Chapter 88: At least Cry. No, I’ll trust you with our secret.

Chapter 88: At least Cry. No, I’ll trust you with our secret. It was quiet after Henndar left—eerily so—but the silence did nothing to calm anyone. Thoughts raced like storms in every mind, tangled and unrelenting. But for Kesha, it was worse. None of it made sense. Just moments ago, everything had seemed fine. How had it all unraveled so fast? Her chest ached like something was being torn apart inside her. No... this wasn’t Aramith. It couldn’t be. Someone had to have influenced him. Her instincts had never failed her before—never. So how could she have been wrong about him? He looked like he was acting of his own will, but how? Why? The more she tried to understand, the less any of it added up. And now... he was going to be banished. Just like that, she had lost him. She searched desperately for a cause—something, someone to blame for this nightmare. It couldn’t have just happened. It had to be— Her. That woman. Zero. She was the reason for all of it. She must have done something to Aramith, twisted everything. And now she was being allowed to live? Frost began to creep across Kesha’s clenched fists, her rage turning the air cold and sharp. She swore that woman would pay. But just as her fury peaked, another thought struck her. Mozrael was being banished, too. And that meant— Lia. FWOOOSH! Ice shards burst from where Kesha stood, vanishing into steam the instant they hit walls and furniture. Her breath caught. What about Lia? Were they really going to leave her... completely alone? "Hey!" A hand suddenly grabbed her in her tracks. She didn’t even realize she was running out. "You can’t just shoot ice at everyone and run off like that. Did you even hear a single word of caution? No one is supposed to leave..." But she’d already lost focus on what Khaizen was saying. She looked around at all the faces focused on them. Only a few minded their own business. "...don’t know what he might do." She shrugged him off. "Leave me alone, you know nothing." But Khaizen thought he was helping. "Maybe I don’t know what is going on, but I do know going out is dangerous." "And who do you think you are?" A wall of ice rose from the ground, separating them. Before Khaizen could try stopping her again, she left. KEsha glided across the floor, leaving behind a trail of ice in her wake. She had to find Lia quickly. How could they have left her? She first checked the library, then their rooms, panicking when she couldn’t find the girl in any of the rooms. As she rushed to check the dining hall, a distant melody flowed through her ears. Immediately, she stood still. The song sounded beautiful, tragic, and at the same time, encouraging. In its sadness, she felt hope in the voice that carried it along. Lia... She hadn’t heard Lia singing before, but she felt it within her that the voice could only belong to the blind girl. Kesha slowed down as she made her way to the garden. There, she saw Lia, under the moonless sky, singing under a tree, looking up at the dotted sky—A sky she had forgotten. One she may never see again. ... Golden dreams will always find and chase you. Rest, my love, rest tonight, Let the world fade quietly in the twilight. When you wake, morning’s glow Will be there to paint the sky in firelight. Softly now, don’t you cry, In the dark, the moon will keep you high. Till then, sleep, firefly, Dream away where morning meets the sky..... Hearing her sing about the moon, about resting in the hope of a new dawn, about light in the night brought tears to Kesha’s eyes. How could she sing that? It was her favorite song, which Kethra sang to her now and then. Lia finished the song, and as her voice faded into the night, she turned to Kesha, who stood there silently, heart heavy with sadness and hopelessness. She fell to the ground and hugged Lia tightly. How she wished she could shield Lia from what she was about to face. She wondered if Aramith understood he was also leaving Lia alone. How could he do that? Look how the girl struggled every day. How she forced herself so she wouldn’t break in front of them. They didn’t know the pain the girl was going through, and now she was about to be broken even more. Lia’s biggest motivation was the joy she felt in the company of Aramith and Mozrael. What would the girl do if she found out her two biggest pillars for survival had been broken off? "Lia..." Kesha whispered. "I know, Aramith rejected you again, right?" She tried to joke, which made Kesha choke. "No, Lia..." He rejected all of us, she wanted to say. But where was the courage she needed to spill it all? "Something bad happened, right? No wonder it took so long." Lia paused, as if she already sensed what had happened. "Where are Aramith and Mozrael? They were coming to get you...I think. Well, Aramith was coming to you, but he didn’t come back early, so Mozrael decided to also come get him. But it turns out you dodged them. Did-" "Lia. You know something bad has happened," Kesha stated. She imagined Lia sitting alone, singing, and she couldn’t help but break down further. Lia didn’t reply. She just sat there quietly, patiently waiting for Kesha to speak. Kesha felt embarrassed that she couldn’t help Lia as she’d planned to do when she set out. But this was heavy, she couldn’t help it. It took a while for her to find the courage to speak again, and when she did, she tried her best to narrate what had happened, leaving out bits that would hurt the girl even more, like Aramith transforming, Henndar shooting Aramith with a deadly attack, and Henndar smashing Aramith on the ground several times. There was no way Lia would be able to take it all without losing it. She finished by saying Mozrael tried to defend Aramith and was also banished. But in that moment, Kesha realized the worst part of everything happening. Lia was too quiet. The girl just nodded in understanding. Because she was blind, Kesha didn’t mind that she just stared up, but why didn’t she look sad at all? Perhaps it was all too much for her. "Lia?" She called softly. Lia didn’t respond, but a sad smile was on her face. Seeing that made Kesha tremble lightly. "Father once told me something," Lia started, then paused, looking at Kesha, whom she couldn’t see. "Is the sun up yet?" "No, it’s still dark," Kesha held back a sob. It hurt just to watch Lia like that. It was a mystery to her when she’d become attached to