No one came out. In fact, they ran away as everyone would have.
Aefia looked down at Puppet, and it nodded back before pouncing on its hind legs, out of the pond area. She took off with the little wolf cub.
The safest thing to do was of course running away as fast as you can. The confrontation or if they found out something would be another matter for another time. Wasting it right now to investigate that area where the person previously was might bring some unexpected, unpleasant trouble Aefia had no energy to deal with.
She managed to reach her room in time, and locked the door. Then shut her curtains and settled onto her bed, panting for air. She then slammed her palm against her bedside table and pulled out her medicine from the drawer.
She downed them dry, then collapsed onto her side as the adrenaline wore out. She shut her eyes for a few seconds, covering them with her hands.
As soon as the medicine's effects begun, she pulled she hands away. Puppet was already by her side, laying by her head and licking her forehead.
She stayed silent for a while. Her mind spinning with many thoughts.
Who could it have been? And what could be the worse case scenario?
I have mere assumptions only at this point. If it is the faculty, then I will leave Avry to deal with it even if she will be furious at me. But then I will have to make up for the trust she lost in me if I want to continue with my solo dungoens. So the worse for me here is that I will lose nothing but an ounce of my received respect.
If it were some candidates, they will simply think I am stalking someone. It shouldn't be a problem due to the reputation I have as Candidate Fifteen. They know I am ruthless and they can't take on me if I suddenly started a fight with them over it.
Then we have my inner circles... Which I am honestly hoping is not going to be the one. Sasha is fine, I don't care about her. Nada will feel betrayed if she heard everything about it. Sunny pest might tease me around, I don't care about it.
But Nada...
Aefia finally let out a deep, bone-wrecking sigh. Her eyes drifted from her table to her attached bathroom. Her mind wondering off slightly before she felt the soft nudge of a furry head against her arm.
The butterfly sat on top of Puppet's head while the tiny wolf cub looked so desperate in trying to grab her attention towards it.
"You are zoning out," it started, trotting around her to sit onto her pillow. "And it is not good given that you have a mission that needs to be cleared. Forget about your stalker, they can't kill you without knowing the consequences."
It sat with its tail tucked under its front paws and looking up at her.
She stared quietly for a while, then slowly stood up.
"You are right... If try are in their right mind, they won't be able to mess with am experiment without the faculty intervening also. That is one good thing about being a Wildcard. You are guarded."
She then walked over to her wardrobe and yanked it. "But before I leave... I need a bit of wardrobe and identity change."
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First draft: 24.11.2025
Rewritten: 06.10.2026