The sunlight that usually cut through the academy's courtyard felt strangely muted, as if the world itself were holding its breath. Students passed one another with hurried steps, whispering as Eiryn walked through the central corridor with his usual calm, unreadable face. Some glanced at him and immediately looked away. A few stiffened, remembering the Day the School Trembled. The echoes of his overwhelming power still haunted the walls.
Jay walked beside him, hugging his books like a shield.
"Bro… they're scared of you," he whispered.
Eiryn didn't respond. His eyes gently scanned the courtyard, taking in every detail—shadows under benches, cracks in pillars, the birds on the overhead arches. His expression remained peaceful, but the faint distortion around his iris made Jay swallow.
"Actually," Jay corrected himself quietly, "I'm a little scared too."
Eiryn tilted his head just a fraction. "Why?"
"Because you're like… like a walking nuclear bomb that also remembers all my embarrassing moments."
Eiryn blinked, not sure if that was meant to be praise or an insult. But Jay's nervous laugh faded when he realized Eiryn wasn't joking.
"Bro, relax, I was ki—"
Eiryn suddenly slowed.
At first Jay thought he had simply stopped to observe something, as usual. But then he felt it—a subtle pressure in the air, a weight, like someone invisible had just stepped into the room. Eiryn's breath became almost too silent.
His eyes narrowed toward the top floor of the academy tower.
A thread.
A glowing, silver thread. Thin as hair. Floating only for a moment.
Then gone.
Jay didn't see anything. But Eiryn did. And whatever he saw made his fingers stiffen slightly.
"What happened?" Jay asked.
Eiryn didn't answer immediately. Something inside him… shifted. A faint whisper curled behind his ear—not from the outside, but from within.
"Again… it watches…"
Eiryn looked down, his shadow rippling slightly as if it disagreed with the sunlight.
Jay noticed. "Okay, no, no—your shadow is doing that thing again. Bro—BRO—don't start another event, please. I JUST finished cleaning my pants from last time."
Eiryn forced the shadow back into stillness with a slow exhale.
"I saw something," he said calmly. "A thread. A… connection."
Jay blinked. "Like destiny-type connection? Or more like someone-trying-to-kill-you connection?"
"Both."
Jay's soul exited his body for a moment.
---
The Academy Bell Rang — But Offbeat
The bell struck, but the sound was off. Instead of the usual clear tone, it rattled, almost metallic, like someone had struck a rusted gong. Students flinched.
Eiryn's eyes flicked upward again.
The silver thread was back.
This time it connected the bell tower… to him.
No—through him.
Something tugged.
His left hand jerked. The thread vibrated like a string plucked by an unseen force, and for a split second Eiryn felt a burning ache in his chest.
Jay panicked. "WHAT IS IT?! WHAT IS IT?!"
Eiryn didn't answer. Instead, he sensed the next moment before it happened.
A gust of wind sliced across the courtyard.
Then—
SHATTER!
The glass from the third-floor windows exploded outward.
Students screamed and ran as shards rained down like crystal knives. Jay ducked, covering his head.
Eiryn raised his hand casually.
The shards froze midair.
Jay peeked. "Oh thank god… bro, PLEASE keep doing that. My face is too beautiful to die."
But Eiryn wasn't listening. His focus was upward, where a figure stood among the broken glass, robes fluttering in the unnatural wind.
A girl.
About Eiryn's age.
Long silver hair.
Eyes like two dim lanterns—blank, distant, unreadable.
She stared directly at Eiryn.
And the thread between them glowed brighter.
His heartbeat slowed.
Jay whispered shakily, "Who… who is she?"
Eiryn answered with an honesty that chilled even himself.
"I don't know."
But something inside him did.
A whisper, gentle yet terrifying:
"You know her. Before memory existed… she was there."
Eiryn clenched his jaw.
The girl stepped off the ledge.
Jay screamed. "BRO SHE IS FALLING—SHE IS FALLING—!"
She didn't fall.
She glided. Slowly, gracefully, like the air bent to her will.
She landed on the courtyard tiles without sound.
Students backed away from her like she carried a plague.
The thread tightened.
Her lips parted slightly as she whispered a single word:
"…Found."
Eiryn's eye twitched.
"Bro—" Jay whispered, "—is she talking to you?"
Eiryn didn't respond, because the girl was suddenly standing in front of him. No footsteps. No movement. She was simply there.
Every student froze.
Even Jay held his breath.
The girl raised her hand and gently touched Eiryn's chest with one fingertip.
The thread pulsed.
Eiryn's vision blurred—
—
—he was elsewhere.
Dark sky.
Floating islands.
A shattered moon.
Screams swallowed by void.
A hand in his.
Small. Warm. Familiar.
