Roni froze. His eyes moved around the empty room, his breath sharp. That voice hadn't come from outside, it was inside his head.
"What the heck… am I going nuts? , what is happening to me?" he shouted, clutching his face. Roni yelled in confusion.
He ran back to the wall, hitting it in fear.
Please open! I need to get out of here!" Roni slammed his fists against the wall until it finally groaned and opened. He stumbled out, sprinting into the hallway without looking back.
Outside, he stopped to catch his breath, his chest heaving. Sweat trickled down his face as he pressed a hand to his pounding heart.
"That… that wasn't real," he whispered, almost begging himself to believe it. "Just some stupid hallucination. That's all." he said in comfort to himself.
"What are you doing, Roni?"
The voice startled him. He turned to see Mirael standing a few meters away from him.
"Umm... nothing," he answered, trying to stay composed.
"What's that on your hand?" she said, advancing towards him.
Roni quickly withdrew his hand to his back.
"It's nothing, Mirael," he said, realizing that the glove was still on his hand and that he was not hallucinating. Everything he saw and felt in that room was real.
"No, Roni. I bet I have seen that somewhere before," she protested.
"The design... it looks very interesting," she said softly,..
Roni hesitated for a moment; her sweet, calm voice almost tripped him up, but he had to stand his ground.
"Sorry, Mirael, I don't know what you saw but there's nothing in my hands.
What are you hiding, Roni?" she became more persistent.
As much as Roni hated it, he kept denying it.
But deep down he knew mirael was smart enough and she'll discovered his secret soon, i have to do something he thought within himself.
"Just leave me alone, Mirael," Roni exclaimed, thinking raising his voice might drive her away.
Alright, Roni, " I'm going to leave you alone... but know you're going to face the principal ones I get out of here,(_knowing that she saw him coming out from the restricted part of the school museum, and that he might have actually stole something_) and you know what happens to students on grants when they faced the principal right?, Mirael said with a smirked on her face.
"Ok ok please let's not do not anything drastic now", Roni humbled himself, forcing a fake smile.
"Sooo, let me see it," she said, stretching out her hand with a cute smile.
"Before I show you, I want to know if I can trust you, Mirael," Roni said carefully.
"Your secret will be safe with me," she assured him.
Slowly, Roni brought his hand from his side.
"Are you kidding me, Roni? There's nothing in your hand!" Mirael exclaimed.
Roni turned quickly, staring at his hand.
"Ahhh, I swear it was right here before," he said, flicking his hands continuously to see if it was just a glitch, but the glove didn't come back.
"So it just magically disappeared? Or you hid it?" Mirael said angrily, storming off toward the principal's office.
Roni ran after her, catching her hand.
"Please, Mirael, I swear I didn't hide it! It was right here before!".
She turned toward him, her sparkling blue eyes fixed on his.
"So you want me to believe that what I saw in your hand somehow just magically disappeared?"
"Yes! Exactly!" Roni said desperately.
Mirael hit her hand against her forehead, a sign of disappointment.
"You must be out of your mind Roni! She exclaimed, things don't just disappear unless they are hidden which I know you did hid it. Even though we live in a world of magic, things like that don't exist anymore."
"What do you mean by 'does not exist anymore'?" Roni said abruptly.
"Magic like that ceased to exist after the Long Night. That's why I know you're lying, and by the way you don't have any ability or magic to make anything disappear, so cut the crap Roni and tell me what you're really hiding."
Roni became even more frustrated.
"I've told you before, it just disappeared! Or do you think I hid it in my pants or something?" Roni said reluctantly,(usually being a silly boy).
"Yeah, obviously," Mirael replied.
"Well, I can take it off — if it'll satisfy your doubt," Roni said.
"No one wants to see what's beneath your pants, Roni, so stop being silly and tell me what you're hiding, because I know you're hiding something," Mirael said confidently.
Roni was amazed, because Mirael didn't really care about talking to students, even though she was so beautiful, she doesn't have any friends, so why is she so interested and pouring that much energy in figuring out what he was hiding. (Could it be she had seen this before or... Has she somehow magically fallen for me.. nahhhh not me, well there's only one way to find out, Roni thought within himself.)
"Well... you're right mirael Roni said, I wasn't telling you everything. Come on, let me show you something," Roni said.
He walked back to the wall; Mirael stood beside him, watching him suspiciously, still trying to piece together what kind of game he was playing. She definitely didn't trust him.
Roni placed his hands on the wall, trying to find the same slot he remembered.
After a few seconds of searching, the secret slot pushed in with a click, and the wall opened.
"Huhh" she gasped for a seconds covering her mouth in amusement, "whattt.." how long has the room been here. I know Hoaltin college is school with a lot of secrets but this is exceptional.
" Well I discovered it today and It's not just a room," Roni said carefully. "This room holds the unimaginable."
"Hmmm, well one thing I like doing is exploring! Unscathed things" she said jumping right inside the room not even scared of what it might hold.
