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Mind of saints can be crippled
'Woah!'
What was that? I reached out and grabbed a glowing diamond amulet, its brilliance cutting through the darkness of the mysterious room I suddenly found myself in. As my fingers closed around it, the ground beneath me began to crack and crumble. Before I could react, the entire room collapsed into nothingness.
Now, I stood on the edge of an impossibly large staircase suspended in the clouds. I could barely tell up from down, the fog around me so dense it was disorienting. As I looked ahead, my eyes caught something: the stairs behind me disappeared with each step I took forward. There was no going back.
After what felt like an eternity, I cautiously stopped. In front of me, glowing letters floated mid-air:
"AKUMA-SABLIA-FORMU-SADIPAR"
I didn't know what they meant, but curiosity got the better of me. Tentatively, I sounded out the words. On the third attempt, the amulet I had held earlier reappeared, glowing even brighter. It hovered toward me, and as it floated closer, I noticed a name etched onto its surface.
Reaching out, I gripped the amulet, intending to yank it off its hook. A sudden splash of cold water jolted me back to reality.
I shot up in bed, gasping. "It was... a nightmare?"
Standing beside me, Nysar hovered with an empty bucket. She sighed and flew around me, clearly upset.
"Vale! You've been having nightmares for two weeks now," Nysar said, her small voice tinged with worry. "Are you sure you don't need help?"
I tried to brush it off. "Nysar, aren't you just the cutest? Thanks for worrying, but I'm fine. It's just a dream, okay?"
Nysar frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Vale, this isn't normal. Please—"
"Nysar, I'll be late for school! We can talk about this later." I glanced at the clock.
Her tiny voice rose in alarm. "Late? Vale, it's already 11:00!"
"What?!" I jumped out of bed in a panic. "Gotta go!"
I raced downstairs, grabbed a handful of macarons from the counter, and dashed to school.
When I finally reached the classroom door, out of breath, I froze. Everyone was staring...
Honestly, I wasn't too surprised by the silence when I walked in, but I wasn't expecting it either. As I stepped through the door, all eyes turned to me. I looked back, checking if there was something I wasn't picking up or noticing... Turns out it wasn't a coincidence, they were staring—at me!
'Why are they looking at me like I'm some alien who crash-landed here?'
Ignoring the eerie silence, I made my way inside. My day was already bad, and I didn't need this to make it worse.
"That stupid nightmare," I muttered under my breath.
Just as I headed to my seat, a familiar voice called out,
"Vale!"
It was Adrien. I turned toward him, but before he could finish whatever he was about to say, Derrick stepped in, cutting him off. Their strange exchange left me puzzled. Derrick shot Adrien a warning look and kept giving me stern looks, but I kept a straight face, avoiding whatever charade they were playing. I was too drained to care. My focus was elsewhere.
I glanced at the empty seat next to mine—Liora's seat. My chest tightened. Every day, the sight of that vacant chair reminded me of how easily she let me go. How effortlessly she betrayed me.
I fought back the tears threatening to spill as my gaze shifted to Liora sitting across the room... with Brielle. They were giggling, whispering, and playfully nudging each other like they'd been best friends forever.
'You're happy, aren't you?' I thought bitterly.
Liora didn't even look my way. She knew I was here, everyone had stared when I walked in... but she acted like I was invisible. Like I was nothing. One would think I had been her enemy for ages.
"That used to be us, Liora," I whispered to myself, staring at the friendship bracelet on my wrist. I wasn't ready to take it off. Not yet.
Part of me clung to the hope that she'd come to her senses and we'd fix this. Until then, I would still have faith in our friendship. Maybe it wasn't so easy to turn your back on me, Liora. She was my best friend—no, a sister I never had. The one person I thought would never leave me. I prayed she'd find her way back to me. Had I done something wrong? Did I miss something? We'd always found our way back to each other, even after fights. But this time… we hadn't even fought.
I was trying my best to understand her perspective and every reason why she was doing this, to stay as positive as ever. But I couldn't help the thoughts invading my mind:
'What if this really is it? Was it really this easy to let me go? What if she's done with me? All of our promises—'
'Is it easy… to forget all the memories we shared? To let our friendship die? To think you don't want me anymore? To forget all our laughs and tears? Where did I go wrong? Did you just get bored of me? Things you said you'd never do, now you're doing them? What made you change like this?'
My thoughts spiraled as I tried to make sense of it all. Was she tired of me? Had she shared my secrets with Brielle? My heart ached with unanswered questions.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask Liora because she just changed overnight. Still looking at Liora and Brielle, I sniffled and blinked away my tears.
'sigh!'
Before I could dwell any further, I took a shaky breath and headed to my seat, shaking off the hurt and the lump in my throat, keeping my face as blank as possible. But just as I was about to sit, a sharp pain shot through my ankle, and I crashed to the floor flat on my face.
Pain radiated from my leg, hurting like it was broken. It took a few seconds before I realized I'd slipped on a puddle of oil—intentionally placed there. A piercing screeching laugh cut through the air.
Brielle?! She screamed and laughed hilariously, barely squeezing words from her mouth as her laughter echoed through the room. She spoke some words that would have gotten me off my knees if I weren't flat on the floor right now.
"I didn't think it would actually work!" she cackled. "Liora, you're a genius!"
'...Liora? So you could do this to me?'
