I did not go to the pool in the morning.
Bayu did not come looking for me. Maybe he knew I needed some time to myself. Maybe he needed some time to think about what happened the night before.
I walked around the academy without any purpose. My feet just took me to the training room. It is a room at the end of the same building. The door was half open.
Bayu was inside the room.
He sat on the floor with his back against the wall. His eyes were closed. He was not wearing his robe. He had on a shirt that showed the shape of his body. The scar on his chest was hidden under the shirt.
I stood at the doorway. I did not go in. I did not leave.
"You came," Bayu said without opening his eyes.
I did not answer.
"Come in. Leave. Do not just stand there."
I went in. I sat on the floor across from him. I was close enough to see his face. I was far enough away that I did not feel threatened.
Bayu opened his eyes. They were yellow. They were glowing faintly in the room. They did not look sharp. They did not look watchful. They looked tired.
"I want to know," I said.
"Know what?"
"Why my grandfather wrote 'Run from Bayu' on his envelope."
Bayu did not answer. He looked at me for a time. Then he looked at my hand. He saw the Ouroboros scar.
"Because he was afraid of me," he said finally.
I clenched my fist. "You are not the one he was afraid of."
Bayu smiled. It was not a happy smile.
"Your grandfather was not afraid of me, Kael. He was afraid of what I represent. He was afraid of what happened to me in the Mariana Trench. He was afraid of what could happen to you if you followed the path."
He opened his shirt.
The scar on his chest was clear. It started at his shoulder and went down to his right hip. It went around his heart. It was larger. It was deeper. It was older. The skin around it still looked burnt.
"I am his failed version," he said. "I am the warning. Every time he looked at me he remembered what happened at the bottom of the sea. He remembered that he could not save everyone. He remembered that he brought something out of there. Something that changed me into this."
His eyes glowed brighter. It was not anger. It was not sadness. It was something.
"He wrote 'Run' because he wanted you to survive. Not because I am evil… Because I am proof that not everyone can survive what waits in the Mariana Trench."
I looked at the scar on his chest. Then I looked at my hand. I saw the Ouroboros scar.
"You survived " I said.
Bayu laughed.
It was a sound. I had never heard before. It was not a laugh. It was not a mocking laugh. It was a sound that came from someone who had been holding something in for long.
"Survived?" he repeated. "I survived, Kael… I never came back."
He closed his shirt. His hands moved slowly. It was like every movement required energy he did not have.
"Your grandfather brought something out of the Mariana Trench. Something he thought he could control.. He was wrong.. When he realized he was wrong it was too late."
"What did he bring?"
Bayu looked at me. His yellow eyes were not glowing. They looked dull.
"Me," he said. "He brought me out… I was no longer myself. Something inside me had died there… Something else began to live."
I felt run-down in my spine.
"Your eyes," I said. "That is not your power."
Bayu shook his head. "I have had lightning powers since birth… My eyes were not always yellow. That came from the bottom of the sea. From the touch of that creature. From something that entered me and never left."
He stood up. He walked to the window in the ceiling. The sky outside was starting to get light. Dawn was coming.
"Your grandfather wrote 'Run' because he wanted you to survive, Kael. Not from Ouroboros… From becoming like me. From bringing something out of there that you cannot control."
He turned around. His eyes glowed again. Now I could see it. It was not fire. It was not power. It was something. Something trapped inside.
"But you are not going to run, are you?"
I did not answer.
Bayu smiled. It was a smile from before. It was not tired. It was not bitter. It was like someone who had known the answer all along.
"You are like him," he said. "Your grandfather never ran either. Not until the end."
He walked to the door. He stopped at the threshold.
"Training continues, Kael. You have three months. Use them well."
He left.
I sat in that room alone. The scar on my hand pulsed. It was not from the Ember Core. It was not from the whisper. It was from something
Because I knew now. My grandfather was not afraid of Bayu. My grandfather was afraid of what could happen to me. Of the possibility that I might never come back either.
---
I found Lina in the garden.
She sat under the tree. The same tree where Maya and I had sat. A book lay open in her lap. Her eyes were not reading. She was staring at the sky.
I sat beside her.
She did not turn. Her warm hand reached for my cold one.
"Kael," she said. "You did not sleep at night."
It was not a question.
"No," I said.
She did not ask why. She just sat beside me. Her hand was holding mine. It was warm. It was steady. It was unchanging.
I wanted to ask her. About the basket on my grandfather's doorstep. About her temperature changing when she slept. About her dreams of the room with twelve chairs.
I could not.
Not because I was afraid. Because if I asked, I would have to tell her about everything I heard last night. About Bayu. About the Mariana Trench. About the fact that I was bait. About the fact that she might be in danger too.
I did not know where to start.
"Lina", I said finally.
"Hm?"
"Do you ever feel that something is wrong with you?"
She did not answer. Her hand holding mine did not move.
"I do not know " she said finally. Her voice was quiet. "Sometimes when I sleep I dream. About a room. With chairs.. On one of those chairs my name is there."
I turned. She was still looking at the sky. Her face was calm. I saw her other hand. The one not holding mine. It was gripping the edge of her shirt tightly.
"Since when?" I asked.
"Since the night the Ember Core activated. Since you passed out in the basement."
I felt something in my chest. It was not the Ember Core. It was not a whisper. It was something.
"Why did you not tell me?"
Lina turned. Her eyes were wet. She was not crying.
"Because you already had enough to think about… Because I was afraid. Afraid that if you knew you would see me differently. Afraid that you would pull away."
I held her hand tighter.
"I will not pull away."
She looked at me for a time. Then she smiled. It was a smile. It did not reach her eyes. It was enough.
"I know," she said. "I am still afraid."