A voice crying:
"Don't let go."
He felt warmth.
Then flames.
Then… nothing.
—
Eiryn came back to reality with a sharp inhale.
The girl staggered, clutching her head. Her voice cracked.
"Y—You… why… why can't I see… the rest?"
Eiryn's hand trembled slightly.
Jay noticed instantly.
This was the first time he'd seen Eiryn actually shaken.
The girl dropped to her knees.
The thread snapped.
A ripple exploded outward like a shockwave.
Tiles cracked.
Windows shattered.
Students were thrown back.
Jay rolled across the courtyard screaming.
Eiryn alone stood unmoved.
The girl cried softly, tears of silver falling like mercury.
"You… were supposed to remember… you promised… you—"
Before she could finish—
the sky darkened.
Not clouds.
Not smoke.
Something else.
A MASSIVE circular sigil appeared above the academy.
Ancient. Burning. Alive.
Students screamed.
Teachers rushed out.
The dean shouted, "Barrier formation! NOW!"
But it was too late.
From the sigil… dozens of shadow creatures descended.
Not like the ones before.
These were larger.
Sharper.
Hungrier.
The ground shook as they landed.
Eiryn looked at the girl.
She whispered, "Run… they're here because of me."
Jay crawled to Eiryn's feet. "Bro—I think THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE DAY WE DIE—"
Eiryn stepped forward.
Jay froze. "NO NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING—?!"
Eiryn's voice was calm.
Quiet.
But cold enough to make the shadows hesitate.
"They're not here for you."
He cracked his neck.
"They're here for me."
A shadow beast roared and charged.
Eiryn raised his hand.
The creature stopped mid-lunge.
Frozen.
Its body trembled violently as if resisting something far stronger.
Then—
SPLIT—
It was cleanly cut in half without anything touching it.
Jay choked on his breath. "Bro… BRO WHAT DID YOU JUST DO—?!"
Eiryn didn't answer. His eyes had changed.
Dark. Reflective.
Something ancient moved beneath the surface.
The girl looked at him with horror, not awe.
"You're awakening again… but this time you can't handle it—!"
Eiryn stepped forward.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Shadows swarmed him.
He walked into them like stepping into smoke.
Jay panicked, running after him despite his legs shaking. "DON'T GO ALONE—YOU DON'T EVEN EAT BREAKFAST—!"
Eiryn didn't hear him.
Every shadow beast that touched him—
disintegrated.
As if something inside Eiryn simply erased their existence.
Teachers gasped.
Students hid behind pillars.
Jay's soul left his body for the second time that day.
The girl whispered in terror:
"He's not awakening…
…he's remembering."
Eiryn heard her.
And he froze.
His heartbeat echoed.
He remembered a voice.
"…don't let go."
His chest tightened painfully.
He grabbed his shirt, breath trembling.
Jay reached him. "Bro? BRO? What's happening?!"
Eiryn didn't know.
He only felt…
Something was unlocking.
Something deep.
Something sealed.
The sigil above cracked.
Thunder split the sky.
A monstrous roar erupted—far louder, far darker than the creatures below.
Jay looked up.
His jaw dropped.
"WHAT—WHAT IS THAT—!? BRO WHY IS THE SKY OPENING LIKE A DOOR—?"
Eiryn slowly lifted his head.
The sigil split apart.
A colossal hand—made of shadow and bone—emerged from the tear in the sky.
The students screamed.
The dean shouted, "EVERYONE TO THE SHELTERS!"
But the hand wasn't reaching for them.
It was reaching for—
Eiryn.
Jay grabbed him. "BRO WE CAN RUN—WE CAN MOVE TO NEPAL—WE CAN CHANGE NAMES—PLEASE—!"
Eiryn stared at the monstrous hand.
His heartbeat was the only sound he heard.
And then—
the hand stopped.
Frozen.
Shaking violently.
As if terrified.
The sky trembled.
The shadows recoiled.
A deep voice echoed across the world:
"No… not him…
…not yet."
The hand withdrew instantly, vanishing like smoke.
The sigil shattered.
Silence fell.
All creatures evaporated.
The courtyard was a battlefield of broken tiles and terrified students.
Jay collapsed on his back. "B–Bro… what… what ARE you?"
Eiryn didn't answer.
He looked at his hand.
It was trembling.
Not from fear.
From memory.
The girl staggered toward him.
Her voice was weak. "Eiryn… the thread isn't done. They'll try again… until you remember who you were."
Eiryn looked at her, eyes unreadable.
"Who… was I?"
She touched his cheek.
"You were the one who saved me."
Eiryn blinked.
Her voice trembled.
"And the one who destroyed everything else."
---
END OF CHAPTER 8 — PART 1