That night after talking to Lina under the tree, I thought things would change.
They didn't.
Lina was still the person. In the morning she woke me up with a tap on my shoulder just like always. We had breakfast in the cafeteria sitting next to each other. She laughed softly when Raka dropped his spoon on the floor. Her hand felt warm. Her eyes looked bright. Like nothing had happened the night
I knew something had changed.
I saw it when she wasn't paying attention. The way her hand gripped the edge of her shirt when she thought no one was watching. The way her eyes went blank for a moment before she smiled again.
She was hiding something. Just like me.
That afternoon's training was really tough.
Bayu made us do exercises. Not in the pool. In a private training room. I had to run, climb and roll while holding my breath. My lungs hurt. My legs felt heavy.
"Stop," Bayu said after an hour.
I fell to my knees. I was gasping for air.
"You're getting stronger," he said. "That's not what matters."
"What matters then?" I asked.
"Your head", he said, tapping his temple. "In the Mariana Trench your body will be strong… Your head will decide if you live or die."
I breathed out heavily. "Do you think I'm ready?"
Bayu didn't answer. He stood by the window in the ceiling, looking at the sky that was starting to get dark.
"Your grandfather was never ready," he said finally. "No one is ready for something they've never faced before." He went anyway. Because if he didn't, no one would."
He looked at me.
"You will go, Kael. Not because you're ready… Because you're the only one who can."
That night I woke up to a sound.
It wasn't a sound. It was a sound. Like a whisper. Not the Ember Cores' whisper.
I opened my eyes.
The room was dark. Lina was in the bed beside me. Her hand was raised in the air like she was reaching for something I couldn't see. Her lips moved, forming words I couldn't understand.
Then the room started to get cold.
I could see my breath. It was freezing in the air. Turning into thin mist that floated between us.
I sat up. "Lina."
She didn't wake up. Her hand was still raised. Her mouth still moved.
"Lina!"
I reached for her hand. It was cold. Very cold. Like ice. I let go because I was shocked. I held on.
She woke up.
Her eyes opened wide. For the first time I saw something different. Light. It was faint. It was real. In her dark brown eyes there was a white glow that had never been there before.
"Kael?" Her voice was rough. Like she had been asleep for long.
"You're cold," I said. "Very cold."
She looked at her hand in mine. Her hand that was cold as ice. Then she saw her breath—her breath also freezing in the air.
She pulled her hand back. Quickly. Like she had been burnt. It wasn't me burning her.
"Sorry," she said. "I—I didn't mean to—"
"Lina."
"I didn't mean to—"
"Lina!"
She stopped. Looked at me. Her eyes still glowed. The light was starting to fade. Like something was slowly sinking back inside.
"You saw it again," I said. Not a question.
She nodded. Her hand gripped the blanket.
"That room," she said. "Twelve chairs. Eleven statues. One empty."
"You said yesterday. You're sitting in that chair."
She looked at me. Her eyes—slowly returning to their brown—were full of something I couldn't understand. Not fear. Not sadness. Something heavier.
"I said I was sitting in that chair," she said. "I didn't tell you everything."
I waited.
She took a breath. Her hand, still cold—not as cold as before but still cold—reached for mine.
"Kael, in my dream I didn't just see the chair. I saw what was in front of it."
"What?"
"A table," she said softly. Almost a whisper. "A stone table. With carvings… On top of that table—" She stopped. Swallowed. "Your name was there."
I felt cold run down my spine.
"My name?"
"Carved," she said. "Just like on the chair in Room 13… Older. Deeper." She held my hand tighter. "Kael, that empty chair has been empty for a time… The table with your name – it's been there for a long time too. Before we were born. Before I was born."
I didn't know what to say.
Lina looked at me. Her eyes were back to normal—dark brown, warm as always—but there was something there that had never been before.
Resolve.
"I don't know what it means," she said. "I know one thing."
"What?"
"I won't let anything happen to you. Not because your grandfather asked me to… Because—" She stopped. Looked at her hand still holding mine. "Because you're the person who never looked at me like I was strange. Even after finding out I'm not human."
I turned her hand over. Held it back.
"You're not strange," I said. "You're Lina."
She smiled. A small smile. This time that smile reached her eyes.
"I'm Lina," she repeated. Like she was reminding herself.
Outside the window the sky started to get lighter. Dawn was coming.
We didn't sleep again that night. We just sat side by side on the bed, hands clasped, waiting for the sun to rise.