The belfry of the clock tower was deafening. The giant brass gears ground together, throwing sparks into the dark air.
In the center of the room, suspended by thick iron chains, was the glass sphere. It was the size of a small house. Inside, the black water of the lake churned violently.
Lina stepped closer, her eyes wide with horror.
The faces pressing against the inside of the glass were not just trapped. They were fused to it. Their pale, screaming mouths were literally merged with the glass.
"They are the mortar," Lina whispered, remembering the Founder's diary. "The first students. The Founder didn't just kill them. He melted their souls into the glass to hold back the lake."
The horrifying truth settled over them. The academy was not built on a cage. It was built on a graveyard. The glass sphere was the only thing keeping the deep monster from swallowing the world, and it was powered by the eternal agony of children.
CRACK.
A loud, sharp sound echoed over the grinding gears. A new fracture appeared on the surface of the giant sphere. A jet of freezing black water shot out, hitting the stone floor.
The faces inside screamed louder. The glass was failing.
"I have to seal it," Lina said. She looked at her right arm. The golden ink was pulsing beneath her skin. It was Kai's true name. It was the power to rewrite.
She raised her hand and pushed her mind into the golden magic. She tried to direct it toward the cracking glass.
But the moment she channeled the power, a blinding pain spiked through her skull.
Lina gasped and dropped to her knees. The golden ink did not just flow out of her hand. It crawled up her arm. It moved under her skin like glowing, golden veins, creeping up toward her shoulder.
"Lina!" Kai's ghostly voice echoed in her mind, full of panic. Stop! It is too much! It needs fuel!
The ink was rewriting her. But it was not rewriting her body. It was rewriting her mind. It was eating her memories to fuel the magic.
Lina looked up at Mira. She blinked, her vision blurring.
"Mira," Lina slurred. "What... what is your last name?"
Mira froze. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Lina, it's me. It's just Mira."
"No," Lina whispered, her voice trembling. "I need your last name. I... I can't remember it. I can't remember your mother's name."
The golden ink crept up Lina's neck. Her skin felt numb.
She looked at Seren. "Seren... how did we meet? What did we talk about on the first day?"
Seren sobbed, covering her mouth. "We talked about the stars, Lina! We talked about the stars!"
But Lina couldn't picture it. The memory was gone. It was just a blank, white space in her head. The ink was hollowing her out, erasing her past to make room for the power.
CRACK.
Another piece of the glass sphere broke off. The black water poured out in a steady stream. The giant gears above them shrieked as the foundation of the magic began to fail.
"Push it into the glass, Lina!" Nia yelled over the noise. "Seal the cracks!"
Lina tried to stand, but her legs felt like water. The golden ink had reached her jaw. Her cheek felt completely numb.
She tried to think of her favorite color to anchor herself. Blue. It was blue. But then the thought slipped away. What was blue? The sky? The water? The concept dissolved into nothing.
She was forgetting how to be human. She was becoming a blank page.
Lina forced herself to her feet. She stumbled toward the giant, cracking sphere. The black water splashed against her shoes. The screaming faces inside the glass turned their empty eyes toward her.
She raised her glowing, golden hand.
But as she reached for the glass, she looked at her reflection in the curved surface.
Her eyes were no longer gold. They were completely, terrifyingly white.
She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't remember the words. She couldn't remember her own name.
The ink reached her lips. And Lina forgot how to scream.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
All rights reserved.
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Next Chapter Summary for Chapter 137: Completely erased and running on pure instinct, Lina presses her hand to the glass, but the sphere demands one final, devastating sacrifice to seal the cracks forever.