The
hiccups of Saphy’s cries were drowned out by Ester’s thoughts.
Dead?
No… that can’t be.
The sentence didn’t make sense. It… couldn’t. Ezekiel, the boy
who spoke his mind blindly, who had demonstrated such bravery and
confidence… the same one dead? For some reason Ester couldn’t
accept it.
Saphy was screaming something, Kris held Ezekiel’s hand, trying to
hold back his emotions… or saying something, Ester couldn’t tell.
None of this felt real. She must’ve been dreaming. Yes! That was
it, any moment now she would wake up back on the Golden Express, all
of them still chatting as they headed back to the HoS.
Ezekiel didn’t wake up. Neither did she.
“…
H?”
Ester
looked up at Kris, who knelt with his head bowed low, his voice
barely a whisper. “What do I tell them..? I couldn’t do
anything…”
Kris had always seemed so calm and collected...seeing him like this,
Ester’s chest tightened. She turned toward the edge of the rooftop.
The marketplace sprawled out below them, three stories down. Lin Hua
looked tiny from this height, a small figure catching her breath in
its emptiness.
“LIN
HUA!”
The scream tore out of her, cutting Saphy’s cries short. Kris’s
body twitched, but he didn’t look up, his face twisted as silent
tears fell.
Saphy understood instantly. She scrambled to join Ester at the edge.
They both began screaming, waving desperately, trying to get her
attention.
“PLEASE!”
“LOOK UP!”
Lin Hua remained unaware, wiping her brow, staring at the sweat
smeared across her hand. She was staggering, whatever she had just
done took a serious toll on her. The glow in her eyes flickered,
dimming.
She couldn’t hear them.
“L-LIN HUA!” Saphy’s voice cracked, raw and desperate. She
leaned further over the edge. “PLEASE… LOOK THIS WAY-”
Ester grabbed her coat, pulling her back before it was too late.
“Saphy...be careful!”
“Be CAREFUL?!” Saphy pulled free, tears streaming down her face.
“Someone has DIED and you want me to be CAREFUL?!”
Saphy’s eyes were full of anger, sadness and something else... as
if she’d seen this before. Her words hung in the air between them,
crushing and final.
Ester looked over her shoulder at Kris. He hadn’t moved, still
kneeling beside Ezekiel with his head bowed, both hands clasping
Ezekiel’s arm as if saying a prayer.
“Kris…” Ester’s voice shook. “M-maybe Lin Hua can-”
“Doesn’t matter anymore.” His voice was hollow, empty. “My
best friend… is gone.”
Saphy put her hands on her head, her mouth pursed as she let out
silent sniffles, shoulders shaking. Ester, however, still couldn’t
accept this. Delusional or not, she didn’t
“He’s
.” Ester
insisted. “H-he can still be saved.”
Kris turned his head slowly, strands of his long hair falling across
his face. His eyes, sad and lifeless, met hers.
No,
he can’t.
In that moment, all of her delusions, the optimistic hope she’d
clung to, began draining from her body. Reality’s silence settled
over her like a cloud.
Ezekiel Barak was dead.
Their grief was like a mist that wafted through the air, suffocating
each and every one of them.
Then-
“...Did you guys enjoy the show?”
They all turned to see Lin Hua standing at the edge of the rooftop,
panting. She had a smug smile on her weary face that evaporated
completely the moment she saw their expressions.
Her smile faltered.
“...What’s wrong?”
She scanned all of them, Saphy’s tear-streaked face, Ester’s wide
eyes, Kris kneeling beside something on the ground. Her gaze followed
his, landing on Ezekiel’s still form.
Her face went pale.
“Ezekiel…” Ester stammered. Lin Hua looked at her with a panic
in her eyes.
“He’s...He’s…” Saphy choked.
Lin Hua stood frozen for a heartbeat, staring. Then understanding
crashed over her like a wave.
“Shit.” Her voice was full of urgency. “Shit. Shit. Shit!”
She stumbled forward, nearly tripping in her exhaustion, and dropped
to her knees beside him. She quickly placed an ear on his chest.
“How long?!” She shouted.
“A-about a minute ago?” Saphy squeaked. “...or was it two?”
“...We’re not sure!” Ester blurted.
Lin Hua looked at her, her expression almost mad.
