Back in the school,
The entire place was hushed, save for the occasional static of radios and muffled voices of law enforcement officers moving through the halls. The 'bodies' had already been cleared, only blood stains left telling of the tragedy that took place.
Splashes of blood stained the once beautiful tiles and bullet scorch marks littered the floor. Sunlight streamed in through shattered windows, casting jagged shadows across the lifeless forms.
Detective Leon stood over one such form—the crumpled body of the shooter, Zayn. The boy lay face-up, the exit wound from the sniper's bullet leaving a gaping hole through the top of his skull and out his head. His dark eyes were half-lidded, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Leon exhaled through his nose, rubbing the back of his neck as he scanned the body.
His digital pad hovered in his hand, displaying Zayn's file as he recorded new observations. Zayn. No Surname. Fourteen years old. No Liberation Talent. Orphan. Empire-Funded. Funded Status: Terminated.
Leon's eyes lingered on the words "fourteen years old" in the classification box. He'd been in this line of work long enough to know children were sometimes capable of unthinkable things, but something about this case gnawed at him.
"How does a kid this young even manage something like this?" he muttered under his breath.
Beside him, Officer Keller approached, glancing down at Zayn before handing Leon a tablet. "Preliminary death count. Thirteen confirmed dead, all students. 145 others are injured, 32 life-threatening, and the remaining superficial. Few who didn't resist suffer no injuries."
Leon frowned. "Thirteen?" His gaze flickered over the crime scene. "Reports said he shot up most of the school. You're telling me he only killed thirteen?"
Keller nodded, lowering his voice. "That's the odd part. Most of the shots were close-range, point-blank even. Those who survived said he had clear opportunities to kill them... but didn't. Most of them were knocked unconscious from the shock or lost enough blood to pass out, their unconscious bodies making it look like there were more fatalities."
Leon mulled over the information, his eyes narrowing slightly. He knelt beside Zayn's body, eyes drawn to a slight bulge in the boy's jacket pocket. Reaching carefully, he pulled out a small, well-worn notebook. As soon as it left the pocket, Keller instinctively stepped back.
"Careful with that," Keller warned, voice taut. "For all we know, it could be filled."
Leon raised an eyebrow, giving the officer a sideways glance. "Relax. Odds are low the kid kept a completed book on him."
Still, he scanned the notebook with his device for any latent energy signals—none. Satisfied, he opened the cover, flipping through its pages as his pad recorded every word within.
The first few pages contained hastily scribbled notes—floor layouts, schedules, and student routes. Leon's brow furrowed in mild surprise at the level of detail.
"He planned this thoroughly," Leon remarked, flipping to the next page. There, scrawled in black ink, was a list of names—seventeen in total. Thirteen were crossed out.
Leon stiffened. "Keller, get me the names of the deceased. Now."
Keller tapped on his device, pulling up the list and reading them aloud. With each name he recited, Leon cross-referenced them with the notebook. They matched all thirteen.
"These were his targets," Leon realized aloud. "The rest of the school wasn't even part of the plan."
Keller's face paled. "That's... too precise. Could the kid have been an assassin?"
Leon shook his head, lips pressed into a thin line. "I don't think so. If he was, he'd have been cleaner. This was personal."
He didn't tuck away the notebook, instead, his grip tightened slightly as he processed the implications. The names listed—those crossed out—were all connected, their families tied to high-profile figures within the Empire. It felt calculated, like an assassination, yet Leon's instincts resisted the notion.
His gaze drifted once more to Zayn's hollow expression. A child with a vendetta—or something deeper?
The soft shuffle of boots on cracked tiles signaled the approach of another officer. He leaned down, whispering something briefly into Officer Keller's ear before turning on his heel and disappearing back down the hall. Keller straightened, glancing over at Detective Leon, who had taken to quietly inspecting Zayn's notebook once more.
Leon didn't bother looking up. "What was that about?"
Keller cleared his throat, eyes flicking nervously toward the body at their feet. "The Archduke's daughter survived."
Leon's head snapped up. "Survived? The shot to the head?"
Keller nodded. "Barely. She's unconscious, but the medics say she'll make it."
Leon's gaze dropped back to the list of names in the notebook. His thumb ran along the edge of the paper, stopping when he found Eliza Soranthe's name, the only one marked with a small star beside it.
"That seems to be an important shot for him." Leon tapped her name with the edge of his stylus. "He didn't get his most important target before he died."
Keller shifted uncomfortably. "You almost sound disappointed, sir."
Leon exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "Not what I meant." He closed the notebook carefully, tucking it under his arm. "I'm not fond of nobles, but I don't hate them enough to wish their children dead."
Before Keller could respond, another figure entered the corridor. A woman with short-cut white hair, a chain tattoo coiling around her wrist, and a sleek headset resting against her collarbone. The long, slender barrel of a sniper rifle extended above her shoulder, barely visible beneath her cloak.
Both Leon and Keller straightened immediately, offering a brief but respectful bow. "Hero Athena."
Athena's gaze flicked over them coolly, her expression unreadable. "As you were."
Leon straightened first, his mind racing. He had questions but held his tongue. Characters of her status rarely appeared in crime scenes like these unless something far more significant was at play.
