Soft chuckles drifted through the hallway.
Samy froze.
The sound didn't belong to the quiet room she stood in—it came from outside, light and familiar, laced with ease that made her chest tighten. She moved toward the doorway just as two figures passed by.
Her sister.
Noru.
And with her—Elisabeth.
They walked right past Samy as if she didn't exist, their shoulders nearly brushing through her. No reaction. No glance. Nothing.
Samy inhaled sharply.
I'm not here, she realized. Not to them.
She was only a witness.
Elisabeth laughed, nudging Noru playfully. "So… what do you think? Are they dating?"
Noru scoffed lightly. "I don't think so. They're totally opposite. And rivals, too. I can't imagine them together."
Their voices echoed faintly as they continued walking, and Samy followed without thinking, her footsteps soundless. A strange ache formed in her chest—not jealousy, not fear, but something deeper. Awareness.
This memory wasn't about her.
It never had been.
—
Outside her mind, the world was falling apart.
Tin shook Samy harder now, panic seeping into his voice. "Samy, wake up. Please."
Tony staggered back, staring as the walls around them dissolved into pale fragments. Desks faded. Windows melted into light.
"What the hell—" he breathed. "Why is this place disappearing?"
Jet stayed unnervingly calm, her eyes sharp as she studied the collapsing memory. "I think it's doing what it always does," she said. "It's shifting us. Landing us into another memory."
Tony clenched his teeth. "So this place finally decided to show its real face."
And somewhere within that shifting chaos, Samy was beginning to understand it.
—
Far away, in another fractured world, Roger and Kim stood once more in familiar darkness.
"So," Roger muttered, her voice steady but wary, "we're here again."
Kim swallowed, the shadows pressing in around them. "The place where we all got stuck."
Roger exhaled slowly. "Let's see what the past tells us."
Kim wasn't convinced. He glanced around, unease flickering in his eyes. "What if the past isn't the truth we need?"
Roger didn't answer right away. Her gaze hardened—not with fear, but resolve. "Right now, I don't care. I just want everyone safe."
Nearby, Peter and Noah stepped into what felt like an entirely different version of the school.
No light. No warmth.
Only darkness.
"What is this place?" Noah whispered.
Peter squinted into the void. "It's all… dark."
Noah quickly pulled a torch from his bag and switched it on. The beam cut forward—only to be swallowed whole by the hallway ahead. The light barely traveled a few feet before dying into blackness.
An empty corridor stretched endlessly before them, as if waiting.
Watching.
—
Beyond all memories, the storm finally quieted.
The two shadows staggered back, their forms flickering, power drained. The battlefield around them trembled, scarred by their fight.
The white shadow bent forward, breathing heavily. "Why…" it asked, voice breaking, "why are we fighting?"
It straightened slowly, exhaustion etched into every movement. "Let's end this. Without any more violence."
The black shadow lifted its head at last.
"You never listened to me," it said, bitterness thick in every word. "And now you think I'm going to… going to listen to you?"
Silence stretched between them—heavy, loaded with everything unsaid.
They were connected.
And that connection was bleeding into every world.
—
Noru and Elisabeth reached the home library.
Tall shelves lined the walls, shadows pooling between books heavy with knowledge and secrets. Their conversation shifted, laughter fading into something sharper.
"There's something strange going on in school," Elisabeth said suddenly.
Noru frowned. "I think you're overthinking everything."
"No," Elisabeth insisted. "After the last music class… something felt wrong. Like I wasn't alone. Like the room was watching me."
Samy's breath caught.
Music class.
Noru tried to sound calm. "You're just stressed. Everything is fine."
But Samy saw it—the hesitation in Noru's eyes, the way her fingers curled slightly, betraying doubt.
Elisabeth stepped closer, her voice lowering. "What if it's not?"
The air thickened.
Their conversation ended abruptly, words dissolving into silence as something unspoken hung between them. Samy watched, heart pounding, as Elisabeth reached out.
And then—
She kissed Noru.
The moment hit Samy like a shockwave.
Noru stiffened, eyes wide with surprise, before slowly pulling back. The room seemed to freeze, the memory trembling as if unsure whether it should exist.
Samy staggered.
This wasn't just a memory.
This was a secret.
And whatever power controlled this place had chosen to reveal it—knowing full well that truths, once seen, could never be unseen.
Somewhere across shattered timelines, doors were opening, shadows were watching, and the past was no longer content to stay buried.
The school was speaking.
And it was only just beginning.