Roni sat at on side of the room, the memory of what happened earlier still lingering in his mind, but one thing he could not avoid was the beauty that stood before him, she was just so happy going through all those artifacts, she reminded him of stories he had heard about his mother — smart, beautiful, and strong. She had mastered up to Level 4 of her ability, a rare kind for her age.
"Most of the artifacts here are magnificent," Mirael said, holding one of the artifacts in her hand. "But most are just replicas, not the actual real ones."
"Well, not that one," Roni said, pointing toward the showcase where the glove had been earlier.
"But there's nothing there," Mirael replied.
"That's because I wore it," Roni said, raising his left hand. But like I said earlier don't know how it disappeared it was just in my hands and the next minutes phewww.. (he didn't told her about what he saw in those visions or the voice he heard which sounds like an ability system)
Mirael drew closer and held his hand on her palm.
For a moment, Roni could feel her soft hands on his. His heart pounded a bit little faster; he was nervous. Mirael, on the other hand, was lost in thought, staring at his palm.
The moment lasted for a few seconds until Mirael realized herself.
"Ooh!" she quickly withdrew her hand.
"Music class!"
"Damn!" Roni bit his tongue. They had both lost track of time.
They rushed out of the museum, heading toward their classroom.
"Hey! What are both of you doing here?" a voice stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Oh my God, that's Ms. Kyo," Mirael whispered.
"Dammn! That nutty old security officer," Roni said under his breath.
"Sorry ma'am, we were just reading in the library and lost track of time," Mirael pleaded.
"Well, the library is over there," Ms. Kyo said, pointing in the opposite direction. "And you're coming from here a restricted area, so I don't see how that matches your story, Mirael."
Mirael tapped Roni lightly and whispered, "Run."
"Huhh? Run?!" Roni never thought Mirael was capable of something like that. But it sounded fun. So, they ran.
"Come here, you little brats! I saw your faces! You'll be facing detention tomorrow!" Ms. Kyo shouted after them.
They ran out of the school premises and finally stopped to catch their breath.
"Wow, that was really fun, right?" Roni said, trying to clap hands with Mirael.
But she ignored him.
"That was one of the stupidest moments of my life," she said angrily.
Mirael had always been an high-class lady, never getting into any trouble, because she didn't want to bring shame to her family name. Her father is one of the renowned general of Eldoria, Now she was going to detention tomorrow, her father is going to be furious about that.
Roni stood in confusion trying to understand what just happened. "Wait a minute, Mirael, are you mad at me?" Roni asked.
"I'm just mad that I got detention," she snapped.
"Well, I did too. And if detention is the problem, we can run away from it too!" Roni joked.
" Arrgghh " she shook her head disappointed " don't you get it, The more we run, the more trouble we get into — and the more dirt I bring to my family's name. I don't expect you to understand, no one knows your family name, you don't have a family that expect much from you, tells you what to do, who you should be friends with or how you should live your life."
Her words lashed out harshly and emotionally she tried holding in the tears but they flow seamlessly down her cheeks.
Roni stood in shock. Her words echoed painfully in his ears, "no ones knows your family name"
But he controlled himself. He knew she said it out of pain. He didn't get angry, instead he stepped closer to console her, Roni knew it was beyond detention.
"I'm sorry, Mirael, for the pain you're going through," Roni said softly.
"Roni, just go. Please. I want to be alone," Mirael whispered.
"Alright... I'll go. But at least let me just walk you home," Roni offered nicely.
"No, Roni. Please Just go."
Roni sadly walked away. Each step he took, he turned back, staring at Mirael.
Those blue, sad eyes pricked at his heart.
But he knew there was nothing more he could do — not yet.
He just had to leave.
Still, deep down, he knew: her pain was bigger than just detention.
He got on his cycle and
was riding home
One thing she said kept ringing in his head like a bitter echo:
"You don't have a family that tells you what to do and how to live your life"
Roni clenched his fists. Could it be...?
Could it be that Mirael wasn't acting out of her own will?
Maybe her family — whoever they were — forced her to behave this way. Maybe she was carrying the weight of their so-called honor on her shoulders.
Maybe... she was just trying not to tarnish a name they had built.
The thought sank deep into him.
Was that why she isolated herself from the beginning?
Roni sighed heavily, dragging a hand through his hair as he walked. His mind was a mess of doubts.
Another fear stirred inside him — what if Mirael reports everything, the secret room... the mysterious glove... the strange pull he felt that night...
Will she betrayed him?
"No," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. "She can't. She wouldn't...", he continued contemplating in his mind.
But Something felt off! Roni could feel it, he had just arrived at Yurin, a small town nestled just beside monchin city, were he lived with his grandmother.
Then he saw it...
"What is that smoke!?" Roni exclaimed, his eyes widening in horror as he reached the edge of the village.
Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky, and flickers of orange flames danced wildly from rooftops. The scent of burning wood filled the atmosphere. His heart thundered in his chest, beating rapidly.
"Granny…" he whispered, fear tightening in his throat.