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Terra
The air of Alkrose Academy is thick with power, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
I stare at my dear brother. After everything that I’ve gone through to get here, why am I not relieved to see him? The betrayal of my emotions confuses me.
Neither of us is hasty to speak. Edgar stands prim and proper, wearing black Fernestian tactical gear with a white cloak clasped at his neck, a bright crescent moon emblem at its center. His eyes glow with turquoise lines that weave through the normal green hue, like shattered glass—fissured and broken. The dark circles beneath his eyes make him look paler than I remember.
“Edgar.” I say his name in a hushed tone, unintentionally voicing my confusion and sadness. He looks so much older, yet it’s only been a matter of a month. It’s sickening how much can change when your entire life is ripped out from beneath you.
His glare is accusatory, hostile, filled with hatred. A dreadful sensation sinks into my bones as the air between us ignites with dark energy. So much anger and chaos flickers across his eyes.
His Shadow is a presence my own rejects, pushing against each other like opposing magnets, but the tension feels so much heavier than that. Amser shudders under my skin.
Edgar and I are predators intruding on one another’s territory. The two of us stare at each other in horrible, festering silence before Edgar coldly turns away. His light brown hair still curls at the ends just enough to give him the innocent appearance of a boy, but his stride has new purpose, his fists clench tightly at his sides with a million things he’s refusing to say.
What is it he thinks I’ve done?
My fists curl instinctively with the rejection, but that’s where my emotions stay. I don’t let any of it sink further than that. My Shadow keeps my heart guarded. It’s a nice way to avoid the situation.
That’s what I’m good at, after all: avoiding shit.
I glance back to the portal we stepped through a mere moment ago, shimmering like black diamonds. Elias emerges last. The portal seizes behind him and dissipates into shadows. I smile hesitantly at him, admiring the way his cold, callous eyes remain impassive to all but me. Once he sees me smiling at him, his features soften momentarily.
I’m comforted that he’s here with me. We weathered the worst of Barkovah together. Though, he is the reason it went to shit there to begin with—the beacon for the Void. There’s a voice screaming somewhere far beneath the icy veil inside me. My Shadow, Amser, mutes the voice, but I can still hear the faint whispers of my conscience.
He killed everyone. He’s responsible. He’s the assassin of Fernestia.
I blink to clear my head and let the voice fall into the depths.
It’s better this way. I’m better this way.
Arthur smiles nostalgically, staring up at the balcony. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been back here.” His words lift through the impossibly tall ceilings of the foyer, traces of sun trickling through the enormous windows. The stone walls are immaculate; hardly so much as a crack runs through the gray structure. The fine, glossy floors are marbled and slick. A curved staircase sits on each side of the foyer, joining at the center on the second-floor balcony. Dark shadows cling to the hallways above, drawing my curiosity. I wonder what things this castle hides within its walls.
It’s a castle, a really fucking nice one. Alkrose Academy. The mysterious and looming name finally has an image. In my head, it seemed black, like a smudge on a map that held only death and illness. A place to die. But it’s anything but that in person.
“What exactly is Alkrose’s purpose?” I murmur absently as I take in the space around us. Raine looks around with wide eyes as well. He’s still completely covered in blood from the fight back in Barkovah. His black hair is wet and slicked to his head. Those blue eyes are bright in contrast though, the crescent Nova moons still glowing around his irises with a turquoise hue.
He seems different. I don’t know if it’s because of his new Shadow or because of everyone and everything he lost in the city. Or perhaps both. I don’t know him very well, seemingly, as we have only known one another for a little more than a week. But there’s a distinct change in his mannerism—his air.
I think of the way he pinned me in the stairwell not but ten minutes prior. Destiny… For all I know, he may have lived a thousand lifetimes inside his head in a mere moment. His tired posture, slumped shoulders, and weary frown make me want to hold him and ask him a thousand questions about those possible lifetimes he’s already witnessed.
Elias straightens his back and cracks his neck as he walks ahead of us, gesturing to the castle itself in an exaggerated manner. “It is a school for those cursed with Shadows. We break your fucking soul down into powder, add blood, mash you up into clay, then reform you into whatever the fuck the headmaster wants. The heartless will thrive.” He recites the latter sarcastically.
Arthur sets his hand on Elias’s shoulder. “Let’s not give them the entire morbid mantra just yet.”
Elias’s gray eyes harden at us, ignoring Arthur. “And the ones with hearts will die.”
I narrow my eyes and share a concerned look with Raine. His lips press together and a muscle feathers on his jaw, but he remains silent.
“Glad I’m so listened to,” Arthur says with a mild grin. He comes off as difficult to piss off. Patience and understanding seem second nature to him. “Anyway, you’ll have to excuse Edgar for the time being, Terra. He was restored last night and… well, he isn’t taking to it so well, I’m afraid.”
Restored? What did they do to him?
Arthur reads my expression and clarifies, “His memories were lost. I gave them back to him and he’s having a hard time processing them.” He looks back to Elias without skipping a beat, not giving me a chance to press him on it. “I’ll show them to the Nova House.” The white cloak around Arthur’s shoulders lacks any dirt or grime. His beautiful raven-colored hair looks soft and only makes his gray eyes appear more haunting and alluring.
Elias nods to him and looks back at me, want and something else I can’t place rimming his eyes. “You will be assigned your own rooms. Arthur will take care of you until I return this evening,” he says tepidly.
