The morning dragged on as Maya sat in the middle row, staring at the thick textbook in front of her. Her eyes blinked furiously, trying to keep up with the professor's steady lecture.
—She really was trying.
Except… sometimes, she couldn't help doodling little hamsters in the corner of her notebook.
"Ancient mythology," the elderly professor intoned as he adjusted his glasses, "is not mere fiction. Its ties to the underworld and the transmigration of souls are deeper than most care to admit."
Maya's head sank lower and lower until—thud!—she nearly face-planted against the desk. She snapped upright instantly, cheeks burning bright red. Mortifying.
Then—her heart jolted. She whipped her head around. But her classmates were all calmly taking notes, as if nothing had happened. Still, the feeling of being watched grew stronger and stronger, crawling up her spine.
Blinking nervously, Maya raised her gaze toward the podium—
The professor, chalk in hand, had frozen mid-motion. His back was turned, his fingers scrawling strange curves across the blackboard. It wasn't writing. It was… symbols. Runes.
"Ah—!" Maya nearly screamed, slapping a hand over her mouth.
The screech of chalk abruptly cut off. Slowly, stiffly, the professor turned.
His eyes were—pitch black.
His voice came out rasping, guttural, not his own. It was as if something was speaking from beneath the earth."The one in the notebook… must die."
Maya's blood ran cold. She glanced around—yet all her classmates still had their heads bent, pens scribbling away, completely oblivious to the horror unfolding before them.
The professor's void-black gaze locked onto her, dragging at her very soul, as though he might wrench it out of her body.
(I-I'm done for! He's going to take me away!)
The back door creaked open.
It was him. The boy whispered about in the cafeteria.
—Lucian stepped inside. His very presence carried a suffocating pressure, as though the air itself bent to him.
"Professor… no. Something else." His tone was low and cutting, each word slicing through the silence."Return to where you belong. Now."
The professor's body convulsed, a jagged laugh tearing from his throat."The stench of the underworld… Why meddle in the affairs of mortals?"
Shadows writhed in his eyes, countless clawing hands threatening to shred the air itself.
Lucian sneered. He lifted his hand and traced a sharp line in the empty air. The shadows shrieked, dragged mercilessly into the void, screaming until they vanished.
The professor jerked violently. His eyes cleared, and he collapsed onto the podium as though nothing had happened.
The classroom fell silent.
"It's done." Lucian lowered his hand and calmly adjusted his collar. His gaze flickered, almost casually, toward Maya.
Maya sat frozen, clutching her chest, her breath ragged."You—you just… you…"
"The matter's resolved. Return to your seat." Lucian's words were curt as he turned and strode swiftly out of the room.
The moment he left, all the students lifted their heads at once, blinking as if waking from a dream. The professor, now normal again, frowned at her in confusion."Miss Maya, why are you standing? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Ah—!" Maya's face flushed hot. She dropped back into her chair so fast her book almost toppled to the floor.
Her classmates cast puzzled glances at her before quickly turning back to their notes. Only Maya's heart still pounded wildly, as if something had branded it with fire.
And that heartbeat—was the sound Lucian most wanted to protect.