As Kealix walked through the endless, lightless halls, the only thing guiding him forward was the flickering flame of Joshua's torch. Shadows stretched like claws across the walls, twisting with every hesitant step. He stayed in the middle of the formation, their group sandwiched between the others—just like they'd planned. It felt safer that way. Protected. Even if he didn't feel safe at all.
The silence was heavy, broken only by the soft shuffle of feet and the occasional whimper from someone. Here and there, other students stumbled through the dark—wounded, lost, dazed. Some saw the light and joined them, desperate for anything that resembled direction.
The pace is steady. If we keep this tempo, we should reach the cafeteria soon, Kealix thought, locking his focus forward. One step at a time. That's all he needed. Just one more step.
A voice broke the stillness beside him. Calm and steady. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
Kealix turned his head slightly. It was the quiet boy from their group, the one who'd barely spoken before. He wasn't panicking like the others. That alone made him stand out.
"Sure," Kealix answered, not really thinking about it. He didn't have the energy to filter.
The boy didn't hesitate. "How are you able to stay so calm? Everyone else is freaking out. And your situation is... honestly the worst out of all of us. So how come you're not losing it?"
Kealix didn't answer right away. The question was more complicated than expected.
Calm? That wasn't what this was. He wasn't calm—he just hadn't had time to panic. One crisis after another had slammed into him like waves against stone. There hadn't been a second to stop.
But he knew that wasn't an answer people wanted. Not really.
He exhaled slowly, letting the silence hang for a beat longer. Then he said, simply, "Well... it could be worse."
His voice was quiet but firm. Not sarcastic. Just honest.
The boy gave him a strange look—barely visible in the dark, but Kealix caught it anyway. Confusion, maybe even a little disbelief. But he didn't press. He just nodded once, barely noticeable, and kept walking.
There were no more questions.
The torchlight flickered ahead, painting the hallway in orange and gold. Behind them, the dark still loomed. And in the silence that followed, Kealix realized something:
He wasn't calm.
He was only doing what he had to survive.
And right now, that was to be enough.
"Will you guys be alright if I drop back for a second? I need to check on a friend," Kealix asked, his voice quiet and gentle.
"We'll be fine, don't worry," Alora replied, just as softly. Her eyes flicked up to meet his for a brief moment to exchange eye contact.
Kealix gave a small nod and began to slow his pace rather than push through the packed hallway. The corridor was dense with bodies, students limping and shifting forward in slow, shuffling lines. Forcing his way to the back would've caused more problems than it solved. It was better to wait.
This might take a while…
He drifted to the side, letting the group ease past him, and leaned against the cold stone wall. The torchlight up ahead still flickered weakly, but it didn't reach this far back. Darkness pooled around him, thick and restless.
Minutes slipped by. Kealix glanced down at himself—at his wounds, he remembered waking up with many more wounds than he had now. Deep gashes. Torn skin. Bruises that should've made every step agony. But now?
He was almost completely healed.
The pain had dulled to a faint hum, like an echo. And the cuts… they looked days old instead of minutes. His body was regenerating—fast. Unnaturally fast.
What the hell…?
It didn't make sense.
Weird… but a benefit. Only a fool would complain about something like this.
Still, unease tugged his thoughts. But he decided to dismiss it.
Eventually, movement stirred at the edge of the crowd. Nox emerged from the rear of the group, supporting someone—no, carrying her weight across his shoulder. A girl. Blonde.
Kealix raised a brow.
Wealthy family, most likely. Blond hair wasn't common in the only noble lines still carried it. She looked barely conscious, her legs struggling even with Nox steadying her pace.
Kealix let a faint smirk tug at the corner of his mouth. It didn't show in the dark, but the tone of his voice carried it well enough.
"Still a gentleman, huh?"
Nox let out a breath, something between a laugh and a sigh. "You know me. When a lady is in need—I can't resist helping the girl."
His voice had that usual playful lilt, but Kealix could see the tightness around his eyes. The strain. Holding someone up for that long in a hallway this packed couldn't have been easy, not to mention that he was still wounded.
The girl didn't react to the sudden conversation between them. Her gaze was fixed on the floor, each step was a battle. Even with Nox holding most of her weight, her legs trembled like they might give out any second. But she didn't complain. She didn't speak. Just kept walking, jaw clenched and her eyes distant.
Kealix watched her quietly.
Was she strong. Or just stubborn. Maybe both.
He stepped in beside Nox, falling into rhythm without needing to ask. The three of them moved together, the torchlight ahead growing faint—but still there. Still guiding.
"Let me know when your arms give out," Kealix murmured.
Nox chuckled under his breath. "Oh, I will. Right after I collapse and demand you carry me instead."
Kealix gave a quiet snort. "you are out of your mind if you believe I would listen to such a demand."
