Kai pushed open the gate and walked out.
He closed the door behind him with a firm thud, turned around, and stood there for a moment in stillness. Throughout the entire motion, his eyes never left the floor. As if there was a weight pressing his head down.
It was silent now.
No more haunting sound that kept slicing his heart.
Silence rushed in where the haunting sound had been. Not true silence, but ambience. There's a whisper of the cold wind. The creak of stone. The flickering of lanterns. Despite the change, despite all those distractions, his mind was still filled with the brew of noises.
Noises that he couldn't quite get rid of or ignore.
'Normal academies are designed to be hopeful. To prepare you for a better future.'
Professor Hera's words rang inside his mind loud and clear.
'This place… It's designed to be hopeless.'
