Sasha's POV
I had momentarily forgotten that we were still inside the school premises, and so, off we were to face the consequences. I had no qualms about facing whatever punishment the principal might deem fit, and from the determined look in Lucas's eyes, it seemed like he had the same resolve. However, the male beside him was not part of this group.
Emery shrank as he walked, taking shorter steps just enough to stay behind Lucas. He grabbed his arm, covering his chest, and looked down at his feet, his bangs falling gently over his pale face.
Lucas looked back and put a hand on Emery's back. Emery glanced up, and only then did I notice his chapped and scratched lips from nibbling on them too hard. Lucas let out a deep breath and gave Emery a stiff nod.
"It'll work out, Emery," Lucas reassured him. "I can take the blame for you; I won't hold it against you."
Emery stared blankly at Lucas in response. He almost stopped in his tracks, but Lucas kept a hand on his back to push him forward.
"My dad used to be rebellious before he inherited the hospital, so he always tells me to live out my youth." Lucas justified his proposal. "So, I won't get in trouble over something as petty as this. Let me take the fall."
Emery's eyes darted toward the floor as he hugged himself tighter. I understood his hesitance. It is unbecoming for one not to take responsibility for their own decisions, even if the consequences would leave them distraught. I do always appreciate Lucas for exercising his privilege whenever the situation calls for it.
"No." Emery finally spoke up and shook his head. "It was my decision, so it's alright. It's fine."
As soon as Emery said that, he looked down once more, and his steps slowed further. Lucas looked at me with worry in his eyes and simply rubbed circles on Emery's back.
Shortly after, we reached the principal's office. The frame was made of hard oak with a reddish-brown varnish and a golden plaque with Principal written on it. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
As soon as we entered, a cold breeze blew in our direction. Even with my blazer and sweater, I could feel how low the temperature was in the room. The room was your typical office, with a mahogany desk and a luxurious swivel chair. He had several bookshelves, some of them holding trophies from the school. The walls were covered with certificates awarded to the principal and the school.
The principal slowly turned his chair with a small smile on his face. He beckoned us to come closer, and so we followed. I stepped forward first and gave him a small greeting, with Lucas and Emery following behind me. Emery would be better described as being guided by Lucas, but he stood up on his own in front of the principal; we all stood in a line.
"Ah, yes...." The principal organized the papers on his desk and read from one of the clipboards. "Miss Sasha, Mister Lucas, and Miss Nikoletta?"
"Y-yes?!" Emery squeaked, jumping from his spot.
Lucas protectively stepped forward and put a hand in front of Emery. "It's Emery."
"Sorry?" The principal looked up from his file.
"It's fine, Lucas," Emery whispered, only to be ignored by Lucas.
"His name is Emery and not Nikoletta," Lucas said firmly.
The principal stared at Lucas for a moment, and Lucas maintained eye contact. I could feel the discomfort Emery was exuding from where I stood.
"My apologies. I was simply reading from the official report here." The principal waved the paper and chuckled.
Lucas stepped back and returned to his original position while Emery looked down even further.
"Ahem," I called the principal's attention. "Why were we called?"
The principal glanced at me with a smug smirk on his face. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands over the desk.
"Right, yes. Our supervisors filed this report of the three of you skipping class?" He tapped on the clipboard.
"It's free study time, so we didn't have a class to skip," Lucas retorted.
"Free study time, yes? From this report, it seemed like you were playing a game. It was caught on the CCTV footage."
The principal presented a black-and-white image of the three of us leaning into Emery's screen. Our faces were clear; it was undeniably the three of us.
Lucas approached the desk and met the principal at eye level.
"Principal, I don't think you need to be worried about how much we study. I'm top of the class, Sasha's fifth in ranking, and Emery's steadily maintaining his grades even though he just got promoted to the Star Section this semester," Lucas explained. "Playing a game should be fine for us."
"So, Mr. Lucas, you are saying that I should turn a blind eye to the three of you dallying in an institution for learning?" The principal raised an eyebrow.
"Don't twist my words, Sir," Lucas said uncharacteristically sharply. "What I'm saying is that we are doing our work properly and therefore do not need the 'study' in free study time. There is no need to be concerned with us relaxing for a few minutes."