The darkness didn't lift. But for a moment, the weight of it felt a little less heavy.
They walked for several minutes in silence before finally reaching the cafeteria on the first floor. It had taken longer than it should've—understandably. Everyone was exhausted. Some were limping, others barely staying upright, and too many bore the marks of deep injuries.
But they'd made it.
Their first checkpoint.
Nox helped the blonde girl over to one of the long benches and eased her down gently. She murmured a quiet thank you, barely audible over the low hum of voices in the room. Nox gave a small nod, then turned and headed back to Kealix.
"You're getting romantic in a crisis now?" Kealix said with a lopsided smirk, his face finally visible in the wider cafeteria space. The torchlight spilled further here, giving the shadows less room to hide.
Nox shot him a flat look. "Yeah, sure. I meet some random girl in the middle of chaos and instantly fall in love. Sounds exactly like me."
His voice was laced with sarcasm, but the edge of a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Even through the tension, the banter remained—a fragile thread of normalcy they both clung to.
Then, silence again.
A heavy one.
Kealix stared out across the cafeteria, his breath slower now, deeper. Reality pressed in on him. None of this felt real. This wasn't something you prepared for. Not even in the worst nightmares.
"Come on," Nox said, breaking the quiet. "Let's find Joshua. We need to figure out what comes next."
"Yeah," Kealix replied, his voice low, weighted. "We should."
They moved together, footsteps slow but steady.
Kealix's eyes drifted across the room, scanning the students now gathered in makeshift groups. Some sat on the floor, some leaned against the walls, others simply stood, trying to catch their breath. All of them glowed.
Every single one.
A faint hue wrapped around each person—some bright and flickering like firelight, others deeper, more subdued. But they all had color. Movement. Presence.
He looked down at himself.
His hands. His feet.
He could see his own color too—but it didn't move like the others. It didn't float or ripple. It clung to the outline of his body like a second skin, pressed tightly against him, almost like it was… imprisoned inside of him.
Not gone. Not missing. Just contained.
Why?
He didn't have an answer. Just that hollow tug in his gut. That quiet, persistent sense that something was different. Off. His body might be healing, might be stronger now—but whatever was happening to him… it wasn't normal.
It wasn't the same as everyone else.
And he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
As they walked, Kealix glanced sideways at Nox.
His color had changed—brighter now, like a swarm of excited fireflies pulsing in a deep navy hue. The light clung to him, flickering with strange energy, just like it had with Joshua earlier.
Kealix's gaze shifted past the glow to study Nox's body. His injuries—like Kealix's—were healing. Rapidly. The scrapes, bruises, even what should've been deeper wounds were closing at a pace that defied logic. He looked around at the other students. Many of them were wounded too—but not as badly as they should have been. And yet, most were already on their feet again. Their pain dulled. Movement steady.
Something was clearly at work here.
And it wasn't natural.
Then came the feeling again. That eerie, crawling weight on his skin. Not eyes, not human attention—something else. Something he couldn't explain. It was like the air itself was aware of them.
"Do you have any idea why our injuries are healing so fast?" Kealix asked, his tone casual, almost blank, like he was asking about the weather.
Nox didn't answer immediately. When he did, his voice was quiet. "No idea."
But his expression said more than his words—eyebrows slightly furrowed, mouth drawn tight in thought.
"It's helpful," Nox added after a pause. "But yeah… it's weird. Like something wants us to survive. Like it's trying to even the odds or something."
Kealix didn't reply.
He was thinking the same thing. The healing was useful, sure—life-saving even. But anything this unnatural came with a cost. Whatever had given them this advantage… hadn't done it out of kindness.
They kept walking, the soft echoes of footsteps ahead guiding them through the gloom until they finally reached the torchlight.
Joshua stood at the center, holding the flame aloft.
"Hey, Joshua! Nicely done, man. You really got us here," Nox called out, a genuine note of relief in his voice.
Kealix let a grin slip across his face. It felt strange, foreign, like it didn't quite belong there—but he didn't stop it.
"Thanks, Nox," Joshua said, breathing a little heavier than usual. "Let's just rest for a few minutes, then keep moving."
Kealix's eyes narrowed slightly. That color around Joshua—the deep orange hue that danced like embers—had grown stronger. It didn't just shimmer now; it moved. It burned. Like actual fire clinging to the shape of his body.
He squinted. No—not like fire.
It was fire.
Real flames.
Just as the thought formed, the torch in Joshua's hand suddenly flickered—violent, wild. It twisted unnaturally, flaring with erratic heat. No one noticed it at first. Not until it was too late.
The flame lashed outward, like a living thing.
It struck Joshua square in the chest.
For a moment, it looked like the fire had turned on him. Like it was consuming him. Flames erupted across his body in a chaotic burst, engulfing him head to toe.