Chapter 312: New memories
The terrace overlooking the central plaza was quiet, the autumn air bearing the crisp scent of ozone and crushed leaves.
Samantha stood near the stone balustrade, resting her forearms against the cool granite while her right hand lingered near the wrapped length of her spear, leaning against her side.
Floating light spheres drifted lazily overhead, casting faint gold and silver hues over the numerous pathways crisscrossing through the academy.
Below, Pyreptar Academy was humming with a restless energy. The Festival of Shadows was happening in three days.
"You’re awfully quiet," Lucian said quietly, stepping up beside her.
His footsteps were practically silent, a skill he’d honed and perfected over weeks of training in Tenebris following the Dark Maestro Incident and after they’d made it back.
His brown eyes were sharp and deliberate as his gaze swept over the courtyard.
Samantha didn’t turn her head, though her gaze shifted slightly.
"It feels too bright out here," she murmured, resting her cheek in the palm of her hand with a strangely forlorn expression.
" You’re still thinking about Tenebris?"
Partly," she admitted, in a low voice.
"People are laughing, preparing for a festival, but I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that we spent two years in that...place."
Lucian’s gaze softened slightly, the rigid tension in his shoulders easing just enough to reveal the shared burden between them.
He leaned against the balustrade, his arms folding across his chest as he looked out over the glowing courtyard.
"Two years in Tenebris," Lucian said quietly, his voice catching on the light breeze.
"Down there, every second was a fight to keep our minds intact. I still remember every accursed creature we faced..."Samantha murmured.
"But out here, time kept moving, its almost as if we never left. It makes all of this feel... artificial."
Samantha slowly exhaled, letting out a short, shaky breath.
Her gaze traced the path of a gold-tinted sphere as it floated past the stone archways.
"Exactly. Look at them, Lucian. They’re hanging banners, laughing and making merry."
Her voice turned somber.
"They don’t know what it feels like when hope dies. Sometimes I feel like I’m still trapped in that shadow, just watching a hallucination of the real world."
"You’re not trapped," Lucian said firmly.
He shifted his weight slightly.
"We made it back. And the fact that all this pisses you off proves you’re still grounded,you’re still—sane."
"The moment you stop caring about the contrast is the moment Tenebris actually takes something from you."
Samantha allowed the ghost of a smile to touch her lips, though her eyes remained shrouded in shadow.
She straightened slightly, resting her hands flat against the cold granite.
"Always the strategist. Are you telling me you don’t feel it too? When you close your eyes at night?"
For a moment, silence loomed between the two of them.
"I hear the deathly silence," Lucian eventually bit out, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the distant tree line bordering the plaza.
"The kind of silence that came right before the Maestro struck. The panic, the fear, I feel it."
Lucian spoke calmly but she could hear the slight tremor in his voice.
Samantha turned, staring at him in shocked silence.
Lucian’s expression remained pensive, his eyes remaining fixed on something distant only he could see.
"And so I train. I train until I’m too exhausted to dream. It’s not a fix, Samantha, but well..."
His lips curled into a smirk.
"It works for me. It helps pass the time."
"Time," she echoed softly, her fingers tightening on the stone balustrade.
"I suppose three days isn’t enough of it to prepare for the festival...for the crowd..."
"Who said you have to face the crowd alone?"
The new voice cut through the heavy air with familiar, easygoing warmth. Heavy footsteps bounded up the stone stairs behind them.
Xander beamed, joining them on the terrace with a bottle of sparkling juice in hand, along with the rest of the gang.
Samantha felt an indescribable feeling tighten in her chest, seeing all of them standing beside her.
"You guys..."
"Quit your sulking!" Cassius boomed.
"Live in the moment!"
Kelia lightly punched him in the arm, shaking her head in mock exasperation.
"What?! She’s raining on our heartfelt reunion!"
Anthony grinned, running a hand through his blonde hair.
"For once, I agree with the gorilla. Cheer up! Of course, if you need a distraction, there are always other ways I could be of help... if you catch my vibe..." he murmured, winking mischievously.
"Nothing a little peek in your mind here and there wouldn’t fix. Owwww!!!"
Anthony’s grin was quickly replaced by a pained grimace as he glared daggers at Amanda, who simply brushed past him, leaving the faint scent of ozone in her wake.
"It’s good to have you back, Samantha," she muttered, quietly nodding at her.
"Boringgggg!" Xander yelled.
"You guys are ruining the mood with all this...mushy camaraderie. Come on!!!!"
He took a sip of the sparkling juice before offering everyone a glass.
"A toast! To new memories!"
Lucian stared at him in amusement before reluctantly raising his own glass.
"To new memories!"
Xander looked between Samantha and Lucian before his eyes landed on Warren, who was quietly sipping his drink and watching a group of second years set up combat grids on the level below them.
𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"Speaking of surviving high intensity mentorship... how long have you actually been back, Warren? Two days?"
Three," Warren said, smoothly as he leaned his forearms against the stone balustrade.
"So Praesagius finally returned you to us?"
Xander asked, leaning back against the rail.
"Apparently," Warren said.
"Did they feed you over there, or did they just make you train from daybreak to sundown?"
"They did, eventually," Warren replied, a faint, dry twitch touching the corner of his lip.
Lucian turned his dark eyes toward Warren, studying the way the Talented stood.
"I was training under one of Lord Sebastian’s assistants. He goes by the name Levi Arclight."
"How was it?" Samantha asked, with a tinge of curiosity.
Warren shrugged, a trace of his formerly ever-present nonchalance leaking through.
"Well, I’m still standing, aren’t I?"
Samantha nodded.
"Yeah. And you’ve changed quite a bit at that."
"She’s right..." Edmund chipped in.
He raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening slightly.
"You’ve changed...a lot...what the hell happened to you?!"