An absolute stillness reigned in the Academy corridors, broken only by the echo of thoughts crowding Rion's mind as he sat alone in his room. Suddenly, light taps came at the door—soft, as if afraid to scratch the silence. Rion rose slowly, and upon opening the door, he found the trio that rarely left his side: Mira with her kind features, Kairen with her deep gaze, and Misaki with her usual stoicism.
Mira offered a gentle smile:
"Good evening, Rion. Could you spare us a bit of your time?"
Rion replied with a welcoming grin:
"Of course. Come in... make yourselves at home."
The girls entered and settled around the room. Mira chose the edge of the bed, while Misaki leaned her back against the wall and sat on the floor naturally. Kairen remained standing by the window, watching the moon as if drawing courage from it. Rion sat in his desk chair, raising an eyebrow playfully:
"Three girls, one of them my sister, in my room at three in the morning? I hope I haven't committed some crime against any of you in my sleep!"
Kairen let out a soft laugh that dispelled some of the tension:
"Rest easy, your record is still clean, Rion."
Mira turned toward Kairen and nodded:
"Go ahead, Kairen... you start."
Rion looked puzzled, the playful look vanishing from his face:
"Start what? Has something serious happened?"
Kairen took a deep breath, turning to meet his eyes. Her voice was steady despite a subtle tremor:
"I want to share the hidden parts of my past with you, Rion... just listen with your heart, okay?"
Rion nodded solemnly:
"I'm all ears."
Kairen began her story, as if brushing the dust of years off an old wound:
"When I was a child, my mother would lead me by the hand to see my sick father. I remember him well—a withered body being killed by the frustration of not having a son to carry our family legacy... the legacy of the Sacred Swords. One day I'll never forget, I went in to see him. His face was as pale as a shroud, and he told my mother in a voice broken by despair: 'There is no more time... I will pass away without an heir'."
She continued, tears welling in her eyes:
"My mother's attempts to soothe him were in vain. He saw only one harsh option... to pour that power into my body. He gave me a single blade, the sword 'Norven', which they later renamed 'Shouras' after our family."
She paused and pulled back her sleeve to reveal her arm; there were mysterious symbols shimmering with a faint, magical glow.
"My father etched these symbols onto my small arms while I screamed, but there was no one to answer. The pain was beyond what a child should endure, but he didn't stop until the carving was complete. Since that day, these symbols became a destiny I never chose."
Kairen swallowed hard and went on:
"After he passed, I became the heiress of the 'Shorty Show' family. I used to visit my grandfather in his secluded house in the forest every month, seeking peace. Then one day... I found nothing but ashes. The house had burned down, and everything with it."
Her voice trembled as she looked at Rion with tearful eyes:
"I ran frantically through the rain, and that's where I found you... a little boy crying bitterly under the black clouds. I asked you what happened, and through your gasping sobs, you told me you couldn't protect my grandfather... that bandits had betrayed him while he was trying to save your life."
Rion lowered his head, his voice heavy with grief:
"I'm sorry, Kairen... I was weak, I was useless."
Kairen smiled tenderly and wiped away a stray tear:
"Don't ever apologize. I knew for a certainty that if you had the power then, you would have traded your life for his. Since that day, the two of us became all the other had."
Kairen continued, her tone dropping into a more intimate whisper:
"We lived together; you shared your sorrows with me and listened to the moans of my heart. When you told me the truth... that you were a 'monster,' I didn't even blink. Why would I reject the person who opened his arms to me when the world turned its back? We were so close that we shared the same bed like two souls in one body. I never saw evil in you, and I understood then why my grandfather gave his blood for you."
She fell silent for a moment, then whispered while staring deep into his eyes:
"I know you see me as your sister, especially after reuniting with Mira... but in a dark corner of my heart, I wished you could see me as 'more' than that. But I understand you have your reasons, just as I have mine for clinging to you like a lifeline."
She sighed bitterly:
"During the evaluation exams, I stood out because of my harsh training, while you hid your monster and your strength behind a veil of humility so as not to draw suspicion. You were always my steady support; waking up at dawn, making breakfast, and organizing our chaotic lives while I was drowned in my own laziness. Without even realizing it, you made me discover that your presence is the very air I breathe."
Rion took a step forward, gently taking her hand. He spoke with a warm, compassionate voice:
"Kairen... you aren't just a shadow or someone dependent on others. Your strength and the beauty of your soul don't need a certificate from me. Your reliance on me stems from years of brotherhood and the bread and salt we shared... Even if we aren't bound by blood, you will always be the most precious person to my heart."
Kairen's eyes flooded with tears that finally fell. She whispered in a voice trembling with longing and fear:
"Only the most precious person? Why haven't you spoken with such honesty before? Rion... tell me truthfully, is there any chance for me in your heart that goes beyond 'brotherhood'?"
