The sweat burned her eyes. The ground's tremor, the explosive burst of earth, the loud roar that rung her ears—all drowned by her heart pounding against her chest. Her breath hitched as she stared at a familiar silhouette in the dusty fog, that one person that only mattered amidst the chaos.
"Mother?"
But how…
They were having the usual lovely lunch together by their house. Under the same tree, they would spread a large cloth over the overgrown grass, basking themselves under the golden flecks of the sun after a bountiful meal.
A warm whisk of the summer breeze carried the tunes of the violin her mother played—a tune where you'd feel like dressed in an elegant gown that follows the swing of your movements as you waltz, your skin bathed under the chandelier's soft glow. You twirled on the intricate marbled tiles of the ballroom, your hem gracefully embodying a halo around your frame.
The melody danced with sophistication, sometimes jaunty like the frills of a lady's fan that flutters as a mask to appeal to a certain male. Sun's Brilliance. Her mother told her this was a song dedicated to Astrea for the celestial's first debutante ball.
No doubt that the celestial shone brilliantly like the sun—radiant, mesmerizing, and the apple of everyone's eye.
"Adeleine…" the sweet voice of her mother called.
"Mother?" She coughed as the fog engulfed her, fanning her face to let the dust subside.
"Adeleine…" the shadow stopped in front of her. She couldn't see her face but, she knows it's Desha. She couldn't be mistaken.
She flinched when both hands grabbed her shoulders, not used to the harsh actions of her mother. However, the shadow snaked her arms around the girl and pulled her head to close the chest…
"Mother?" Adeleine couldn't move, her body wouldn't listen. It was both from numbness and exhaustion. Her knees buckled as tears welled in the corner of her eyes.
It was strange. She was with her a while ago but, it's like she lost her mother for years. A fleeting sense of dread hit her that felt like she'll never come back but…
No, she's real. She's here.
Longing… is this what longing feels like? But why?
"Adeleine, why did you leave me?"
It was a soft whisper in her ear but, the words shattered the glass of her core being. She gasped as she stumbled back, eyes stricken with fear. She bit back her scream.
Her mother… Desha… she's covered in red…
"Why did you leave me, Adel?" Her voice, doused in sugar but, Adeleine shuddered hearing her name. Desha took a step closer, "Why didn't you fight back?"
Her vision blurred. No no no no NO! It can't be… that can't be her mother… what happened to her? They were having lunch a while ago!
"Adel," Desha's cold hands grabbed her face. She traced a thumb on Adeleine's cheeks and drew red circles.
Bloody moon… Adeleine couldn't utter a word. Her whole body trembled in cold sweat as her mother's bloody fingers caressed her while she could only watch in fear of her mother's pale gray face, her soulless eyes, and her sweet innocent smile turn to a sickening display of mockery. She prayed for Astrea to shred light into this horrid nightmare.
"Why are you so weak?"
"NO!" She shot up awake, body drenched in cold sweat and her chest heaving. She frantically looked around only to realize she's still in Miss Nora's class.
"Well, it looks like you had a lovely dream, Miss Adeleine." Miss Nora smiled as she stood beside their desk but Adeleine could feel the glare behind it. "Please clean your desk before you leave," she pointed at the tiny pool of saliva that formed while the girl was asleep.
"Oh, uh, yes, Master Nora." Adeleine nodded, keeping her face neutral from breaking into a sheepish smile as her cheeks tinted pink.
The master chuckled. "Good. You also need to study for tomorrow's test in case you weren't listening to my lessons."
She nodded again as she quickly wiped her chin with her sleeves.
"Are- are you okay?" Bridget asked, worried. "You really have dark eyebags under your eyes… Um, if you don't mind me asking, have you been sleeping well?"
Adeleine sighed. She couldn't even get at least a wink without any of those recurring nightmares. "I'm fine."
This time, however, it's worse.
Whenever she had nightmares, her mother would read her stories about the celestial beings and the wondrous mysteries of this world until she drifts to sleep. And when she met Moon, she hadn't had any nightmares ever since, not even her previous traumatic experience haunted her like this.
What did her mother say again? "They're after me…" she mumbled to herself in thought.
"Did you say something?" Bridget tilted her head.
Adeleine shook her head to dispel the thought. "Nothing."
Who are "they"? And why are they after her? If only she has her pendant right now, she could find the person her mother entrusted her daughter with. They may know the answer to these questions.
Should she sneak into the headmaster's office next? The last infiltration may not have been successful but, they managed to get away—not that it's an intended infiltration. She swears that she has no ill-intention against Dean Helios.
But enough of that. Right now, her most important task is to retrieve her pendant from the evil clutches of a certain demon's reincarnation.
And they say that she's a demon? They should have seen their own well-respected headmaster smile while scheming.
"You really should take a rest," Bridget expressed in worry.
"You lost everything because you are weak."
Not this again. Even if she tried to divert her thoughts, it always managed to snake its way back through like a pestering vermin.
