Dragon Raja

16 - We Are Survivors

"You knew this whole time, didn't you?"

Nono shifted her scarlet eyes up at the Principal with an accusatory glare.

"If I didn't know, I wouldn't have invested so much time in making sure she became the best student at the college," Principal Anjou replied nonchalantly. "Hence, why I had you and the others as her mentors,"

Anjou leaned back in his chair with no trouble in his mind. Nono furrowed her brows at the principal.

"But how is it possible?" Nono argued, "I finally got through with all my research, but it happened 20 years ago,"

The revelation put the room to silence, the only source of sound came from the soft tapping of Anjou's finger on his desk.

"Indeed," he said, "the tragedy that transpired on that day is still as vivid as I remember,"

Anjou stood from his seat, his chair pushed back as it reversed on its wheels. He popped a cigar between his thin lips.

"But why keep this from her?" she continued to press on.

But instead of answering the concerning questions from Nono, Anjou took a puff of his cigar and walked past her. She shook her head with disapproval, folding her arms across her chest as she glared at the table in front of her.

"As I told you before, the Japan division informed me of a mission they require assistance with. It's an SS-Class mission, so of course, I need to send my best students," Anjou said bitterly, "so if one of my chosen students isn't in the right mind to participate, I'll just have to have a word with her,"

Nono shook her head. "I know you, Principal, don't go provoking her. If you need her for this mission, wouldn't it be best for someone else to tell her about this?"

"Most likely," he replied, but he did not stop to let Nono hear the rest of his answer. "But I don't have time to play the parent right now. If we're going to stop the Dragon Clan, I expect my best soldiers to get their heads together. And If I need to tell her the truth, then so be it. I'll be prepared for the repercussions,"

With that, Nono was left alone in the principal's cold office. She pulled out her phone and messaged Caesar, the perfect contact as he was sparring with Johann tonight.

And he was the only person who could really comfort Y/N into a calm state.

Whether the students at Cassell College were only used as weapons or not, they were still human. Moreover, Y/N was truly the most human of them all, because Nono knew that if Principal Anjou was going to proceed and confront Y/N about this, Y/N would feel it all too deeply. Too much to handle for her human heart.

Unlike Anjou's, whose heart had hardened and numbed over the hundred years he's been alive.

-

Christmas had been uneventful this year, as Y/N hadn't bothered leaving her dorm room, nor did she answer it for anyone who came knocking.

Her friends left her gifts at her doorstep, her phone blaring with notifications. Messages from her friends being worried or wishing her a Merry Christmas.

She felt no love for the holiday, so when she read a "Merry Christmas" message, Y/N couldn't help but delete it from her chat history. The mere sight of the words would send unwanted feelings of pain to course all throughout her aching body.

It was well in the middle of January, along with that, Y/N had yet to overcome the fear and the truth of her memories.

The echoes and cries of her friends had been haunting her since the night she remembered everything about her past. Not even warm cups of tea could ease her night terrors or the agonizing guilt she constantly felt.