The question made Gretta's heart sink to the depths of her chest.

Would they have survived?

The answer was:

No!

Absolutely none of them, neither Griffene nor Grildor, would have survived such a throw.

Only now did it truly sink in.

The faint danger she had felt at first on the sight of him… and slowly that feeling of danger turned into horror.

"But do not take this the wrong way, I'm not here to destroy you, nor your husband, nor your daughter."

"If I wanted to, I would have ended him while he thought I was trapped."

"And the time I had with your daughter was enough to run my claws through her throat more than a thousand times."

"All I want to do is learn more about this place and the other races that reside here."

"It will do us both good if we come to terms with that," he said, and her brows furrowed before they settled.

"I'll believe you."

"But if you go back on your words, I swear by Nura, even in death, I will haunt you until you die," she said, but he simply shrugged.

"I don't plan on going back on my words…"

'For now,' he concluded in his thoughts.

Illumination flared from behind them in the next moment, and Gretta turned, looking behind her to find her Grildor rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she turned, looking down, but Everlearn was already gone.

"Yes, I am. Just stepped out to… settle some things," she replied, walking back inside as the door shut.

____

That night, Everlearn returned to Griffene's room.

He read and read as much as he could.

By the earliest dawn, he had finished all the books on the shelves and now had more of an idea about the world he was in.

But the reading had exhausted him, and he went back to the cage, his body slumping as he naturally fell unconscious.

_______________

FLICKER!

The light flickered through the room as a pair of icy-blue eyes opened.

At first, things were blurry, but then it all cleared, and in the next moment, he sat up straight.

His eyes rolled around the room, the clean white walls with vents, the smooth marble floor, and the bed he was lying on.

"I'm back…" he mused silently to himself.

He had returned to X Guard!

His hands reached his back, and while he couldn't feel it clearly before, he felt every one of his muscles under his control now.

'I wonder how long I fell asleep again,' he mused to himself, rising to his feet and reaching for the door.

As he stepped into the corridor, he entered a larger lab. It was completely dark, but his eyes were drawn to a corner of the room where he spotted a pair of crimson eyes staring back at him through the shadows.

The lights switched on in the next moment, and there he found Lady Erendel, two test tubes filled with bubbling purple liquid in her hands.

'How weird. She works in darkness…'

Everlearn mused, watching the lady who placed the test tubes on the cube.

"You're back up. Your body fully healed a day ago, though you remained asleep," she said.

"How long has it been since back then?" he asked.

"Four days."

"Guess I took a bit longer than expected," he mused.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes, I am. I'll take my leave now, and thank you," he said, turning toward the exit.

"Sir Lycanthrope will be waiting for you in the Staff Building, third floor," she said, and he nodded once before stepping out of the hall.

__________________

Everlearn had been to the Staff Building once before, so finding it didn't take him long, even without a map.

Taking the elevator, he was dropped right in front of a golden door.

He raised his hand to knock, but before it even touched the surface, the door slid open on its own and shifted smoothly into the wall.

Everlearn stepped into the darkness.

The door shut quietly behind him, and he looked forward, finding a ring-shaped halo inscribed into the ground that stretched into the distance, ending at a place where a seat rested opposite a large golden desk.

FLICKER!

Golden rays of light flared across the room as Everlearn's heart rose by a beat.

Looking straight at him through the darkness from behind the massive desk were those golden eyes, each gleaming with a serpentine slit.

"Sir… Lycanthrope?" he called out, but silence was the only response.

"I just came for my devices and—"

"Everlearn Snowfall."

The instructor's deep voice cut him off.

"Sit," he ordered.

Everlearn's eyes moved toward the chair before the desk.

'I feel bad about this? Did I do something wrong again?'

He wondered silently, though his expression remained calm as he stepped forward and took his seat.

The chair was comfortable, but Everlearn did not feel comforted.

The golden gaze, sharp and serpentine, stared down at him from above.

"Five of you went for the expedition," Sir Lycanthrope began.

"Emiris Emrisial. Penelope Toiran. Zeke Andrews. Van Tourisma. And you."

"Zeke Andrews and Van Tourisma died," he continued, something Everlearn already knew.

"Penelope has sunk into a depressive state ever since she was told what happened. She's more or less half-dead now."

'Deserving of her,' he thought silently to himself.

"The only two survivors were Emiris and you."

"I believe you are aware of this already, aren't you, Everlearn Snowfall?" the instructor asked quietly.

"I am," Everlearn replied.

"How do you feel about it?"

Everlearn paused for a moment before answering.

"I think it's unfortunate, the deaths of Zeke and Van."

"Do you feel regret? Remorseful about their deaths?"

"I don't," Everlearn replied curtly.

"Why not? They were all students of X Guard, just like you."

"That's correct, but I do not know them deeply enough in the school or on the mission to feel regretful of their death."

"Emiris blames himself for their deaths, yet you say you feel nothing at all." Sir Lycanthrope said, the golden light in his eyes flaring.

"There wasn't anything I could have done at that moment, and I'm not the type to spend time regretting situations beyond my control."

Lycanthrope's gaze deepened.

"Perhaps Emiris feels regret because he thinks he could have done something… though I would argue he was just as helpless as everyone else."

"Their death is just as I said, unfortunate, and it's better left at that."

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