Almost as if sensing his thoughts, Athena's eyes drifted to him. "I was here on assignment. When I caught wind of the shooter, I intervened." She adjusted the rifle strap slightly. "I stationed myself in a nearby building. This spot had the best line of sight."
Leon's brow furrowed. "I see. That lines up."
He said nothing more, but inwardly, he marveled at how she had seemingly read his thoughts. Athena's abilities were well-documented, but few understood the full extent of her sensory skills.
Keller bent down, gesturing to Zayn's body. "Should we call for the retrieval team?"
Leon gave a tired nod. "Yes. Have them move him out."
Keller left swiftly, leaving Leon standing in silence beside Hero Athena. The quiet stretched between them until Athena's voice broke the lull.
"He saw me."
Leon's head turned sharply. "What?"
"The boy." Athena's gaze was distant, fixed somewhere past Zayn's lifeless form. "At the moment I got him in my sights, he saw me."
Leon frowned. "If he saw you, why didn't he dodge?"
Athena's eyes lowered slightly. "Because he was mundane. Not a Character. Even if he knew I was there before I did, it wouldn't have mattered."
Leon crossed his arms, trying to process her words. "Then why didn't he hesitate?"
Her voice was calm, but the faintest flicker of something like pity crossed her face. "He wasn't trying to survive. He was ready to die, so long as he could take the girl with him."
Leon's gaze returned to the dead body, unreadable. "I've only seen that kind of resolve in someone with nothing left to lose."
"Desperation can sharpen a person's senses." Athena stepped forward, looking down at Zayn's body. "But even among the desperate, few can react as quickly as he did. And even fewer to me."
Leon's mind churned at her words. What drove a boy like Zayn—young, powerless, and mundane—to nearly succeed in something so extreme? And how did he notice Athena, a Character feared and revered in equal measure for her abilities?
Leon had the unsettling feeling that this case was far from simple.
Officer Keller returned with the retrieval team in tow, their footsteps echoing lightly against the tiled floor as they approached Zayn's body. The lead technician crouched beside him, carefully prying the pulse gun from his lifeless hands and securing it in a sealed containment case.
Leon watched quietly, arms crossed, before murmuring, "How does a kid like him get his hands on a pulse gun?"
Hero Athena, standing nearby with her arms loosely at her sides, replied without missing a beat. "It's not difficult. The gun trade thrives because the mundane officers struggle to contain it."
The casual remark landed like a slap, and Leon felt the weight of her words settle between him and Keller. Despite the sting, neither of them could argue. Compared to Characters like Athena, who regularly prevented world-ending threats, their roles felt minuscule—just struggling to keep society's basic laws in place.
As the retrieval team carefully transferred Zayn's body onto a floating stretcher, one of the technicians approached Leon, eyes lingering on the notebook still clutched in his hand.
"Detective, we'll need that sealed as well. Any artifact found on the body has to be contained."
Leon hesitated for only a moment before placing the notebook into the reinforced case. The technician snapped the lock shut, sealing it with a faint hum of energy.
"Did you record a full scan before interacting with the body?" the technician asked, adjusting his visor.
Leon swiped through his pad, sending the scan data over. "Yes. Full scan right here."
The technician reviewed it, gave a curt nod, and turned back to his team. Leon exhaled quietly, turning to face Athena. "Thanks for your help today. I doubt this would have gone as smoothly without you."
He expected her usual indifferent response, but instead, Athena's expression twisted into a deep frown, her gaze locked on the containment case.
Keller, noticing, cleared his throat. "Hero Athena, you don't need to worry. The book wasn't filled—it's incomplete. It should be safe."
Athena's eyes sharpened. "Get away from it. Now."
Her voice cracked through the air, instantly shattering the calm. Keller froze, eyes darting toward Leon for confirmation.
"Move!" Athena barked, already drawing her sniper rifle from her back.
The retrieval team stiffened in confusion but obeyed without hesitation, quickly setting the sealed case down and retreating. Leon and Keller followed suit, backing away as Athena leveled her rifle at the containment box.
A heartbeat later, the box exploded in a blinding flash of white light, energy converging rapidly over Zayn's body.
Leon shielded his eyes with his arm, blinking through the afterglow. As his vision cleared, he saw the impossible—Zayn's body shrinking into the pages of the book, which glowed with vibrant, pulsating runes.
The book hovered in midair for a breathless moment before expanding outward, tearing open a jagged rift. From within the rift, a massive stone arch began to take form, its surface engraved with blood-red runes that shimmered dangerously.
Athena didn't lower her weapon. "Did you write anything in the book, Detective?"
Leon snapped his head toward her, eyes wide with disbelief. "Of course not. Why would I do something that stupid?"
The air thickened with tension. The rift continued to pulse, the stone arch solidifying with each passing second.
Leon's voice dropped to a strained whisper. "What the hell is happening?"
Athena shook her head. "I don't know. But whatever this is—it's not normal. Call for reinforcements. Now."
Keller hesitated. "You need backup? You're a high-ranked Character, Hero Athena. We mundane won't be able to assist in any way."
"I meant to call another Character," she repeated firmly.
That struck a nerve. Athena's rank was no secret—she could dismantle large forces of enemies alone. The fact that she was asking for help chilled Leon more than the rift itself.
As Keller scrambled to relay the order, Leon could only watch as the stone arch loomed over them, its crimson runes glowing brighter with each passing second.