Eugene opened his eyes to find himself in a place—
A place filled with brown pillars everywhere, gray mist spreading throughout this strange location, stars in the sky, and a glass floor colored blue, red, and purple.
Where am I? Is this another dream?
Eugene began moving among the pillars and the mist, trying to explore the place. After moving for a while…
Ahhh…
He began to hear the sound of a child crying.
Where is that sound coming from? Eugene moved, trying to follow it, turning right and left continuously.
He inhaled deeply, then said,
"Where is this sound coming from?"
He continued moving, and as he advanced…
Oof…
The wind was strangely strong.
Eugene's expression tightened as he tried to hold onto the ground so the force of the wind wouldn't sweep him away, saying,
"What is this strange dream? Why is the wind so strong?"
But the wind didn't last long; it soon began pulling the mist, the stars, and the pillars toward a single point.
A golden sphere began to form, swallowing the pillars and stars, absorbing the gray mist.
He looked up, stunned by what was happening.
"What is this?"
But it seemed his painful memories were haunting him, even in his dreams.
The golden sphere quickly transformed; its color changed, and red flames appeared, like blood.
He raised his eyebrows as his heartbeats accelerated, saying with tension and sorrow,
"This scene…? It's like the attack on the village."
The flames bursting from the sphere intensified before gradually fading away until they disappeared, leaving behind pitch-black darkness spreading from its center, until the deep red color turned into black, like a dark abyss.
Eugene stepped backward, still feeling anxious about what was happening.
A massive explosion resounded!
The sphere exploded, scattering black matter everywhere.
Eugene raised his hand to shield his face and closed his eyes as he looked directly at the explosion.
He slowly opened his eyes to find that the place had turned into complete darkness.
"When will this dream end? Or this nightmare, or whatever this is…"
His voice expressed his discomfort.
He turned his body to the other side, and as he turned his head as well…
His eyes widened. The fear he usually felt intensified; his heart raced, and he began to sweat, even though he was in a dream.
There was a gigantic eye behind him, staring at him. The iris contained a red three-pointed star.
The eye began to tremble, and an intense red beam shot out from the three-pointed star.
Eugene jumped out of bed, his heart pounding violently as if he had run ten full miles, drenched in sweat.
He moved his hands to wipe his face and hair, looking down.
What an unpleasant dream!
He got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, showered with hot water, brushed his teeth, and looked at his body with eyes filled with sadness and disgust, focusing his gaze on the burn.
I still can't accept this burn.
He left the bathroom and got dressed: brown pants, a white shirt, a brown coat over it, and black shoes.
He left the house and headed toward the cafeteria.
The place was crowded with students preparing for their classes, eating food, or talking with their friends.
He entered the cafeteria, scanning the place.
Where did they go?
He approached the cook and asked,
"Did Ren, Rem, and Fred come here?"
The cook, who was taking students' orders, replied,
"No."
Eugene raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He turned around and left the cafeteria.
Where did they go?
He began wandering around the academy.
"Look, it's Eugene… He lost his talent. Haha. I feel sorry for him. Musa spoiled him; just leave him alone."
The students' comments were painful, but Eugene ignored them.
Ah… ah…
He began to hear crying, so he headed toward the source of the sound and found Rem sitting on the ground with Fred beside her.
They were in a garden—one of its branches, a relatively small garden.
He approached them, saying,
"Where is this crying coming from?"
Fred turned to Eugene.
"It's Rem."
Eugene looked at Rem, then moved closer to her.
"Why are you crying? Did something happen?"
When he reached her, he saw Rem's cat floating in a small pool of blood, with a golden knife in the middle of it.
Eugene's eyes widened, his expression turning into shock and sorrow, as he said,
"What… what happened here? What happened to the cat?"
Rem raised her face to Eugene, tears covering her cheeks.
"Someone… killed her…"
"Alright… calm down a little."
Eugene tried to calm her and asked Fred,
"Who did this?"
Fred picked up the knife and said,
"It's a valuable knife. I don't think any idiot would buy a knife like this just to kill a cat… so I think one of the rich students did it."
Eugene felt a surge of overwhelming anger, the veins on his face bulging.
"Those bastards… annoying…" He was about to go look for them.
"Wait, Eugene, calm down. You can't do anything reckless."
Eugene stopped and took a deep breath.
"Ah…"
He opened his eyes and said,
"You're right… then tell me—Musa, or any teacher?"
The class bell rang.
Eugene noticed that Ren wasn't with them.
"Wait… have you seen Ren?"
Fred and Rem looked at him in surprise.
Rem said anxiously,
"You mean he wasn't with you?"
