The night was not as quiet as it seemed.
From the outside, the academy looked as usual, towering amidst the post-midnight fog, its giant trees waving their branches as if greeting those who returned from the dead. But inside its walls, silence concealed more than it revealed. Its walls never sleep, and its courtyards preserve the traces of all who passed, even those who returned today from the "Cave of Truth" never come back the same.
Valerian was the last to climb to the upper floor, his dimmed gaze still caught in a world between dream and reality. Zenith mumbled something inaudible as he collapsed onto his bed, while Evelyn sat silently near the window, staring at the moon's reflection on the glass as if searching for something she hadn't yet found. Everyone was exhausted... exhausted in a way that sleep could not cure.
And Selena? She was the only one who hadn't gone to bed.
