Aki flew back to the academy, where the effects of the Suspended world had begun to wear off, the grey tint enveloping the building was unraveling. The memory of the battle was still fresh in his mind— throbbing against his skull
As he descended down, he felt a faint, ache in his head, it was hollow and rhythmic, almost like a constant reminder that, he didn't belong in a place of peace, the price of using Prime disbalance was weighing heavily on him, and he felt as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulder, draining him of energy
His feet touched the ground just as the remnants of Suspended world dicipated, his body swayed backwards, and he dropped with a thud, looking up at the sky, his eyelids grew heavy, and they closed shut— plunging his view into darkness
Students inside the academy building started to regain their senses, the silent space was immediately swallowed by waves of shouts, murmurs of confusion and the shaky voices of students
Although time had seemed to pause, it was the exact opposite, it wasn't that time had paused but instead, time had stopped from individual perspectives, not universally
"What just happened?" Students grabbed at each other, shaking, their eyes scanning the now chaotic hallways, "we're you standing next to me? How'd you end up there?"
Students frantically ran around, trying to make sense of what had just happened
"What about that thing" one student pointed at the empty space in the air, "i could've sworn i saw something before everything froze"
"Was it a terrorist attack?!" The students jumped to all types all conclusions, following the incident, the school administration had no choice, they had to dismiss the student body
Journalists, quick on the trigger, were already moving, heading to the academy
Aki remained unconscious, his mind reeling in and out of memories, the figure he saw was clashing with the image he had saved for more than 10 years, although it was the same person, they felt unfamiliar
"Vice president?" His eyes opened slowly, and a blurry face came to view
"Alice?" He reached out a hand, the girl caught it, and squeezed tightly
"Are you ok, I'll call Alicia" she pulled out her phone, and dialed a number
Aki pushed his body up, still swaying, and press the end call button, "I'm fine, don't worry Alicia, she might end up calling the entire family" he patted her head, and got up to his feet
Alice watched as he walked to the buildings, "Wait, cousin", his steps slowed, and he looked back, "yeah?"
"We should go home instead, journalists will be swarming the academy in moments"
"Journalists?", he looked back at the academy, his pulse quickening, 'was the effect visible?'
His fists clenched, and he waved Alice over, "Alright, let's go"
The hallways were as frantic as ever, teachers faught to maintain order, but their voices were drowned out
At the end of the hallway, Sam stood directing some students, his gaze locked on Aki across the room, the look in his eyes flickered for a moment, before waving
"Over here!" The cousins walked over, navigating through the jungle of the hallway
"Are you alright?, you look worn out" Sam's hand found a nearby handle, and he turned it, opening a large, metal door, "get in" he lead them down a long, empty hallway, at the end, light shone through the windows of 2 closed doors, Sam threw the doors open, Alice and Aki came to realize, they were outside
"VP, brief me on our next meeting" with that, he turned and ran back inside
Aki didn't waste a second, he grabbed Alice's hand, and leaped, landing on the roof of a small shop
"Gold leaf is too far from here, you'll have to come with me"
The two parkoured across the city, taking alleyways, avoiding roads to prevent drawing attention, with both being high profile individuals, one as the young master of the great Hoshino family, and the other being a famous artist, as well as a member of the Hoshino family
The thump of his heart intensified, suffocating him, at an intersection, the two brushed against a man, knocking him over, the man got up furious, but stopped the moment he saw Alice—"Alciera?!"
"For goodness sake" Aki groaned, and then lifted his hand and aimed at the man
[Psycho series] Dark Magic- Command speech- Sleep!
The man's eyes glazed over, his worldview rotated, and he collapsed to the ground, people nearby jumped back, shocked at the sight, some who had heard the man's words looked around—the word Alciera hung in the air
They continued running down the alley, but Aki's pace had decreased considerably, his breathing became unsteady, and his vision blurred
He supported himself by a nearby bin, gasping hard, Alice stopped beside him, consoling him, "just let me call Alicia—"
"No—"
"Stop being stubborn you won't last like this" she tried pulling out her phone again, but Aki snatched it, smiling as he waved the phone around
"Let me try something, if it doesn't work, you can do as you want"
[Psycho series] Prime relocation
Dark, ragged tentacles wrapped around the two, surrounding them in darkness, then— Whoosh
They disappeared, when Alice opened her eyes, she was met by green vines and red roses, behind her, a large mansion sat, the lights around it flickering briefly, before resting back to their rhythm, the shouts, panic, and smells of the city were replaced by quite, rosey scenery
"Where are we?" She looked at Aki, who was swaying, his face was blank, his eyes empty, "Home" were the words he managed to rasp out before he collapsed
"Alice?" A voice cut through the silence, Alice looked up to see her sister, Alicia nearby, still in pajamas, flanked by a pijama wearing Chloe
When they saw Aki on the ground, they rushed foward, Alicia rolled him over, while Chloe activated her magic, assessing the damage on his body, "Idiot" she muttered, standing over him
She turned to Alice, "what happened?!"
"Well—"
"You should let mom answer that question" Rose appeared from behind them, removing her earrings
She pulled out her phone, lighting it to reveal a dialing video call
Across the ocean, miles away, on the Snowy island, a silver haired woman sat on a chair, quietly watching her vibrating phone on the desk– the caller ID: Sweet Rose reflecting in her eyes, she looked up from the phone, and at a man who was kneeling on the floor, bleeding from the mouth
"You'd better hope it's nothing serious" she answered the call, positioning it to reflect her face, her red eyes meeting 2 identical pairs of eyes on the other end
In the corner, she could see Aki laying there, obviously unconscious, her breath caught, and her gaze intensified
"How is he, Chloe?" She looked up from the phone and back on the man on the ground, the room started freezing over, her eyes glowing faintly, the man looked down, a chill running down his spine
"He's fine, just fatigued, he'll be up by tomorrow" she looked down at Aki, her usually composed expression was slightly distorted, her brow was knitted, and her pulse was higher than usual
"Good" the woman set the phone down, before standing up and walking toward the man,
She pulled out a small knife, its sharp edges catching the light around it, the cold steel pressed down against the man's neck
"Don't even try it" Rose yelled into the phone, then woman smiled, let the knife slip out of her hands, then walked back to pick up the phone
"I'll see you tomorrow" she said, then hung up the phone,"as for you, you're off the main project, have the administration sign you over to animal studies— where you belong"
Sorry for the cut, my brain wasn't braining enough for me to push this further, but I promise you all, from here on out, it'll be 2000+ words of next level, well paced storytelling