My sleep was restless, A perpetual nightmare kept appearing in my mind no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.
I was stuck replaying my final battle in the previous world. Akari's distressed face was a common theme playing on repeat, however that wasn't what was keeping me up.
It was Lian.
How could I forget her? We shared dinner, long nights strategizing on how to win the battles we had. Did all of that mean nothing to me? Until this moment I hadn't even thought of what happened to her.
I could find a way to excuse myself by saying that the battle was just too intense, but that doesn't make me innocent. That poor girl had laid her life down for us… and I couldn't even remember her sacrifice.
I was sick to my stomach… Disappointed in myself, so I worry about "Revenge" like it is all a silly game.
Tears threatened to fall down my eyes, and I couldn't stop them. My face wet with all the inner turmoil I was experiencing.
The sun was bright as it filled my room with daylight.
My sleeve ran across my face wiping the tear droplets off to the best of my ability, I had to get ready for class.
The dark blue outfit of the C class was actually well made and compared to the other classes It matched my appearance the best.
Being vain however, would not make time flow any slower and I need to head to History.
…
Just one step was enough to make my head spin
I saw them.
Threads.
The dark strands tightly wound around each of the students like parasites, slightly moving and pulsing as if they were alive.
And they were, they whispered.
I followed a thick and tightly bound tread to a classmate of mine, who I have met in passing; a rather self absorbed girl named Erien, two years ahead of me, always at the top of the alchemy board. A tightly bound thread wrapped around her neck like a snake, its intent made clear.
The whispers grew louder as it revealed its truth.
"Mortar Packer."
I stopped walking my feet stuck dead in their tracks.
I'd heard her speak of becoming a court alchemist. Of creating change in the world through laws regulating potions. She was smart, no… brilliant even. I truly believed that she would make a change in the world.
But her thread dictated her life, a permanently leash on her neck choking any semblance of freedom from her life.
In History, the threads were even clearer.
Professor Halden entered the room exactly on time, his cloak dragging faintly across the tile. His footsteps heavy against the stone like a giant making his presence known.
He paused, looking over at his class attendance.
Then continued without comment.
But over his chest was a ravenous thread, it swarmed like a pit of snakes writhing around his heart. Thicker. Faintly smoking at the edges, as if it had been bound and rebound a thousand times.
"Truthkeeper."
I was momentarily shocked.
The man was not interesting at all from the outside point of view. He was stoic, careless and particularly boring.
It made me wonder what he was hiding.
Curiosity got the best of me as the monotone rambling was reduced to white noise.
I looked over the class watching as the threads presented themselves before me.
It was not entirely on purpose. It was more of an instinctive feeling.
Some threads were expected:
"Swordsman." "Heir." "Reed-puller." "Exile." "Scriptwatcher."
But some were devastating to my psych.
A boy who had been bullied and ridiculed daily had the thread truth of:
"Martyr."
Another person a son of a baron who was reserved and withdrawn had the truth of:
"Gravedigger."
They trained. They smiled. They talked about inheritance, about duels and ranks.
Regardless of dreams they already were walking a path predestined.
I sat in the back of class, statuesque, The threaded silent chants filling my mind with the fates of others.
[Thread Layer: Stable. Visibility limited to surface designations. Deeper readings require Soul Path refinement.]
Of course I needed refinement. The system never gave you what you need to be whole, just slivers enough to keep you from starving. Stringing you along until it gets what it wants from you… The question is what can they possibly want from me?