The principal looked straight into Lucas's eyes, and he didn't back down either. I was always reminded of how Lucas was the heir to multiple businesses whenever he acted seriously like this. Silence followed as the two of them glared at each other, with Emery whispering for Lucas to stop.
"...Are you calling our parents?" Emery whimpered, his throat clearly dry.
"That depends on how this conversation goes." He shrugged in response.
Emery's posture worsened as his knees locked and his breathing grew heavier. Lucas immediately grabbed Emery's hand and squeezed it.
"Principal—"
"There is no need to blame them," I said, putting a hand on Lucas's shoulder. "I am the one who abused my position of power as their superior in the Student Council and requested them to play."
Lucas took a step back and looked at me, clearly caught off guard.
I was going to take responsibility from the very beginning, but it was difficult to cut in with how assertive Lucas was being.
"Oho?" The principal looked at me with a small smile on his face.
"Sash..." Lucas trailed off.
"Let them go and turn your concerns to me." I occupied Lucas's former position.
The principal looked at me for a second and grinned to himself, clearly amused by the situation.
"Alright then." He chortled. He then glanced at Emery and Lucas and waved a hand. "You two may leave."
"Sash, this isn't fair to you—"
"It's alright," I cut Lucas off. "Emery also warned me that this might happen. Let me take responsibility for the both of you."
Emery took short breaths, his face pale as he looked at his feet. His knees remained stiff, as if he were afraid that moving them would make his legs give out beneath him. Lucas squeezed his hand once more before gently letting go.
"Alright. We'll head back to the classroom then."
Lucas glanced at me one last time before putting a hand behind Emery's back. Emery didn't say anything as Lucas guided him toward the door, his steps slow and unsteady. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but whatever words he had were caught in his throat.
"Sash..." Lucas called quietly as he reached the door.
I gave him a small nod.
"It's alright. Go."
Lucas nodded and opened the door, keeping his hand on Emery's back as they left the room. Emery followed without another word, his head still lowered.
The door clicked shut behind them. For a few seconds, I remained still, listening to Lucas's footsteps fade down the hallway. Emery's were quieter, dragging slightly behind him. I waited until I could no longer hear either of them before turning back to the principal, who was still watching me from his chair.
"Now, Miss Sasha. I understand I told you to enjoy your high school life, but I expect you to uphold school values."
"Yes, Sir." I nodded.
"So, what were you doing playing Reverie Mirage?"
I paused. My fingers instinctively curled against the side of my skirt. I had expected a lecture about skipping class, perhaps even questions about the CCTV footage. I hadn't expected him to know what we were playing. I kept my expression neutral despite the uneasiness settling in my stomach.
"Is the exact game we played of concern to you, Sir?" I asked, baffled.
"It's not the playing, per se...." He trailed off.
The principal leaned back in his chair, his eyes remaining fixed on me. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. The silence stretched long enough that I began wondering whether he expected me to fill it myself. Instead, he simply watched me, almost as though he were waiting to see how I would react.
"Your memories for a life," he finally said. "That should be enough for you to be satisfied."
My breath caught.
"...What?"
He didn't answer immediately. He picked up the clipboard on his desk and idly flipped through the papers, as though we were still discussing the school's report. I watched his hands, trying to understand what exactly he was implying, but there was nothing in his expression that gave me anything to work with.
"Satiating your curiosity may come with a cost, child." He chuckled and shook his head.
"...What do you mean, Sir?"
The principal looked up from the papers. For a moment, his smile disappeared, only to return just as quickly.
"Just a few words of wisdom from an elder." He chuckled.
I couldn't tell whether he was mocking me or genuinely trying to advise me. Neither possibility made me feel particularly comfortable. I lowered my gaze, trying to piece together his words. Your memories for a life. Satiating your curiosity. He knew something. I was certain of that much. The question was how much.
"Being ignorant doesn't solve the problem. It still exists, just unbeknownst to oneself."
The principal was silent for a moment. His fingers tapped once against the desk.
"Yes. But what if you are the problem you're concerned with?"
I looked up.
"I'm the problem...?" I muttered to myself.