“SHIT!” She fumbled upright before hovering her hands over his
chest, trembling. The confident aura she’d radiated earlier was
completely gone, replaced by desperation. Panic.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“I’m
so
She took a deep breath, steadying her hand as she closed her eyes.
Her golden glow was dying.
“Please,
Utahime…” she pleaded
quietly, not looking up.
“...What are you doing?” Kris mumbled. “Don’t you know he’s
dead?”
Lin Hua flinched. Ester’s heart skipped a beat.
“Kris…” Saphy started.
“All that time, you could’ve prevented all this…” Kris slowly
turned to look at her, his hollow eyes red. “...Why didn’t you?”
As much as they wanted to interject...to tell Kris she did her best,
there was undeniable truth in his words…If she had the power from
the beginning, then why?…
Lin Hua was frozen. She bit her lip, closing her eyes again, trying
to turn her focus back to Ezekiel’s limp body, pressing a palm
against his chest.
Then she took a slight gasp.
“Y-yes!” She exhaled, body shaking. “Thank you, Utahime…”
“What are you…” Before Ester could finish her sentence, a faint
glow escaped Lin Hua’s palms. It was weak. Barely a flicker.
“You brat.” She hissed through gritted teeth. “You will not die
today. I
The glow brightened, encapsulating both Ezekiel and Lin Hua’s body.
Brighter than any of them could stand, they were forced to turn their
heads away.
For five seconds, the glow lasted, until it faded gently, the warmth
going with it.
They heard a gasp, followed by a cough. Immediately, they all turned
back around.
His eyes flew open, unfocused and confused. He glanced around, the
same wide eyed shock and open mouths were shared between Kris, Ester
and Saphy. He looked down and saw Lin Hua’s hand on his chest,
mumbling something as he stroked her arm.
“Hmm…? I like this dream…”
Lin Hua retracted her hand so quickly it was as if she’d been
burned, sweat dripping from her forehead. “Ugh...you-”
It was all he could manage before he passed out on the rooftop.
Silence stretched for long moments as they stared at the boy’s
unconscious body. His obnoxious snoring was the only sound...that and
Lin Hua’s heavy breathing. No one knew what to say. They all looked
at her, the same question in their minds. A second star student
being able to … Just who
was she?
Kris looked at Ezekiel, his body shaking. “You saved him...”
He turned his attention back to her, tears welling in his eyes. He
pressed his head against the cold rooftop.
“Thank you! Thank you!” He was shaking. “Truly...Thank you….”
She was silent, her breathing shaky, her eyes unfocused, the glow
completely disappearing. She managed to look at all of them, an
expression of regret and weariness fighting for dominance on her
face.
“I’m...sorry I put you all in this situation...” she staggered.
Before they could even gather their thoughts, she ungracefully turned
her gaze up at the sky, using what little strength she had left.
“You can handle the rest!” She bellowed. They didn’t even get
the chance to ask what she meant, her eyes rolled back and she
slumped to the side. Ester and Saphy just barely managed to control
her descent.
“Is she…?” Kris whispered.
Ester
leaned close to her, trembling, but she heard it. Faint, but the
sound of her shaky breath.
“...She’s
still breathing.” Ester exhaled.
They
all breathed a sigh of relief, leaving only exhaustion and the
crushing weight of what had just happened.
“…Alright!”
Saphy said finally, jumping to her feet. “So..what do we do now?”
Ester
paused not just because of Saphy’s unreal change of emotion, but
what Lin Hua had said. “...What did she mean by-”
A
massive shadow passed overhead.
They
all looked up, startled.
A
massive iron dragon circled above them, its iron wings catching the
moonlight. And standing on its back, a silhouette called from the
sky.
“She
alive?!”
“She
is!” Saphy called back before she could even think.
The
dragon descended in a tight spiral, allowing the man to leap off
before the creature even got close enough. He hit the rooftop with a
solid thud, walking toward them, hands shoved in his pockets.
Up
close, Ester could see him clearly, him.
He was older than them, maybe a third year. Short blue
hair. An eyebrow piercing. HoS sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The
hilt of a sword strapped to his side. An irritable scowl carved deep
into his features.
Ester, Saphy, and Kris unconsciously took a step back.
The man stopped, scanning each of their faces. His scowl deepened.
