The whole school knew about what had happened to Syra’s group. The academy tried to keep it secret, but the news of a teacher sending his students to die was one of the hot subjects in the school at the current moment, and was simply not something that could hide.
However, the news of the Skylark family being behind it never left closed doors.
News of Syra waking up reached her friends in after a while, but before they could come to her, she said something to Diveen…
Diveen could be seen patting her slowly with sympathetic eyes.
However, after almost 20 minutes of crying, and ten more minutes of silence, Syra turned her gaze up and looked at Diveen with tears in her eyes.
“David…”
“I know. Trust me, I know.” Diveen kissed her forehead and sighed.
“He died right in front of us.”
“I know. But, he saved you guys, right? It was a noble sacrifice.”
“…”
“…”
“Who said that?” Syra’s voice turned cold.
“Hm? Is that not what happened?” Diveen raised a brow.
“It… It was different. It didn’t happen like that… The monster that attacked us… It was terrifying. Its top half was that of a human, and its bottom half was that of a spider. It killed him right in front of us, and we couldn’t do a single damn thing… Not even Nymira.”
Diveen’s eyes instantly widened before they narrowed down.
“Syra. Nymira… She’s captured. I don’t think she was there.” Diveen spoke while checking Syra’s temperature.
“No… She was. Did the others not say anything about a pink haired girl?”
“They did, but, I doubt it was-“
“It was her, Diveen… It was her. And she was strong. So much strong than me. She fought off that creature all on her own. That mage with her too. The one with red hair. He was strong too. I could sense that his core was at the same level as mine, but he was so much better than me at his creating spells. It took half the time to create them, and he looked even younger than me. Maybe 12 years old?” Syra gritted her teeth as she remembered exactly what happened that day.
“Hm… The reports actually talks about him too… Though, I doubt the girl you are talking about was Nymira. We both know she was kidnapped.” Diveen tried to reason; However, Syra didn’t hear a single thing.
“And who was she kidnapped by?” Syra asked.
“Darkless of cour-” Diveen paused as her eyes widened.
While it wasn’t part of the official reports that were sent out by the school to keep the information correct, there were reports from the nearest town that talked about Judgement being there.
When the students were asked about this, they refused to talk so the school couldn’t do anything about it…
But, if what Syra was saying was correct, then maybe, just maybe…
“Is… Is Nymira okay?” Diveen asked with a crack in her voice.
She remembered Nymira as a child when she was taking care of her. The connection between them wasn’t nearly as strong as the one between Nymira and the late chief, but when she heard about Nymira’s kidnapping, she had tried her best to get her back from the people who had taken her.
But, until now, the didn’t even know where to start.
For all she knew, Darkless didn’t even have her anymore. They were littered with mercenaries, so it was only normal for them to have sent her to someone else.
But now, when she thought about it, she understood that Nymira was most likely still with-
“Silas isn’t dead.”
“…” Diveen’s thoughts immediately halted the moment those words reached her ears.
“You can’t tell mom and dad. They would be destroyed.”
“Are you sure it’s him?” Diveen asked.
“Yeah. How do you expect me not to recognize my own brother. He’s a little taller now… And a lot bigger. Actually, he looks older than me.”
“…”
“You said he looked 12-years-old?” Diveen asked in confusion.
“What? No. He’s not the red-haired kid. He’s…” Syra paused, not knowing what to say.
“He’s what?”
“He’s…”
How was she supposed to tell her that the kid she taught to become a proper mage was now one of the most wanted men in the entire kingdom?
“He’s not like what he used to be. He’s changed. They changed him.” Syra’s eyes began to fill with tears as she remembered him slamming his fist into her abdomen.
“What happened to him?” Diveen was worried now as well. She had already made peace with the fact that Silas was dead. It had been almost six years now, and she’s experienced death many times in her life, whether those were comrades or family.
“Silas is a general of the Darkless organization. He’s Judgement.”
Yet, the conversation she was having with Syra was bringing up a lot of emotions she thought she had gotten rid of by now.
Yet, when she heard what Syra said, she could not help but feel her stomach drop.
A horrible feeling was swimming around in her stomach…
“H-How…” Diveen asked with a hint of anger in her voice.
“I-I think they brainwashed him. The same way they did with Nymira. They must have done something to him… Otherwise… Why would he refuse to come back? He knows Mom and Dad are devastated, but he doesn’t want to come back… Why won’t he come back… WHY!” Syra’s weeps quickly turned into rage, and without waiting for another second, she pushed Diveen aside and stormed out of the room.
Diveen, on the other hand, was far too shocked by the revelation to go after her, but unlike Syra, Diveen wasn’t nearly as narrowminded as she was.
Unlike Syra, her first thought wasn’t that Silas had been brainwashed. If he had been brainwashed, why would he even rescue Syra and her friends? Why would Nymira and the red-haired youth even come to save them in the first place?
‘Does he know about his family’s situation…’ Diveen’s face had a grave expression on it.
All she could do was hold her head while thinking of all the possibilities as to why Silas had become Judgement in the first place.
Yet… In the end, there was one more thing that she cared more about.
“S-Sister Diveen. Is Syra-…” Herla, who had just walked into the room, looked toward the empty bed with a hint of confusion, yet, the confusion only increased when she turned back toward Diveen…
Just to see tears rolling down her face as a smile blossomed from the corner of her lips.
And that entire time, only a single sentence ran through her mind.
‘Thank god they’re alive.’