"Ugh, how annoying…" she rubbed the throbbing area between her eyebrows.
What offense did she commit to the night celestial to give her nightmares?
Bridget squeaked and instantly shrunk in her seat, muttering an apology. "I didn't know I was annoying you… Maybe, I shouldn't have…maybe I'm bothering you too much… I should leave…"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Adeleine leaned in as she couldn't clearly hear a single word the girl said.
"I'm sorry!" she whispered as she frantically stood up and scrambled to get out of the classroom while Adeleine tilted her head as she watched her leave.
"What has got into her?" Even though perplexed, she shrugged her shoulders and cleaned her desk as she has her own dilemmas to deal with.
~~
"Yoooo, I've been looking where you guys are!" A familiar bubbly voice made Adeleine groan. "I never thought you'd be in the library. Oh! Hayden's here too! What's up, my man?"
"Heh, handsome as always," he combed his hair back while flashing a grin.
The librarian hushed loudly and sent them a warning glare which they both cheekily laughed.
It was the end of their classes so no doubt, some people would have their free time except for their class though. They're stuck in the library, studying for their test tomorrow.
While leaving their last class for the day, Hayden slung his arms over the two girls' shoulders and asked if they could have a study group together with a cheeky grin. If Adeleine remembered correctly, he was a part of the group that captured her in Enol Forest. He left a very unique impression—they all did. Out of all of them, he appeared to be quite normal other than his narcissistic tendencies.
And apparently, he's also one of the Mir rankers.
Speaking of Mir… "Is the angry snowman a Mir ranker too?" she lifted her head from the desk with a glazed expression. She should take advantage of these two's dense and unabashed blabbering mouths. Who knows? They might slip a very important piece of information without even realizing it.
"Angry snowman? It's not winter yet though." Hayden looked up in thought.
"Angry snowman? You mean the one with the glacier glares. Rawr!" Ria acted like she has claws and playfully scratched the air, feigning to scratch Adeleine's face.
"Oh, you're talking about Clandes. Unpopular opinion: he's an overrated prodigy."
"Don't be like that now," Ria snickered as she smacked his back, "You're just jealous because he got all the attention."
He gasped. "Me? Jealous? I'm better than that guy!" They all looked at him with deadpan faces. "Okay, maybe, a little bit because he stole the spotlight that was meant to be OURS, not his ALONE."
"Aw, there, there, cheer up," Ria snickered again. Instead of sounding consoling, she playfully mocked him while giving him candy.
From the word prodigy alone, Adeleine concluded, no doubt, he's Mir, alright.
"It's weird though... It's the first time I saw a hair color other than gold."
"If we're talking about their silver hair, then yup." Hayden nodded and leaned forward on the table. "We all know that the world is separated by two: Adhelians and Letherians. Of course, Adhelians are known to have shades of gold because we were dipped with energy from the Sun like how Letherians are known to have black hair. It's quite fascinating really! Like how everything in this world is connected to two opposing energies and there's nothing in between."
"Yeah, but you didn't explain the fact that they have white hair…" Adeleine tiredly yawned.
"Ah, yes, white hair. About that! They're from the northern part of Adhelis Empire. They used to be an independent state until they merged with us for more power and protection. It's not big but the mountain terrain is rough and snowy so it's isolated. It's now under the land of the Wind Royals, Headmaster's family. They still call it the same name, however, only now, it's not a kingdom anymore," he thoroughly explained. "Heska really has excellent Heloire potential but, sadly, they're not too keen on strangers."
"So you mean to say that Kellie and angry snowman comes from the same clan?"
"Yup," he nodded proudly as if he watched a child of his growing up. "Like I said, it could be in their blood or like the Heska clan, the reason why they have white hair even though they are still Adhelians."
"When you say still Adhelian, you mean the ability to use light energy, right? That's a common fact." Despite delirious, Adeleine was listening in very closely.
"Yeah, I mean, that basically what differs Letherians and Adhelians. The two energies react differently. Light energies are for elements and nature while dark energies are used to enhance the user's body or self."
Adeleine hummed in apprehension. Then what does that make her? Seriously, this all makes it confusing now. The more she read in this library, the more she knows, the more her fact becomes delusional and she doesn't know what reality to trust anymore.
What does that make Moon? What is she really? Could she really have an affinity? Is she really a Letherian? Then would Desha be her actual birth mother or is she adopted?
Adeleine irritatedly growled as she messed with her hair. Questions just kept piling up and it's even more frustrating that everything is a jumble. She doesn't even know where to start first!
Not to mention Moon's mysterious disappearance.
This isn't one of Headmaster's schemes, right? He couldn't have possibly switched out all the books with fake ones just to actually troll her.
She sighed as she rested her head on the book and closed her eyes. "Maybe, I should get some sleep," she mumbled to herself.
"Man, you look so beaten. What popped your balloon?" Adeleine shot up as Ria's loud voice pierced her ears, or maybe she got too sensitive due to her lack of rest.
