Kalen fell.
Right in my room. My head hit the floor, my body convulsed, and the next moment, there was silence. No Reina, no Academy. No light. Just emptiness.
He's back there.
Rotten air. Stone walls. And chains. Lots of chains. Kalen hung crucified, naked, his skin cracked from dryness and frost. Black moisture dripped from the ceiling, and something breathed in the darkness in front of him.
Deep. Wet. Anticipating.
"You again," he croaked. His voice was shaking.
A human-like creature appeared before him, with a long face, empty eye sockets, and hooked hands.
"Today we're going to experience new sensations, hero."
Kalen didn't answer.
The first blow is to the stomach. Then to the chest. Then to the stomach again. Then to the ribs.
He choked on air and fell, the chains loosened, and he was thrown onto the rocks.
Something grabbed him by the hair and pulled. Boiling water was poured over his head. Then cold slop. His skin was cracking. Bursting.
He was screaming. Silently. His throat wasn't working.
"You've become stronger. That means you can take more."
Someone else's hand was stuffed into his mouth. They were biting his fingers. They were forcing him to swallow. He tried to fight back, but his body wouldn't listen.
The second creature pulled out hot needles and began to stab them into his eyes.
"You see, Kalen, pain makes you real.
"Go... away..." he wheezed.
It just got worse.
Now they were shoving something beating into his chest. A living thing. A torn-up heart. It continued to beat inside him, replacing his own. He could feel his blood becoming foreign.
Make the pain your own.
Make fear your shadow.
Make death your brother.
Kalen howled.
Then he was put on a chair. An iron chair, hot to the touch. His bones cracked from the heat, and his skin stuck to the back of the chair. He was tied up again. And there was a table nearby.
And on the table, people.
Children. Old people. Women. They were torn limb from limb, thrown on a tray, and served to him.
"Eat. Otherwise, they'll suffer longer."
His jaw clenched.
No.
And he ate anyway. His teeth chewed for him. His tongue swallowed for him.
He lost track of time. Years? Months? He died forty times. He was dismembered, resurrected, and had his nerves ripped out. He was doused in acid, drowned in lava, and blown up from the inside.
But he kept getting up.
I got up again.
Cursed. Stubborn. Smiling through tears.
— Fuck you, you motherfuckers...
And then silence. Full.
Kalen opened his eyes. He was lying in his room. The sheet was wet. His temple was burning. There was blood under his fingernails. He didn't know if it was his own.
He sat down.
Shivering. Without words. His back was throbbing. His heart was beating like a war drum.
He's not dead.
He survived again.
"Just a little more... and I'll die."
And suddenly there was silence. Pure. Cold.
He looked in the mirror. In the reflection, his shadow lagged behind his movements for a second. Then it caught up and smiled.
***
The light was in his eyes. Not the soft light that comes from a window, but the harsh light that feels like someone is hitting you in the face with a flashlight. Kalen opened one eye, then the other, and realized that he was back at the Academy.
He was lying with his head on the desk, where the magic inkwell had run out almost an hour ago. The pencil in his fingers was broken, and the homework sheet was covered in holes. Drowsy traces of ink decorated his cheek. He sat up, looking at the crumbling sheet and wondering how seriously the Archmage Lohrai would take his "abstract horror work."
"Did you fall asleep during your fiction class?" came a whisper from the right. Reina. As usual, she was calm, cold, and slightly contemptuous. Her red eyes were fixed on him.
"Oh, come on..." muttered Kalen, wiping his face with his sleeve. "Five minutes, and my brain will boil."
"This is the ninth lesson, if you haven't noticed. We have the next announcement about the distribution of pairs and the new class representative. Guess who was chosen."
He slowly turned to her, and of course, he saw the same icy smile that was saying, "Guess once, you jerk."
"Tell me it wasn't you."
"Alas." She sat up straighter. "And you, oddly enough, will be mentioned as well. Not as a head girl, thankfully. But you are among those who will be moved into an official pair. An Academy experiment. A training session on 'family compatibility and combat partnership.' Just like adults."
"So I'm officially living with you now?"
"Yeah. Don't get your hopes up. I kill before breakfast."
Kalen wanted to say something, but at that moment a tall man in a black robe, with a golden collar and parchments under his arm, came into the classroom. His forehead was high, his hair was slicked back, and his eyes were dark, with an incomprehensible gleam. He moved with precision and calmness, like a surgeon before an operation.
"Please be quiet. My name is Helmir Saehn. I am your new supervisor. All questions are for me. All decisions are made through me. All punishments are also for me."
The class froze. Fifty pairs of eyes stared at the new teacher. There were 52 students in the class. Some knew each other, while others had not yet learned their names.
Helmir snapped his fingers, and a list appeared in the air above the desk. Names, ages, magic types, statuses, and a couple in the last column.
"In accordance with the Academy's new policy," Helmir continued, "you will now live and study in pairs. A girl and a boy. This is necessary for early adaptation to joint combat interaction, psychological compatibility, and basic household discipline. Your pair is your team, your shield, and your weakness. Get used to it."
Kalen yawned, covering his mouth, and glanced at the list. He already knew the answer, but when he saw:
Kalen Lionheart
Reina (without last name)
"Fuck," he whispered softly.
Beside her, Raina nodded.
— Full. We live together anyway