The crowd held their breath; none dared to utter a word.
Sillias's arrow flew toward the aim with such precision that it struck the target with a strikingly piercing sound.
The vibration of the string resonated so loudly that they all froze upon hearing it.
Almost all of the public and contestants had their attention focused solely on it.
All but Class Arsenic. Her classmates, on the other hand, were more concerned about the fading light gleaming from her—or, to be fair, from the crystal tucked in her pocket.
..
Soon, all their crystals started to gleam.
Thomas stuttered,
"G.. Guys.., am I seeing things, or are the crystals—"
Their faces turned to astonishment as the public continued to cheer as if everything was perfectly normal.
It seemed that, except for them, the light was seemingly unnoticeable to others.
As a reflex, they all moved their arms closer to their coats and pants pockets, depending on where they had placed their crystals, to hide them.
"What's going on!?" murmured Scarlett.
Their heads turned to each other, then to Sillias again.
She was beaming, holding up her arms and pointing her index finger to the sky as if showing off her worth to the gods.
She felt thrilled with excitement.
The ecstatic trepidation was replaced with a feeling of triumph.
The competition had just started, and yet the assurance that surged through her grew wings on her back.
She was unaware of the agitation of her peers until she noticed the sparks herself.
Her eyes narrowed.
She gazed at it in a daze, a million thoughts trying to process themselves all at once.
She looked around her and landed on the inquietude-filled faces of her classmates.
Among them, Catalina, Kayven, and Divion seemed the most poised out of the bunch, still their clutched palms betraying the way the situation had caught them off guard.
Just then, the light started to fade, but before it all went out—
she caught a glimpse of a grayish array of light, slightly thicker than theirs, among the crowds.
It was held in the air by the long, dark-purple-coated, sleeved arms of a man.
Sillias couldn't recognize the face, as he was blending amongst the cheers like milk blended with coffee.
He walked backward slightly, as though all of his steps were calculated.
The light in his hand still shimmered like a quiet star.
It was mesmerizing, but not as mesmerizing as their own crystals, which now lustered dimly.
.. —
The light was gone.
Their crystals were back to normal.
Quiet and slim.
Sillias breathed a breathless sigh of relief.
So did the others.
"Guess I should have just waited for the other shoe to drop—!"
complained Sillias, resting herself on the leafy grass of the field during break time.
A break time was allotted to the participating students, allowing them to replenish their tummies and gather up their strength and stamina for the next rounds and matches.
Her classmates surrounded her; they were lying beside her or leaning—
longing along the signboard and light poles around them.
"Did you all see it..? How?" inquired Catalina, her eyes eyeing Divion's brownies.
"Want some, Freinz?" he replied, handing some to her.
Sillias clasped her hands together—
turning their attention back to her.
…
"There was a man.. I did not get to look at his face clearly, but.."
She paused.
"He had one too.. A crystal…"
She squinted her eyes really hard, like she was trying to figure something out.
Her left hand moved to her chin while her right hand held her left arm at the elbow.
Something doesn't make sense. That man looked way older than them from the way he stood and posed so defiantly.
He taunted them.
What was his goal? Why did the public, the other students competing, and the teacher.. Why did none but them have seen anything?
…
"How did he get his hands on a crystal in the first place?"
So many questions rose in her mind, and the simple way to go about things would be to shove them aside. But how long could they still feign ignorance?
Their assumptions increased as the minutes went by.
"Sillias?"
A soft voice broke her train of thought.
It was Scarlett; her crimson-red hair was tied in a ponytail.
"You're alright? I've been calling you four times already."
Sillias dropped her arms onto her knees.
They all peered at her, squinting their eyes interrogatively.
"I'm thinking… something's not right—
It should not be that complicated to grasp what happened back there."
"You're set on catching on to something we all missed, do you?"
stated Catalina like a fact rather than a question.
Sillias brushed her off and went back to her thoughts.
"Well, we're surrounded by strangers, so our mysterious man with—
an even stranger crystal could be literally anyone."
..
Kayven wanted to add something, but for the first time in his life—
he felt hesitant.
"…"
"Is no one concerned about the crystal ruckus caused during Sillias's big show earlier?"
He asked with a bit of nonchalance in his voice.
"Big show? It was bare minimum—" she refuted him with a glare.
"Well, I've been thinking about this one a lot, actually…
The crystals all shone with each other when Sillias did her.."
His impassive face turned to look at her.
"C'mon, say it and don't mind me," she hissed.
".. His big show—" he enunciated.
"We all saw his face, right…? He beamed, Sillias. You were in seventh heaven there!" he ruffled.
"So what?" Sillias retorted.
She was mystified.
..
"I was thinking, maybe that's actually it—
I think the crystals shone because of it.
Because you were feeling intense, powerful emotions, and I think it spread to us too.."
He paused and blinked.
"But why did ours shine too?" pointed out Francis.
…
"Because we're connected.. Remember—
Or maybe…
Because in the same way laughter is said to be contagious—
in this context, the same went for her exhilaration.
..
Perhaps, did you feel a sort of tingling preceding what occurred with the crystals?"
..
Catalina tried to recollect the image and sensation she felt earlier, and when it finally came to her, the corner of her lip tilted.
She nodded at Francis and urged him to share his deduction..
but instead, he stayed silent.
…
"Then there's no doubt,"
mumbled Sillias under her breath.
Her voice held something commanding and authoritative.
Looking at her, the others couldn't stop themselves from having flashbacks of that time back at the top of the highest tower of Arcahdale.
Back there, too, she looked fierceful.
Like possessed, her demeanor then, too, was unusually out of character.
But back then, she was not really in her right state of mind.
This time was different.
It was her.
She stared at them for a while and came to a conclusion.
..
"We're in bigger trouble than I thought."