Isabel Dawnheart stood in silence, her sharp silver eyes sweeping across the devastated town.
A wave of mana spread from her body, scanning every corner of Mistvale and even reaching into the surrounding forest.
Amon and Selena still sat where they had fallen, their bodies weak but no longer in danger.
Though Isabel was a Mythborn, healing was not her strongest art yet even her limited touch was enough to help them to keep alive from verge of death.
Her white hair was tied neatly in a high bun. The light from the moon reflected off her glasses, their thin black rims sitting perfectly on the bridge of her nose.
She lifted her hand, and a beautiful blue crystal appeared in her palm. It glowed softly, humming as it tried to connect to someone far away.
After a few moments, a woman’s voice came through mature, melodic, and teasing.
"Oh~ Isabel. To think you’d be the one to contact me. I still can’t believe it’s you. How many years has it been since we last talked?"
Isabel’s eyes narrowed slightly in irritation.
She ignored the greeting and didn’t answered her questions, she spoke in her usual calm but cold tone.
"Mistvale Town. Hundreds of kilometers south of the academy... It reeks of the Abyss."
Silence hung from the other side of the crystal.
Then, the once-playful voice returned, now cold and serious.
"...Did you just say Abyss?"
She paused.
"Are you certain? No, wait...why am I even doubting you? Alright. I’ll send Bishop Jonathan there. I can’t come myself. I’m currently in the Caelvane Kingdom dealing with an urgent matter. But once I return to Valmoria, I’ll visit your academy."
Isabel listened quietly. "Understood. I’ll send you the full report later after I investigate everything myself. Just send him quickly he’ll be needed here. My students are badly injured. They were on the verge of death when I arrived."
"Okay, okay... Wait your students are there? Does that mean they were the ones who found it during their mission?" the woman asked curiously.
Isabel sighed. "Yes. Two of them didn’t make it. Only two survived. One of them is Princess Selena."
"What? Selena’s group? Hah, I can already imagine how much trouble you’ll have dealing with Empress Celestia now."
The woman chuckled lightly. "Anyway, I’ll take care of it. Stay safe, Isabel~"
The crystal dimmed and disappeared from Isabel’s hand. She then raised a protective barrier around Amon and Selena, ensuring nothing else could harm them.
Her calm gaze shifted to the center of town the heart of the massacre.
She began investigating quietly, her senses sharp, already trying to understand what kind of disaster had struck this place.
---
A faint twitch ran through Amon’s fingers.
His eyes twitched and fluttered open slowly, greeted by an unfamiliar old looking white ceiling. His vision was blurry at first. He blinked a few times until the shapes became clear.
He tried to move, but pain shot through every part of his body. A dull, burning ache spread through his chest and limbs. Every muscle screamed in protest.
’I... I’m still alive?’ he thought weakly.
He tried again to move, but his body refused to obey. Even the slightest effort sent fire through his nerves. It was like his body itself was begging him not to move.
"Sigh..." He exhaled softly. His mind flashed with the memory of Vixra and Jareth their deaths still raw and vivid in his thoughts.
Then panic struck him.
’Wait! What about President Selena?’
He remembered she was still alive before he passed out.
"Oi... What are you doing? Don’t try to move. Your body’s a mess,its beyond crazy" came a calm but familiar voice from his left.
Amon turned his head slowly. Despite the pain, he forced himself to look.
On the bed beside him lay a beautiful girl with long silver hair that spread across the white sheets. Her red eyes met his as she turned her head toward him.
"President! You’re alive! Oh Goddess, thank you! You actually made it, President!" Amon’s voice broke with relief. A genuine smile spread across his bruised face.
Selena stared at him, amused by his sudden excitement. Her lips curved into a faint smile.
"Well, of course I’m alive. I’m a princess, remember? I can’t die that easily," she replied with a small smirk.
"Yeah... There’s no way our princess would die so easily," Amon said, chuckling weakly.
"Yah...There’s no way our princess will die so easily...Even if you were near death, I had put my life on line to save you."Amon joke with her. He was aware that both of them barely made out of it.
It was a lighthearted joke, but the tone quickly faded as his eyes drifted back to the ceiling. The smile left his face, replaced by quiet sorrow.
Selena noticed it the weight in his voice, the pain in his expression.
"Princess... Since we’re alive, that means the Academy came to help us, right? Did they... retrieve the bodies of Senior Vixra and Jareth?"
His voice was heavy with emotion sadness, pain, and regret.
"Yes," Selena said softly. Her expression was not much differnt from his.
"They found their bodies and brought them back safely. They should have already been transported to the Academy by now."
Her tone matched his grief. Unlike Amon, she had known Jareth and Vixra for over a year. Losing them hit deep.
Amon blinked a few times, then turned his face toward her.
"President... can I call you ’Senior’?" he asked quietly. His black eyes carried a faint hope.
Selena frowned slightly. "I don’t have a problem with it... but why even ask? I am your senior. You can naturally call me that." she said, confused by his sudden question.
Amon smiled faintly. "I know. But you are student council president, everyone calls you ’President,’ so I did too. Calling you ’Senior’ just feels... closer. Like how it felt with Senior Jareth and Vixra."
Selena stared at him for a moment, then exhaled softly. His words were strange, but somehow sincere.
"And maybe... someday, I can call you by your name," Amon added with a tired grin.
Selena blinked in surprise, then shook her head with a quiet laugh.
’At least... my junior is alive,’ she thought.
For the first time since the nightmare at Mistvale, the heavy air around them felt a little lighter.