"Well, I can't really dictate what you consider a problem or not." He smiled.
I stared at him for a moment, unable to determine whether there was a deeper meaning behind his words or if he was simply enjoying watching me struggle to understand them. Either way, I had no choice but to accept the answer he gave me.
"Yes. That's true." I agreed.
The principal nodded to himself before setting the clipboard aside.
"This was a productive talk, Miss Sasha. Remember to keep yourself grounded."
I blinked.
Productive?
"So, no punishment for me then?"
"There's no need." He paused and smirked. "Today, at least."
My expression froze. "Today?"
"You are dismissed."
I left the principal's office with more questions than I had when I entered.
Your memories for a life.
Satiating your curiosity may come with a cost.
What if you are the problem you're concerned with?
I repeated his words in my head as I walked back to the classroom.
The first question was simple: what did he actually know?
The principal knowing that we had been playing Reverie Mirage was not sufficient evidence. The CCTV footage could have captured the game's title, and there was nothing particularly unusual about a principal knowing what his students were playing.
The rest of the conversation was different.
He had mentioned memories. Curiosity. A cost.
None of those subjects had been brought up by me.
There were two possible explanations. Either the principal was speaking in vague generalities and I had attributed meaning to his words that was not there, or he knew something about Reverie Mirage that he had deliberately chosen not to disclose.
The first hypothesis was more reasonable.
The second was more concerning.
I had no evidence to determine which was correct.
For now, I would have to wait.
When I returned to the classroom, I found Lucas sitting beside Emery. Emery was still in his seat, his arms resting against the desk as he stared down at its surface. Lucas had one hand on his back, gently rubbing circles between his shoulders while quietly speaking to him.
"...Just breathe slowly. In and out. That's it."
Emery took a shaky breath.
Lucas noticed me almost immediately.
"Sasha!"
He stood halfway from his seat, his expression filled with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I got let out without punishment."
Lucas visibly relaxed.
I shouldn't tell them about the conversation. The principal's statements were too unusual to disregard, especially if they were somehow connected to what we had discovered in the temple but, I had a feeling that it was something I should figure out for myself.
"Emery's still a bit shaken." Lucas looked back at Emery.
I looked at him more closely. His face was still pale, and his shoulders remained tense. Lucas gently stroked the back of his head.
"I'll be fine, Lucas." Emery murmured.
"Your nervous system is still on alert." Lucas continued rubbing his back. "Just focus on breathing, okay?"
Emery nodded and took another breath.
"I apologize to the two of you. I was just so desperate to get you both out of there that I—"
"Before that, Sasha." Lucas suddenly stopped and his expression shifted into something serious.
I simply looked at him, waiting for his next move.
"I just realized something." Lucas spoke up.
"...What?"
He glanced toward Emery, then back at me. His hand remained on Emery's back, moving in slow circles as he seemed to gather his thoughts.
"While we were walking back, I kept thinking about our exploration. I need to confirm something with you." Lucas leaned forward slightly, his expression becoming more serious. "The temple shrine was built before the Divide of Yabbat between the siblings, right?"
"Yes." I nodded.
"Then why did the ritual have the term 'Zesselyan' in it?" He asked.
My thoughts immediately returned to the shrine.
"It shouldn't exist." Lucas stated as a matter of fact.
"...You're right." I considered his proposition.
Lucas straightened himself and briefly looked toward the floor, his brows furrowing.
The terminology itself was the contradiction.
If the temple predated the Divide of Yabbat, then the distinction between Zesseyel and Slebek should not have existed when the ritual was written. Therefore, one of the premises had to be incorrect.
The temple could have been constructed later than we believed, the ritual could have been altered, or the historical record concerning the shrine could have been wrong. Of those possibilities, the second was the most plausible given what we had already observed.
Lucas seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
"I've been thinking about it, but the only answer I can think of is that someone tampered with it after the war." Lucas explained.
"That would explain the terminology."
Lucas nodded slowly. His fingers continued tracing small circles against Emery's back as he stared ahead, seemingly following the thought to its conclusion.
"So whoever altered it wasn't trying to restore the temple's original ritual."
He paused.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked back at me.
"They were using the temple as a host for something else."