The headmaster was walking back and forth in a room, and he looked anxious. The room had a table in the middle and a few chairs lying around it. There were a lot of books, but they weren't on any kind of shelf; they were floating around the room. Suddenly, a warp gate opened, and Masir came out of it. He was carrying Shayan, who was unconscious and covered in blood. The headmaster rushed towards them and laid Shayan on the table after throwing everything that was on it. "Is he fine?" Masir looked worried. "Physically, yes. Mentally not even close."
"Where are the twins?" Masir snapped twice, and the Warp gate closed. "I left them in the Human Realm. They are doing what they can to remove Shayan and his family from records and memories. They are best in memory recreation, you know." The headmaster ripped Shayan's shirt off. Someone opened the door and came in hastily. It was a girl named Anika, probably in her late 20s. "How is he doing?" she inquired.
The headmaster took a step back so that she could come near Shayan. "He is fine. I think." Anika placed her hand on Shayan's chest. Her hand started glowing, giving off a white and blue light. "He is not fine. We have to kill him. Masir, open your warp gate." Masir looked at the Headmaster. The headmaster was shocked as well. "Anika, what the hell are you saying? We brought you here to save him."
Anika pulled her hand off his chest and said, "He is dangerous. I can feel anger, sorrow, and hatred burning inside him, and it's directed towards us." Before the Headmaster could have asked for details, Shayan opened his eyes. The headmaster seemed worried. "Anika, Masir, I want to talk to him in private." Shayan was panicking, but didn't have the power to move or talk. Anika and Masir both went out quietly.
"Who are you? And why can't I move?" Shayan muttered, his voice as if he were half-dead. The headmaster waved his hand in the air, and a black T-shirt appeared out of thin air. "You are in Prodigy Academy. In addition, I am Headmaster of this institute." The headmaster gave the T-shirt to Shayan. Shayan wrapped his head around the situation, concluding that they kidnapped him because they thought he was going to refuse. Shayan, while wearing the shir,t said,
"So, I am in the Prodigy realm? I told that smiley guy to wait for my answer but you just picked me up from my home while I was asleep." Headmaster moved a chair near Shayan and sat on it. "So, you don't remember what happened, do you?"
"What do you mean? What happened?" Shayan said as he placed his hand on his head. Headmaster with a concerned and sad voice: "Do you remember what happened to your family?" Shayan jumped off the table. "What do you mean, what happened to them?" He was curious yet terrified. "What did you do to them?" The headmaster stood up from his chair. "Kid, we didn't do anything. It was someone else who killed them."
"What the hell are you talking about? They are not dead. They are—they are sleep-- sleeping downstairs in our house."
Shayan started clinching his head between his two hands. Headmaster stood up from his chair "You know what happened but, we shouldn't talk about it right now. I think you need time. You need rest; just tell me when you are ready."
The headmaster pulled Shayan near and hugged him. "The sooner you accept, the better."
Tears started flowing from his eyes. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself shouting and crying aloud. He screamed and screamed with pain. His eyes turned red, his vocals were hurting so much that his voice went numb. "Cry to your heart's desire, kid."
Shayan thought what he saw was just a dream, but his family was gone. He was still not accepting the harsh reality, but he was still crying and screaming.
He cried until he fainted. Masir opened the door and walked in "Is he asleep?" Headmaster while lifting Shayan in his arms said: "He passed out. Lay him in a room and be there for him. He might try something."
Shayan was sleeping in a room. He has been in that room for 10 hours. Back in the Headmaster's office, Ihaan and Masir entered. The headmaster was sitting on his chair, hands on the table. "He is still in shock. He will not come out or eat." Said Masir while closing the door. The headmaster closed his eyes. "I know, but he will be turning 20 in a couple of hours. We have to give him a choice. He at least deserves that." Ihaan walked near the Headmaster. "Choice? He deserves to know how his parents and sister died. You can't just hide something so important from him." The headmaster pulled his hands up from the table. "Tell him, and then what? Make him an avenger. He would live his whole life trying to take revenge." Ihaan backed down. "So, what happens to him? Let him choose if he wants to go back to the human realm and live a normal life or live here with his prodigy and become a Prodigy knight?"
"Yes, that's the only way." Headmaster paused for a minute "I'll go tell him."
Ihaan stopped him. "No! Let me handle it."
"Okay. Just do not force him to do anything." The headmaster advised Ihaan as he walked out. Masir followed him to Shayan's room. Ihaan stopped before opening the door. "Masir, I'm going alone." Masir just backed down without saying a word.
Ihaan opened the door and walked in.
Shayan was lying on his bed. He was looking at the ceiling, hands down his head. Ihaan came near him, Shayan looked at him and then started gazing at the ceiling again. "How are you feeling, Shayan?"
"I told Headmaster I want some time alone." Ihaan sighed, "That's the thing. We do not have time. You will be turning 20 tonight." Shayan woke up from his bed. "What does it have to do anything with my age? And what is it you want?" He seemed calm not angry but rather sad and dead from inside.
Ihaan walked near and sat on a chair right next to him. "You are an Aurian. You can go back to your hometown, and we'll erase and reassemble your memories, you can live as you please without ever knowing what happened, and we'll make you a human. Or you can stay here and go with the flow and see where life takes you. You won't get a second chance."
"Will I be able to lead a normal life if I go back?"
Ihaan smirked, "Yes, you can live in the Human Realm or the Prodigy Realm, that's your choice." Shayan cleaned the tears coming from his eyes. "You say I can live a normal life, how is that possible? My family was slaughtered by someone. And according to me, you did it. You show up, and my parents die; it can't be a coincidence. You and that other guy showed up out of nowhere, spouted nonsense, and I woke up to see my family slaughtered. And now you come promising me a normal life? Why don't you all just fuck yourself?"
Ihaan, with a disappointed voice, said, "I can't tell you about who killed them before you make a choice, but we didn't do it. If you wanna know who I became, a Prodigy knight, who has access to information like that, or live in the human realm with no memories of this place, or what your life was like before you got power. You can choose to have the memories you want. We can even create new memories for you. With a new family,"
Shayan pulled his back up and looked at Ihaan "New memories or a traumatized past, that's a good deal. I will turn 20 tonight; I want time till 2300. And I am still 98 percent sure it was you." Shayan asked for time with a grain of trust in them. Ihaan agreed to Shayan's request and went out saying "We will wait till 2100 P.M." Shayan lay down on the bed and glued his eyes to the ceiling once again.
Ihaan walked out and closed the door. Masir was still standing there. "Normal life? You know that is impossible for him; he either dies or lives here. There is no other choice. He must take revenge on that guy for killing his family and other families. That is the only reason he survived." Ihaan walked away, saying, "Let's hope he doesn't become a monster and chooses dying."
Masir, with a deep and distorted voice, said;
"Revenge makes us monsters on whom even death laughs. We are cursed to survive."