Fred added,
"I thought he was with you."
"So Ren isn't with you, and not with me. Where did he go?"
Fred placed his hand on his neck.
"The last time I saw him was after I left my apartment at midnight to buy some food, and I saw him heading toward the garden."
Eugene raised his eyebrow, wondering,
"Ren wouldn't go out alone at midnight… and why would he go out at that time?"
Fred said,
"You go to the garden. Rem and I will go to Musa and tell him what happened."
Ah… ah… ah…
Rem remembered her cat and started crying again.
Fred said worriedly,
"Wait… wait, calm down a little."
Fred headed toward the garden.
"Alright, I'll go to the garden. See you later."
After some time, Eugene arrived at the garden, looking right and left, searching for Ren.
Ren, Ren, where are you?
As time passed, Eugene's heartbeats accelerated, imagining a thousand scenarios:
Was he kidnapped? No, no. Then did he die? Or… I hope not. Maybe he ran away from the academy.
Then he spotted Ren sleeping on a chair.
"Ren!" He rushed toward him and kicked him.
"Ahhh!" Ren shouted as he jumped off the chair, clutching his stomach.
Ren looked at Eugene angrily.
"You bastard! Why did you do that?"
"I should be the one asking that—why are you sleeping here?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I left the apartment hoping I'd get sleepy."
Eugene noticed the coat covering Ren and asked him,
"Where did you get this coat?"
Ren looked at him and said,
"I think it belongs to Professor James."
Eugene was surprised by the name.
"James? I've never seen him here before."
Ren picked up the coat and stood up, saying,
"He works in the Department of Protection Sciences."
Eugene noticed a piece of paper on the ground, picked it up, and opened it.
A chill ran through his body as he remembered the dream he had seen.
Ren looked at him, and Eugene froze in place.
"Are you okay?"
Then his gaze moved to the paper with the red three-pointed star on it.
"I think it belongs to Professor James."
Eugene stood up quickly.
"We need to find him."
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
Eugene replied nervously,
"Well… to return his coat."
Ren kept looking at Eugene, noticing the tension on his face.
"Alright, let's look for him."
Eugene thought to himself,
"Hah… did my lie really work? Good. He doesn't need to know about the dream, or he'll get worried."
Eugene and Ren moved to search for James.
After a while, they found Musa sitting on a chair, feeding ducks.
Eugene called out as he approached him,
"Professor Musa!"
Musa turned to them in surprise.
"Eugene… Ren, why didn't you go to class?"
Eugene stood in front of him.
"Forget class. I want to ask you—have you seen Professor James?"
Musa froze in place in shock.
"James? There is no one by that name in the academy."
"Huh… what?! I saw him and spoke to him yesterday."
Ren's face turned pale with shock and fear, sweat pouring down.
"Are you sure there's no one in the Department of Protection Sciences named James?"
Even Eugene looked tense and uneasy.
Musa stood up, slightly worried.
"Yes, there isn't. Why are you asking about him?"
Before Ren could respond, Eugene handed the paper to Musa.
Musa opened it and froze when he saw the symbol. His pupils constricted, sweat pouring down as he stared at the paper intently.
Eugene noticed Musa's reaction and the trembling of his hands.
Musa said calmly, with an awkward, nervous smile,
"Is this paper James's?"
Eugene and Ren nodded.
Musa tore the paper apart quickly.
Eugene was shocked.
"Why did you tear it?"
Musa, still wearing an awkward smile, said,
"It's just a drawing… yes, yes, there is someone named James."
Ren felt overwhelming relief as his fear disappeared.
"Really?!"
He took the coat off his shoulder and handed it to Musa.
"It's a coat you can return to him."
Musa took the coat quickly.
"Of course. Let's go to class."
He placed his hands on Ren's and Eugene's shoulders and gently pushed them toward class.
"Wait, I want to see James."
"What? No, James is very busy. Go now."
Eugene insisted,
"But I want to see him."
"You can see him later. Let's go now."
"Come on, Eugene. We'll see him later." Musa pushed Ren toward class. "I'll walk alone."
Eugene walked, thinking to himself, looking at Musa suspiciously.
"Something is wrong. Why is he worried and scared? I'll find out myself."
Once Musa made sure that Ren and Eugene had gone far enough, he looked right and left nervously and headed back toward his house.
"No… no… I need to chop wood to light the fire…"
When Musa heard these words, his legs trembled violently.
Musa said, fear filling his eyes,
"No… impossible…"
He ran at extreme speed, reaching his house in less than three seconds.
He entered and slammed the door shut, sat on the floor, clutching his head, like a child being chased by a monster.
End of Chapter Fourteen