Then he let out a long, irritable sigh and scratched the back of his
head.
“...I suppose I should ask if you’re all okay.”
They all nodded frantically. Who knows what would’ve happened if
they said otherwise.
His gaze shifted to Lin Hua, lying unconscious on the rooftop, her
face pale and drawn. A pained expression lingering.
“It’s always the same with you...” He muttered under his
breath.
He stood there for a moment, head tilted back, staring up at the sky
as if considering something. Then he made a decision.
“Okay.” He turned toward the dragon still hovering above them.
“Kilisk!”
The dragon’s massive head focused him.
“Take those two back to the Institute please. Oh.” He looked at
whatever Lin Hua had knocked out from the rooftop. “And take that
thing with you.”
The dragon let out a huff, clearly annoyed, but descended anyway with
surprising grace. Its iron wings beat once, twice, producing a cool
breeze that made Ester’s hair flow around her face.
Kilisk extended its front claws and gently, scooped up
both Lin Hua and Ezekiel as if they weighed nothing. It dived down,
also scooping the creature with the same swiftness before launching
itself into the night. It disappeared into the darkness letting out a
bone-rattling scream that made Saphy flinch hard.
The man turned back to face the three of them.
“Now for the rest of you…”
“Do you know a way we can get down?” Saphy asked, a little too
eagerly.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Sure I do.”
Before any of them could ask what he meant, he’d already moved. In
one smooth motion, he scooped Kris up in both arms and started
walking toward the edge of the rooftop.
“Huh...HUH?!” Kris’s voice rose in panic, realisation hitting
him too late.
The man simply stepped off the rooftop, Kris’s cries trailing
behind. A loud thud echoed from below. Saphy and Ester ran to the
edge and found the man already scaling back up, appearing in almost
no time.
His eyes locked on Ester, pointing straight at her. “You.”
Ester shook her head, trying her best to take a step back, but he was
faster, already sweeping her into his arms. He turned back toward the
edge.
“Wait...WAIT!” She pleaded. “Isn’t there another wa-AAYYY!?”
They both plummeted. Ester braced herself as hard as she could, eyes
squeezed shut, holding onto him as tightly as she could. They landed
with a THUMP and he exhaled slightly. He let her go and she wobbled a
few paces, trying to get her bearings.
“Your...You’re She glanced back and the man was
already scaling towards the rooftop again. She could faintly see
Saphy protesting as he approached her. He jumped down, Saphy’s
scream trailing behind.
Saphy’s
knees buckled as she landed, an awestruck expression on her face. So
cool… Saphy was a weird case.
“I’m sure you all know where the station is?” the man said.
They nodded. “Well we’re going back.”
“Wait...”Saphy asked. “Who are you?”
“Hah?” He stared at Saphy, then realised they didn’t know who
he was and he’d never told them his name. “Oh right...name’s
Elijah.” He turned around and muttered something. “...You can
call me Eli.”
“...Huh?”
“N-Never mind! Come on, let’s go.”
His scowl returned. He shoved one hand in his pocket, the other
scratching his hair as he walked toward the edge of the marketplace.
The three of them hurried to follow.
They walked in silence for a while, retracing their steps. Ester
turned back as they arrived at the same hill they’d taken coming to
the marketplace.
“What’s going to happen now?” she said. “What that
thing?”
Eli pursed his lips as he kept his pace.
“We don’t know.” He finally said. “They’ve been appearing
more recently around Chimera, spreading Synchrites thin.”
“Like the one in Leria?” Kris spoke up. “Like a tall grey
humanoid dog?”
Eli nodded. “Luckily, this one didn’t do as much damage as that
one. On that, we should thank Lin Hua.”
Saphy’s face lit up at the mention of her name. “Is she going to
be okay?”
“Probably.” Eli snorted. “...However, she will be in a lot of
trouble.”
“Trouble?” Ester glanced at him, a confused look etched on her
face. “But she saved everyone..”
Eli scoffed as he kept moving.
“The Church...the HoS won’t see it like that,” he continued.
“...Let’s just hope she comes out with a probation.”
They walked in silence as the night grew darker. Everything they had
just witnessed, everything that had happened to them was now just a
memory, a memory that had changed all five of them, for better or for
worse.
They trudged towards the Cathedral.
