Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Chapter 53: The story of a clock that stopped ticking

A U T H O R

"Remember that this is a preparation for your second set of exams after the trip. Your score here will affect the result of the final ranking." Mrs. Hwa said as she distributes the test questions. 

Heather sat there comfortably confident. Now that there was no game to prepare for, she was able to focus on studying for this exam. She received the paper and read the questions. Her lips curved to a smirk after seeing familiar terms and questions. 

"You may begin." They got their pens out and started writing their answers on the sheet.

The given hours ended and the students fell in line to submit their work. Like what happened before, Flake stood behind Heather. He noticed her answers and sighed. She's still better than I expected. He thought and passed his paper next.

Heather gathered her books and left the room in a hurry. When Flake turned around to return to his seat, she had already left the door. Disappointment painted his face. What happened last time kept flashing in his head for quite some time. He was worried, thinking he was too harsh with his words. She was doing something bad, and she doesn't know that, so he had to step in and stop her sooner before she gets into trouble. The consequence of that move was Heather's anger at him doubling and he had to choose her safety over that.

"What do we need to pack?" Maya asked and pulled out her luggage under her bed. "Do you think we need weapons? Swords?"

"Maya, we're not going to a battlefield. You heard what Chase said. They built us a safe dormitory." Heather said.

"The troubles in the dormitory is one thing, Heather. There will be times where we get to go out and explore. Who knows what we'll encounter? Who knows how many wild creatures are there waiting to attack us? I still have a family to support. I'm their only daughter." Heather rolled her eyes at her paranoid friend. 

"Will you stop thinking of negative things? And here I thought you were someone with great courage in battling with unfairness in this school."

"That's a different story," Maya answered as she folds her clothes. "You haven't heard of this because you just got here, but the Unlighted Forest holds dark secrets were not supposed to know. A lot of creatures died there, my ancestors were some of them. The queen's mother was also murdered there by her own sister. When chaos started years ago, a creature with invisibility as his strength died protecting those he cares for. That... Everything might turn out to be like that. Talk about being cursed!"

"Okay. You're going too far. Just clear your mind and be calm. Danger awaits those with black thoughts. Just be cool with it like how I'm handling this. I'm completely human but can you see me worrying for a bit? No."

That night when the moon beamed the brightest, Heather's worries woke her up. Yep, I was lying. She thought and checked her luggage under the bed. There's a pocket knife hidden between one of the books' pages. Heather looked at it with worry. Maya's right and I can't deny that. I've read about the Unlighted Forest and unlucky situations always occur to those who come there. She closed the luggage and sat on the bed. But I shouldn't show a tiny sign of fear. Being human can't be my weakness.

She was about to go to bed when she spotted a glow outside the window. She quietly stood up and went close. "Firo?" She whispered to herself, seeing Firo with an oil lamp lantern in his hand. "Where is he going at this hour?"