My heart sank further as I looked up to see the horrifying laugh of Liora—one I thought I'd never hear. She was laughing at me. She was taking pictures—of me?! Not a shred of guilt or regret crossed her face.
'Do you hate me that much, Liora?'
If I wasn't the one in this experience, I would've doubted we knew each other, let alone being best friends. Even an ex-best friend wouldn't do such a thing. There was just so much hatred and disdain in her expression.
'What did I even do?'
Brielle's voice rang out again. "Everyone, look! Vale fell! Honestly, how stupid can you be not to look where you're going? Liora was right—you really are a dummy."
I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to cry as I saw that smug laugh swelling in Brielle's throat. I didn't want to say anything... not like I had something to say. I didn't—and even if I did, I'd just get laughed at again. Who would acknowledge me?
The classroom roared with laughter as I lay there, unable to move. My leg throbbed, my pride shattered.
I tried getting up, but it was of no use. It felt like my leg was being shattered into pieces. And with the oil partially on me, I couldn't take it anymore. I silently wept and kept my head down. All of this was too much to bear.
'Why me?'
All the fake promises Liora made—"I will never leave you," "I'll be beside you every time," "We'll never let each other go till death do us part"—ALL LIES, STUPID LIES. Liora just watched, laughing like a wild beast. She was even the mastermind behind this. How could all our memories just fade away? Did they mean nothing to her? I thought I knew her...
"Won't you stand up?"
I heard a voice breaking my deep thoughts. I hadn't realized a figure had appeared near me. I brought my head back up, looking up at him as he extended his hand toward me, moving slightly uncomfortably with pity and sadness in his eyes. It made me realize that I was still on the floor—something I apparently forgot or simply couldn't care less about.
I stared at his hand. Adrien's voice broke through the chaos in my head again.
"Vale?"
I looked up at him, his eyes filled with pity, but something deeper lingered—sadness, maybe even regret. I didn't know. I hesitated, then took his hand.
"Thank you," I whispered as he helped me up.
Back in my seat, I kept my head down, willing the tears to stop. I finally had the courage to look up when the laughter and echoes had died down. I automatically looked at Adrien, who was already staring at me, his gaze intense. His mouth quivered, hesitating to speak.
'The...heck?!'
He was still standing there, looking at me. I stared back, not understanding the message. He hadn't even moved or gotten back to his seat.
'This is sus?'
Yes, I fell, he helped me up, I thanked him—what else is there? Had he never seen a girl get pranked before?
'Just stop staring...ah?!'
I felt so annoyed. Maybe he's looking at me because of my half-oiled clothes, or maybe because I fell. But… he's not that kind of person to judge or be bad. I looked at him again with questioning eyes.
But now it seemed like he wanted to tell me something, but couldn't. It felt like I could read his mind through his eyes. I saw pain, regret, and hesitation. Obviously, I can't read minds, so it must be my mind playing tricks on me again.
"Morning, class!" The moment was interrupted by Miss Anderson's arrival. Her chirping excitement cut through the tension and snatched everyone's attention. While Adrien, struggling to leave my sight, looked at Miss Anderson, she gestured for him to take his seat. But he looked back at me and then returned to his seat, giving me a look—"Prepare."
'What....the...heck is going on today?'
She continued with an announcement:
"So today... I have something I'd like to say, and I expect all ears—especially the 'ladies'." She drew out the word "ladies" and paused for a moment.
Apparently, she was more than excited today. Maybe she had a really hard test coming up, or... it could be her new crush. She's really young, though—only 22. Very young. She continued.
"There's someone new coming into this class. He's really hot… cute… oh my Godddd... So, he's coming here, and he's a student." She was rudely interrupted by someone.
"Hm, excuse me, ma'am—please get to the point. We all know he's a student," Derrick said, clearly out of jealousy. She hissed in anger and continued.
"Derrick, never interrupt me again! Sorry, class, I was just trying to say that he's really famous and he's coming here, so please treat him well. I'll see you all after break. Derrick, follow me!" With that, she left the class with Derrick sadly trailing behind her.
I could only hear faint whispers and movements of Miss Anderson's mouth because my mind was elsewhere.
"Obviously, he's going to fall head over heels for me. I'm so beautiful no one can stand me," I vividly heard Lila saying with her disgusting voice. She sounded so sure—like she could see the future. Even if he falls for her, I can't be surprised because she'll obviously manipulate him with her lies.
When Brielle's voice rang out again, I was very irritated, just from the sound of her voice. The humiliation, the betrayal—it was all too much. Mocking me—I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, needing an excuse to leave, but the laughter started again.
Confused, I glanced down and saw it. Red droplets trailing from my chair to where I stood. I instinctively felt my pink pants… wet. WET!
'Am I...?'
My heart raced. Was this real? It was wet with a red stain. I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
Before I could panic further, Brielle's shrill voice pierced the air.
"See? Hahahaha. You fell for it! I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough not to notice the whole thing. The paint reached the back of your knees. You didn't even notice? How dumb can you be?!"
Hearing that wench's voice, I felt both relieved and boiling. At least I was happy it wasn't real blood. But something inside me snapped. Before I knew it, my reflex acted quickly. The classroom fell silent, gasps echoing through the air.
Brielle stumbled and fell face-flat on the same oily floor she had set up for me. She looked like a lunatic, while Liora tried to help her up.
I didn't wait for questions or stares. I stormed out of the classroom, my heart pounding.
'Why me?'