CHAPTER 137: QUESTIONS AND BLANK PAGES

Coleen, her gaze fixed on Eirin, didn’t speak as she only watched Eirin’s reaction. There were still lots of things Eirin wasn’t aware of about this place.

"How... how did my grandmother changed it? How did she make it a place for everyone?"

Coleen held Eirin’s hand, a gentle, comforting touch, as if comforting her, her warmth transferring to the teenage girl, a calming anchor.

"Madam Eleanor persuaded the former king, King Relius III, to open the academy to all, to further strengthen the kingdom’s greatness," Link said, his voice a reverent whisper. "Mr. Blade said that Madam Eleanor was ready to give it all up, ready to lose everything, if the King didn’t allow it. Her unwavering dedication to her ideals, to her beliefs, was a force of nature."

Discovering things, she didn’t know about her grandmother, her only family, made something swirling within Eirin’s stomach. A strange, beautiful, and terrifying mixture of pride and a deep, aching fear of the unknown.

"We don’t know how Madam Eleanor persuaded the king. It was Mr. Blade who told us this story. For an orphan like me who didn’t have a place to go, Madam Eleanor created a sanctuary. That’s also when Mr. Blade started saving children like me and Shade. We were both just lost, broken children, and your grandmother saved us."

Coleen didn’t want to further the discussion as she pulled Eirin into a hug. "Can we talk about something else," she said, her voice a soft, sad murmur.

Eirin, her heart a confused mess, patted Coleen’s head, a gentle reassuring motion. She decided not to talk about it anymore despite having more questions. She didn’t want to see her best friend cry. Coleen saw this as Eirin’s way of protecting her, but that caused her to feel awful.

"I... I’ll get Eirin some food. I’ll be right back."

Coleen rushed out of the door, leaving Eirin and Link alone. The two looked at each other, a silent understanding passing between them.

"Do you still want to hear it?"

"Hear what?

"Stories from the past. About the world that your grandmother helped create. About the lives she saved."

Eirin fiddled with her fingers. "Am I even allowed to learn more of it? Why am I just learning all of this now?"

"Of course. Didn’t you come here to find answers? Didn’t you come here to find yourself?" Link said.

Eirin was once again reminded of her purpose, a purpose that she was slowly losing due to the continuous events that kept her distracted, that kept her from the truth of what happened to her best friend and her own existence.

"Shade and I were both saved by Mr. Blade. Despite being young himself, he helped us and trained us. He almost became a fatherly figure—at least, that’s what he looked to me."

Link smiled, the memories rushing back into his head as he stared at Eirin’s eyes.

"The academy even accepted children born from ligmas, made a special curriculum for them. However, the king wanted to have his special elite force. The king was a little—no, he overthinks a lot, and he thought people were always after him. That’s why even the royal knights weren’t enough for him. He wanted to have a special task force with powerful abilities and are ready to die for him. That’s how the Black Star was born. In exchange of a new life, they became his weapons."

Link smiled, a soft, melancholic curve of his lips, sadness in his eyes, as he touched the tip of his pink hair. It was the first time Eirin saw such a melancholic smile on his face.

"Have you learned about Shade’s ancestry?"

Eirin gulped before nodding.

"The kind wanted Shade for himself, knowing how powerful he would become, he wanted to use Shade’s power to protect himself. You know, he did instigated lots of wars during his time. He wanted to make Shade his weapon."

Hearing the word ’weapon’ didn’t sit well with Eirin. It was a terrifying echo of Nirvana’s own confession, of her terrifying existence.

"Fortunately, the king had to retire due to his old age and Queen Regina took the throne. The current queen is benevolent. She’s known to be the kindest ruler in the present. Some think of it as her weakness, but the people of Næra knows that wasn’t the truth," Link said. "She also became the Senerra Academy’s director after Madam Eleanor left."

Link tried to hold Eirin’s hand, a gentle, comforting motion, but she instinctively moved away, her body a small, flinching thing, causing him to back away, a look of heartbreaking understanding on his face.

"We didn’t know that Madam Eleanor had a family in the Infirmus. And based on your age, you were already born when she was still in the academy. Do you remember where you were born?"

Link’s question, so simple, was a final blow. Eirin’s head hurt, a dizzying pain, as she tried to remember. The earliest memory she had was meeting Ava after she moved to their new house with her grandmother, and that was it. She has no recollection of her parents, or even how and where she was born. Her past, her history, her very identity, was a blank slate.

A slate that was now a new mystery she had to solve, no matter the cost.

Link saw the conflicted expression on Eirin’s face, a painful mask of confusion and worry, causing him to somewhat regret his words. He had meant to comfort her, to give her a sense of her grandmother’s legacy, but instead, he had only added to the weight on her shoulders, to the aching emptiness of her own past.

"You know what, I’ll just ask Mr. Blade again. You don’t have to worry about any of that right now. Your focus should be on getting better, on getting back to your normal self," he said, his voice a low, gentle murmur, a soothing balm to her soul.

"What about Shade? What will happen to him?"

Link blinked lots of times. He had thought that Eirin was conflicted only because of Madam Eleanor, because of the mystery of her own past. Who would have thought that she was already thinking about the young man as well? That her new concern for Shade was a driving force in her mind?

"As I said, he’ll be sent to a mission with the Black Star. He never fails any of his mission. He’ll be fine. He’s always fine."

Despite saying those words, Eirin saw the worries in Link’s eyes as he comforted her, but he appeared as if he was trying to comfort himself with those words. It was a fragile, desperate hope, a like he was trying to convince himself with.

The air around them grew heavy, thick with unspoken fears and worries, a fragile peace that felt as if it could break at any moment.

"By the way, the doctor said you can go back to the academy now. What do you want to do? Miss Welkins also said that she wants to meet you. It’s about the mailman, the messenger that delivers letter to the Infirmus."

Link’s face brightened, a soft, warm smile touching his lips.

Eirin remembered the letter she’s been dying to send to Bright, a letter that was a small piece of her old life, a life that felt so distant, so foreign now. The thought of it, of sending a message to the only person who still think of her from her old home, made her leave no hesitation to go back to the academy. She changed clothes, the white, clean hospital gown replaced by her comfortable, familiar academy uniform, and as soon as Coleen arrived back, her hands filled with a tray of food, Eirin and Link were already ready to leave.

They didn’t take a teleport crystal with them, and instead took a carriage back to the academy. The ride was a slow, gentle, and beautiful journey, a peaceful transition from the chaos of the past few days. Coleen and Eirin were having a blissful conversation about random things, about the mundane, and also about the upcoming school festival.

The conversation was a comforting balm to Eirin’s soul, a quiet, gentle reminder of the life that was waiting for her.

"I would like to have a café this time, Ei. In middle school we already did a haunted house because Shade wanted a haunted house."

Coleen had a small playful pout on her lips, her arms crossed over her chest as she remembered the chaotic memories of her last year of middle school, a memory that was both frustrating and hilarious, making Link laugh, a sound that filled the carriage with warmth.

"It wasn’t really Shade’s idea, you see. It was the girls in our class that time. They asked Shade what he wanted to do for the school festival, and he said he wanted to go to a dark and quiet place. That’s how they decided to have a haunted house."

Link’s voice was a low, teasing murmur, making Coleen roll her eyes.

"That wasn’t even quiet! And Shade didn’t attend the school festival at all so I was forced to work my butt off because those girls decided to find Shade instead of working on the haunted house."

The way Coleen talked about it seemed so adorable and fun that Eirin couldn’t help but be excited for the event.