he could finish his words…

…Caelum had plunged his fist into his face.

He stumbled backwards, rubbing the hurting area as anger instantly fueled his entire body, concentrated through his now malice-filled eyes.

“You… fucker…”

Caelum, who had just rightfully punched Emory in his face, could now feel Emory’s anger that burned like wildfire, gradually scorching his body from the center of his chest. He slowly stepped backwards, and it was only then that he realized he had further pushed his body beyond the limit.

He began to stumble over his feet as Emory slowly stepped towards him, as if fear mixed with absolute fatigue rendered his legs null. Knowing he had to get out of here, he tried to turn away, but right then—

—Emory leapt towards him, firmly planting his right palm on the back of his neck.

Emory threw Caelum against the wall with merciless force, causing him to slide down to the ground slowly. As he voiced out his pain, Emory instantly propelled his leg and made a clean connection to his abdomen with a tough kick.

The trauma caused Caelum to momentarily crawl with widened eyes towards the other end of the hallway… but there was no way he could possibly escape from him at that moment. He was alone; Vaelen, and his other friends were still in the grand hall. He tried to scream, but he felt so fatigued that not even that was possible.

And right when he was about to succumb to his wounds, Emory landed another devastating kick to his chest. And then another, and another, and another, as he repeatedly cursed Caelum with a brutal tone.

After what seemed to be an eternity, footsteps could be heard from one side of the hallway. Caelum, his face planted against the ground, could only vaguely see a figure approaching him…

…Sadly, it was not a figure he had seen before. It was Madeline, approaching the scene with a confused, but carefree expression.

“Oi, Emory! What are you doing?”

He only ticked his tongue and averted his head, and at that moment, Madeline realized what happened.

“Oh, good lord… What did we tell you to do? You fucking idiot!”

“If only you saw what happened, Madeline. This fucker did it first!”

“…Let’s go. We can’t be caught here,” she muttered, eventually approaching Caelum, who was on the verge of collapsing. She playfully squatted beside him, palms on her protruding knees, as she spoke to him with an eerily mischievous tone.

“I hate to be a meanie like Emory right now, but could you not tell anyone about this? No matter how you may be feeling, it’s best to do what I say if you don’t want any further problems, not only problems regarding the Inquisition, just so you know.”

Her words were met with a hurtful silence. But it was enough to convince her that Caelum had painfully acknowledged her words. She stood up and walked away.

“Come, Emory.”

After glancing at Caelum for the last time, he turned towards her and followed her trail.

—

Not to Caelum’s advertence, their class for today was about to reach its crescendo. It took five minutes for him to muster up whatever crumble of strength he had left to get himself on his feet. His head felt dizzy, causing him to involuntarily lean against the wall before pushing himself further, stumbling back towards the hallway where the grand hall was situated.

After nearing the door leading towards the others, he stopped himself, his face turning solemn, and faced the large alcove where numerous tables with chairs were situated. He slowly stepped towards the alcove, as suddenly, the door behind him swung open.

…It was Vaelen.

He immediately exclaimed Caelum’s name and reached for him. Holding him in his arms.

“Are you okay?”

“…I’m fine.”

The others soon followed. Relieved to see him, Lunar reached for him, too, but immediately realized something was off.

“Caelum? Did something happen?”

Knowing Lunar’s keen personality, Caelum couldn’t help but avert his eyes and keep quiet. Yet this was not enough to stop him. Without questioning, Lunar gently pulled his lower lip lower.

“…You have blood on your lips.”

“I… bit myself,” Caelum responded, pushing his hand away.

“You bit yourself? Why?” Declan asked. “Let me see.”

“I just bit myself,” Caelum retorted once again, averting his head. “I was angry.”

Geneve tilted her head in contemplative silence, as Declan decided to reassure him, thinking he was speaking the truth.

“Well, Vash explained that your failure doesn’t hold much weight for whether or not you may actually enter the Inquisition. This was just-”

“Declan,” Lunar interjected. “Give it a rest for a little. Our lecture of today is over. Let’s head back to our dorm.”

Lunar most likely could tell that something happened to him. There were no other apparent wounds like the one on his lips, but despite having fought against the mannequin, which caused his initial wounds, Lunar sensed some sort of further trauma, as if Caelum had banged himself against a wall, or something…

He decided not to question him at this moment. It was not the right moment, nor the right place that could serve a calming effect on his mind. To him, Caelum was already in distress after losing against the mannequin despite the rest winning. Patience was key, and Vaelen seemed to have understood that, as well.

***

-Present time: Caelum’s room-

Seated on the side edge of his bed, Caelum, as he tightly gripped his bed sheet with trembling hands, whispered to himself in a tone that could only be akin to as if he concentrated every ounce of anger and frustration he built up throughout the day and let it tear out of his tongue.

“…That… fucking bastard!”

“Who is he?! What… why… why the fuck is he such… such a piece of shit!!”

“I’ll punch his guts so hard! So hard! So so so so so so fucking hard! Harder than anything he could fucking imagine!”

“That… fffff….!!”

“…Feeling angered?”

A second voice… spoke out right in front of him.

It was a voice he heard before, but not a voice he heard often.

“Who?!”

As he raised his head…

…he saw “Her” standing in front of him with clasped hands. “She” was dressed in the same layered black robe as earlier.

“…You…” he muttered silently, his mouth left ajar.