The silence didn't last long, as Mira felt the weight of the air beginning to choke the words. She quickly intervened to shift the charged atmosphere:
"Let's leave that question hanging in the hands of time... It's Misaki's turn now to free herself from her silence."
Misaki turned her face toward the shadows, as if fighting a fierce battle with memories that refused to fade. Then she began to speak, her voice low and fractured, as if coming from a deep well:
"My life was never a life... it was a raging hell. I was born in a wretched city gnawed by chaos called 'Agas'. My mother was a lost soul, and my father... he was a depraved drunkard, a beast in human form who knew nothing but his filthy instincts. My mother sold her soul to men to provide a crust of bread for us, while he vented his resentment and sadistic whims on my small body."
Her voice shook, and a burning tear fell as she continued:
"One day, my mother came back wounded, screaming in terror for us to lock the door and windows... but he didn't move; he was in his usual drunken stupor. She tried to block the openings with her frail body, but a stray bullet pierced her chest right before my eyes... she fell dead, and with her, the last thread of light in my life went out."
She squeezed her eyes shut and continued in a hoarse tone:
"I fled into the street amidst blood and screams, until a soldier saved me and took me to the port of 'Aethern' before he went back to fight the monsters and disappeared. I reached a strange island, thinking that 'Heaven Orphanage' would be my sanctuary, but it was a different kind of hell. There... I was subjected to the harshest forms of harassment by men who knew no mercy. I hated men... I hated their faces, their breath, and their filthy actions that soil everything they touch."
She straightened her posture with a sudden, bitter strength:
"But amidst that ugliness, I discovered a brutal power within me. I trained in secret until I could carry a fifty-kilogram hammer as if it were a feather. Before I left for the evaluation school, I gave those harassers a taste of slow death; I put a chemical poison in their food that made their insides writhe in unbearable pain for days."
She lowered her head and whispered:
"When I got to the Academy, I was lost like a tormented spirit. You, Rion... you were the first to offer help, but I rejected you violently. I saw a potential enemy in every man. But Kairen's presence beside you, and seeing your noble treatment of her, reassured me a little... so I allowed you both to accompany me."
A heavy silence followed, as if Misaki's words were stones cast into the room. Rion breathed deeply and said in a calm, steady voice:
"Misaki... your pain is a mountain no human should have to carry, and I understand it completely. But there is a truth I learned from Kairen's grandfather, the man who was the beacon of my life: Evil is not an absolute instinct. No one is born a monster or an angel... we are a complex mixture of both. A vile person may persist in their vileness until life breaks them, but that doesn't mean all men carry that filth in their souls."
He asked her with an honesty that pierced through her defenses:
"Tell me, has any student at this Academy tried to harm or harass you?"
She shook her head slowly:
"No... but the men at the evaluation school did."
Rion followed up:
"Then you see the difference now. There are the wicked who are inhabited by darkness, and there are the good who fight for the light. We are all a mixture, and that is the bitter balance of life."
Misaki remained silent, his words echoing in her mind like a distant resonance. Kairen smiled weakly and said:
"Sometimes you talk with the wisdom of the elders, Rion... as if you truly understand the world's sorrows."
Mira stood up, yawning gracefully:
"I think we've exhausted our souls enough for tonight. What about you, Rion? Isn't it time for you to open the doors of your heart to us?"
Rion smiled with a faint bitterness:
"Perhaps... but not on this night so burdened with worries."
Misaki stood up, regaining her usual coldness as she headed for the door:
"I'm leaving. There might be a grain of logic in what you say... but I'm not entirely convinced. In my eyes, men will remain dangerous creatures." She closed the door behind her, leaving behind the scent of sadness and rebellion.
Kairen stretched out on the bed next to Mira, hugging her pillow sleepily:
"I don't think my body can move... I'll sleep here tonight."
Mira laughed, hugging Kairen from behind:
"It looks like you've broken a record, Rion... that's the third time you've been kicked out to the floor."
Rion smiled as he spread out his simple blanket:
"It's fine... as long as you both are okay, the floor is a sufficient roof for me. Sleep in peace."
Everyone drifted into a deep slumber, except for Rion, who lay on the floor watching the stars, wondering what fate held for him. As the first threads of dawn cut through the night's gloom, the students' devices rang simultaneously. It was a message from Headmistress Dalia, short and sharp as a sword's edge:
"The elite will soon be selected for an expedition to 'Valdoris'. Prepare yourselves... for the future may choose you to be one of them."
Rion raised his eyes to the window, where the light was slowly swallowing the darkness, and whispered to himself in a cryptic tone:
"Valdoris... it seems the ghosts are calling to us from behind the mist, and the peace will be nothing but a passing memory."