Lia. "Well, father once told me that when it’s dark, we shouldn’t worry because the sun will rise at the right time." She paused again, her smile looking more genuine. "The best part is that no one has to remind the sun when it needs to come and remove the darkness." Lia lay on her back now, closing her eyes. "Maybe it’s not yet time for the darkness to go away," she said. Final. Kesha couldn’t believe it. Lia just accepted it like it was supposed to be like that? And how could the girl smile too? At least cry...don’t keep your pain inside you like that. Kesha suddenly hated herself for teaching Lia how to keep her pain hidden so her family won’t see it. Now Lia was using it against her, and she couldn’t blame the girl. Pretending to be hurt, but sometimes it was good to pretend. Still.. "Aren’t you going to cry? Lia, I know this hurts. You’re going to be left alone now. Please...at least cry. Don’t keep it all inside you like that." After that, they stayed silent for a moment too long. Kesha waited patiently for Lia to respond, but all she got was the cool breeze, as if it wanted to carefully lift their sorrow away. Lia finally let out a sigh. "I didn’t even get to say goodbye to them...but maybe that’s because they won’t be gone like that." She still had hope... "And Kesha...I don’t think I’m alone now. You’re...still with me, right? You won’t leave me, right?" Her lips trembled slightly, but she willed herself to be steady. Her request hurt Kesha more than anything. She quickly promised Lia she won’t leave her alone. "Good. We’ll get them to apologize later," she smiled again. Kesha averted her gaze. She would cry again if she looked at Lia, forcing herself to hide the pain behind those smiles. "I’m going to put my life and the lives of Aramith and Mozrael into your hands as well." Lia sat upright, her posture unshakably firm as she turned her head toward Kesha and locked eyes with her. It was eerie how certain and steady her gaze was—so direct that for a fleeting second, Kesha forgot Lia couldn’t actually see. "Kesha," Lia said quietly, "I’m about to tell you the biggest secret the world could ever know. And you can do whatever you want with that knowledge. But you must never, ever tell a soul. Not Aramith. Not Mozrael. No one. Promise me." Kesha blinked, the seriousness in Lia’s tone pulling her in like a current. She nodded slowly. "I promise," she said, though part of her was still unsure what kind of truth could be so grand, so dangerous, that it had to be hidden from even the closest people she could think of. Then Lia did something that made her breath catch—she bit into her own finger, hard enough to draw blood. "Do the same," she whispered. Kesha hesitated, but seeing the sincerity in Lia’s face—the way her lip trembled just slightly, the way her voice was both frightened and resolved—she obeyed. They pressed their bleeding fingers together, sealing the pact with warmth and gravity. And then Lia began to speak. She told Kesha everything—about the secret her family had guarded with such ferocity. About how she and Aramith were not born with the attributes the world had been told. That Aramith wasn’t a Damned user at all. That her own attribute wasn’t fire. That both were false identities forged to protect the truth. "Unlike other people, who unlock their attributes later on, we were born with ours. My attribute is Light," Lia whispered. "And Aramith’s... we don’t even have a name for it." Kesha’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. She just listened, each word sinking deeper. Lia continued, explaining how her light had started to grow on its own and how it responded to her emotions and intentions. She had just enough control to keep it hidden, and her family had devised a way to help her cultivate it—but only once she was older. Even now, she wasn’t supposed to use it. Aramith’s case, however, was different. His attribute wasn’t just powerful—it was unstable, uncontrollable, and dangerous. "When he uses it," Lia said, her voice now quieter, "he becomes someone else. Or something else. It twists him. Hurts him." Kesha clenched her fists. "So what do they do when it happens?" "There are only three ways," Lia replied. "Either he exhausts himself... or someone strong enough stops him. Or I do—because light can cancel it out. That’s the only thing we know." Kesha sat back, her thoughts whirling. But Lia wasn’t done. There was one more truth—one more weight she needed to pass on. Lia took a deep breath and said the part that made Kesha’s stomach twist: "There’s more." She told her the truth about Mozrael. "Mozrael was stillborn," she said, a catch in her voice. "And her mother died giving birth to her. Not Kethra—someone else. I don’t know who. But Henndar... he didn’t give up. He fused her with a dragon egg. Somehow, it worked. Somehow... she lived." Silence fell, heavy and strange. Kesha’s mind was racing, unable to hold it all at once. Unknown attributes. Aramith’s terrifying power. Mozrael’s second birth. These were things that could shake nations if revealed—and Lia had told her, a girl who just hours ago had been unsure if she even belonged in their circle. She couldn’t speak. Not yet. Not with all this rattling inside her. Lia, for her part, simply waited. Calm, as though the storm had already passed through her, and she had accepted its aftermath. Finally, Kesha managed a breath. "You left something out... didn’t you?" Lia nodded faintly. There are people who have hunted us. Since we were little. I don’t know if they know about the attributes or not... but I know they want Aramith. Badly. But Lia didn’t say it. She couldn’t tell Kehsa that yet. "I’ll tell you the last part another time." Her hands trembled a little now, as if saying it made it more real. Kesha now saw Lia as someone else. Lia didn’t seem the child she was. This was someone more mature. Kesha’s voice came out barely above a whisper. "Why are you telling me this?" Lia turned her head toward her, her expression unreadable. "Because I trust you. Because I need someone else to carry the weight with me. And... because I feel I can trust you." And in that moment, under the dotted sky of the Vermillion Kingdom, with moonlight brushing over the flower-laced garden, something unshakable formed between the two girls. A pact deeper than blood. A sisterhood born not by chance, but by shared burden. A bond that, one day, the world would remember.