"Uhh," Bridget finally decided to speak. The girl hasn't said a word even after they got here and only kept her head down. "Lady Ria, we shouldn't bother her."
"Says who?" Ria tilted her head and blinked.
"We-well, we should respect someone's boundaries… it's not very…um, well…nice to push people out of their comfort zone and disturb them when they clearly—" Her voice turned hush like a passing wind, "—didn't like it."
Adeleine couldn't hold back a tired yawn. She grunted and pushed the book away, standing up to take her leave. She could feel the heaviness of her eyelids and the bags under her eyes.
The smell of wood mixed in with old leather books basked the room with pleasant serenity she sought. She walked in an aisle, away from the noisy table, away from prying eyes, away from people. The thick curtains protected the keepers of ancient knowledge in the room from sunlight. Too much exposure can dry and ruin leather after all.
She took in a deep breath—an attempt to keep herself together but, the world put too much burden on her shoulders that she slowly gave in and hugged her knees.
"Why do I feel so miserable?"
No…this frustration felt a lot more different than her miserable state of not being able to figure out to use her affinity, it's more…hopeless and…depressing.
"Ughhhh." She buried her head deeper into her arms.
The words previously uttered by her voice companion echoed in her mind. 'Perhaps, you're in search of different questions, hence why you weren't able to find the answers you seek.'
Is she asking the right questions now? She still hasn't gotten any answers…or she's just too afraid to admit that the perfect illusion she created in her mind will shatter.
"Are you okay?" With a calm and even voice, he poked the girl with a book.
She flinched at the unexpected arrival of a stranger. She doesn't want to lift her head up since she didn't want to show this hideous display of weakness.
"Hey, are you okay?" His voice wasn't deep but, it's soothing…his monotonous tone was comparable to Kellie's, save for her sharp tongue while his rolled more softly.
"Can you please leave? I'm not in the best of state at the moment."
"You're the Letherian everyone is talking about…" His jaw slightly opened. He had bags under his eyes much like hers but, he seems not to be bothered compared to Adeleine's haggard state.
"Yes. Now, can you please leave?" She's trying her hardest not to snap, after all, they were just passing by but, her patience was already stretched thin to its limit.
"Can I have your autograph?" Despite his face devoid of any emotion, his eyes sparkled as he held a paper and a fountain pen.
"Huh? Why- you…?" Adeleine was lost for words. "Huuuuh?"
"Letherians truly are fascinating. It's a miracle to see one here in the academy." He clasped her hands. "In the flesh… You really are real. Tell me, how were you able convince The Circle to let you study here? How was your experience so far? Are you a Deviant? Then sort of ability do you possess?"
He kept firing tons of questions that Adeleine could barely remember the first one. "H-hold on!"
"Oh, my apologies. I didn't know I was making you uncomfortable." He took a step back and bowed his head. "It's a rare occurrence to have a Letherian here openly walking among us."
Adeleine figured that as much. "Tell me about it…" she muttered.
"I'm Lavin. It's pleasure to meet you." He offered his hand.
And she took it hesitantly. "Adeleine."
"I assist around the library in my free time hence, if you need help, I will gladly lend an aid."
"I—" Adeleine glanced at him up and down— "…see."
She wouldn't have guessed without murky brown bangs hooding over his glasses. It could be stereotyping but, he does look like a bookworm. She didn't mean it in a bad way, of course, she's also an avid fan of books in a certain genre.
It was off-putting to converse with someone so normally. Does he not see she's a Letherian? The Letherian everyone in the school despises, the one they're wary of, the one whom you should treat with contempt?
"Why are you being friendly?" Adeleine squinted at him while withdrawing cautiously.
"Is there something wrong?" Lavin hinted no malice or posed any threat.
She paused… Why is she acting like this? Maybe, she really needs to sleep.
Adeleine groaned as she buried her face in her palms. "I'm sorry. I'm not really in the best of mood as of late so I may have acted rude."
It would be handy to have someone who knows the library like the back of their hand. She might be able to get her hands on the copy of the fifth edition of her favorite series but, not now… not in her current state.
"Perhaps some other time then?" Despite her negative behavior, he doesn't seem to mind. "I barged in your solitary space without taking your mood into consideration."
Adeleine sighed, taking his sincerity into thought. "It's okay…" she waved her hand. It wasn't his fault anyway. "You didn't know."
He smiled. "I look forward to our next meeting then, Miss Adeleine. Kelepe dekat mo espiru."
Adeleine tilted her head as he left. He left quite an impression.
Who knew he could speak an ancient language? It almost has the same diction and fluidity as Moon. Although, she could only understand lepe that meant "moon".
It took her by surprise but, she expected nothing less of someone who has a deep passion for books.
She should head back to the Mir building and call it a day even if it is still afternoon. She'll need all the rest she could get for her test tomorrow considering how the night deprived her of sleep.