[July 15, 2056.
A terrorist attack took place at the Lock during the battle royale games of the inter-academy tournament.
Two teleportation devices were found to be installed during the event. Investigators have linked this attack to the Monolith.
With the brave efforts of two young students, the portals were soon found and their activation was prevented.
Unfortunately, in a last-ditch attempt, one of the perpetrators directly cracked the core installed in the teleportation device.
A massive explosion followed suit, killing 260 people and injuring more than 80 in the process.]
'”Click!
Turning off the TV, Emma threw the remote to the side.
"It's about time." Dressed in a black dress, Emma turned around. "Let's go, Kevin."
"Hmm"
A weak and hoarse voice replied back.
"...Kevin."
Emma's lips tensed.
Staring at Kevin who was sitting on a white sofa dressed in black, Emma felt her heart tear apart.
Ever since 'that' day, Kevin had not been the same. He was skipping out on meals, and for the most part, he was always absentminded. He had even stopped training, something that she had never seen him do throughout the whole year.
His whole complexion was white, and his eyes were bloodshot. Glaring black circles appeared underneath his eyes.
"It's all my fault..."
He repeatedly muttered to himself.
Emma did not understand why he was blaming himself for Ren's death. It wasn't something he could've controlled.
But.
Every time, Kevin would mumble those words. Blaming himself for Ren's death.
"...Kevin."
Emma called out.
"...Ah, Emma... Give me a second."
Kevin finally looked at Emma. He tried to smile cheerfully, but that made him look all the more pitiful. His lifeless eyes coupled with his glaring black circles caused Emma's heart to stir.
Emma understood.
Ren's death had truly hit him hard.
"We need to go. Attending is the least you can do for him"
Today was the day of Ren's funeral. For obvious reasons, there was no corpse at the scene. Even then, no one questioned his death.
Unless a miracle happened, there was just no way for Ren to survive.
"...E-emma, what do I do?"
Bringing Emma back to reality was Kevin's hoarse voice.
Staring at her in the eyes, he weakly muttered.
"I-i, don't know what to do...Had I not been so stupid, and just left wi'”"
"Enough!"
Emma cut him off.
"Now is not the time for this! How long are you going to wail in self-pity?"
She was starting to get angry now.
It was only natural for someone to be distraught upon the death of someone close. She too was sad. Although she wasn't particularly close to Ren, she did interact with him quite a lot in the past.
And although Kevin and Ren were really close, the last thing Kevin could do was drown himself in self-pity.
It wouldn't be something Ren would've wanted for him. Even though, Emma didn't interact with Ren much, she could see how much he genuinely cared about Kevin.
He would never want Kevin to blame himself for something like this.
Lifting his head, Kevin weakly asked.
"...Then what should I do?"
"Get stronger." Emma's voice became firm. "...Get strong enough to prevent this from ever happening in the future and make those that have caused this pay. Be it the Monolith or anyone that was involved!"
Whilst she spoke, Emma's eyes never left Kevin.
She wanted him to understand that instead of beating himself up for what had happened, it was better for him to pick himself up and mature.
Even if took years for Kevin to recover from this, Emma wanted Kevin to use this incident as a reference point for his growth.
She wanted him to grow stronger. Strong enough to prevent any of this from happening.
"...I see"
Kevin said after a brief moment of silence.
Staring at Kevin, Emma was able to notice a subtle change in Kevin. Even though the sadness never disappeared, there was something else within that sadness.
Resolution.
The resolution to grow up and change.
change,
Emma extended her hand "Let's go, it's time we
"Mhm."
hand, Kevin stood
***
all over her
passed since the incident, and unbeknownst to anyone, she had already started
was planning on leaving
about the guild. This time, her reason for
was because the academy
the academy she would recall her conversations and memories with
interaction she had with him. Even the small ones she had during class or
right before her eyes,
she was almost numb to the pain
Yes.
Important.
witnessed Ren's death, that she had
...she liked him.
him. Every day, a small part of her would look forward to the lectures,
him, or when he
were deeply etched
of feeling, she couldn't quite grasp
was a
again
Tok, tok'”
"Young Miss, it's time."
was
car is waiting for you
"...I'm coming"
lifting her body up, Amanda
on her desk
time for
***
'”Click!
closed the door
"..."
about to leave, her footsteps halted. Turning around, she looked towards the room
now, the room was already empty. Everything that used to belong to Ren had already been taken by his parents a day
'...he's really gone, huh.'
since meeting him, she had wished nothing but for
now that he had
else but him, but his death hit Melissa harder than she had
her by
able to focus like before. She
"Haa..."
eyes slightly, Melissa
what is
Turning around, she left.
***
July 17th.
incident. It was a clear and sunny day in Ashton city.
Inside a funeral home.
"Waaaahh...Whaaaaa..."
echoed throughout the whole room as a young girl cried in front of a picture frame. Her eyes were red and snot fell from her nose. The scene
"Bwuddar!"
It was Nola.
mother and father tried their best
But.
"Waaaahh...Whaaaaa..."
the crying wouldn't stop. It was only after someone
the side, Emma, Jin, Kevin, Amanda, Melissa, Leo, Ram, and Donna all stood by the side. Staring at
had
something else. A business partner, a student, a friend,
unbeknownst to Ren, for better or for worse, he had
funeral hymns, everyone lowered their
the next thirty minutes or so, no one talked. They all mourned for
to the world,
*
"Haaa..."
sky, Kevin exhaled. With the funeral coming to an end, Kevin
mind was
quite pick himself up.
with the idea of saving those eight people, and had
was eating him up
you holding
"Miss Longbern?"
of his thoughts, was
you doing
looking for
"Me?"
would Donna look for me? Did something happen?', Kevin wondered
do you need
thought, Donna let out
may have resulted
"What!?"
voice raised a few
lips, Donna gestured for Kevin to lower
"Shhh...lower your voice."
"Ah, sorry."
his mistake, Kevin
"...What do you have?"
take a look
appeared on Donna's hand. Taking the phone, Kevin tilted his head
"A phone?"
"Give me a second."
the screen of the phone, a
a look and tell me
"...sure."
the play button, Kevin played the video. In the video,
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