Chapter 74: He’s Beginning To Remember

The sound of knocking woke Kael.

Three knocks.

A brief pause

Then a fourth.

He opened his eyes.

For several seconds, he remained motionless, listening.

The room was dark, illuminated only by the pale moonlight slipping through the curtains.

Another knock came.

Kael sat up.

"...Who’s there?"

Silence.

He glanced towards his bedroom door.

Nobody answered.

With a quiet sigh, he pushed the blanket aside and walked towards it.

"Whoever you are, I hope you have a good reason for waking me up."

He opened the door.

Nothing.

The corridor outside was empty.

Kael leaned forward, examining both directions before closing it.

"Wonderful. I’ve officially started arguing with doors."

He turned around.

Pi was sitting on his desk.

Its golden eye was fixed on him.

"Pi?"

Kael stared at the creature.

"Don’t tell me you heard that too."

Pi didn’t move.

Then, slowly, it lowered its head.

Kael approached and gently touched its horns.

"What’s wrong with you lately?"

The creature remained silent.

He returned to bed, though sleep didn’t come immediately.

The knocking continued to echo inside his thoughts.

Three times.

Then a fourth.

For some reason, it felt like a familiar pattern.

As if someone had been using it to communicate with him for a very long time.

The following morning, Kael arrived at the dining hall to find Leon already waiting.

"You’re late."

Kael stopped.

He looked at the clock.

Then at Leon.

"Do you rehearse that sentence every morning?"

Leon grinned.

"It’s becoming a tradition."

"Then I suggest finding a better tradition."

Kael sat opposite him and placed Pi on the table.

Leon leaned closer.

"Your little companion looks tired."

"He’s been behaving strangely."

"Strangely how?"

"He’s quieter than usual."

Pi immediately opened its mouth.

"Pi!"

Kael glanced down.

"See? That’s the most intelligent thing he’s said all morning."

Leon laughed.

Mira arrived shortly afterwards, carrying a stack of books.

She looked considerably more tired than usual.

Kael noticed immediately.

"Didn’t sleep well?"

Mira placed her books down.

"Not particularly."

"Studying?"

"Something like that."

Leon leaned forward.

"Are you still researching the old formation?"

Mira nodded.

"I couldn’t stop thinking about it."

Kael picked up his cup.

"That doesn’t sound healthy."

"Neither does sleeping with a creature that steals your breakfast."

Pi looked towards him.

"Pi!"

Mira smiled faintly.

Then her expression changed.

"Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you both."

Leon tilted his head.

"What is it?"

"Have either of you been experiencing unusual dreams?"

Kael paused.

"What kind of dreams?"

Mira hesitated.

"Strange places. Doors. Voices. Things that feel familiar, even though you’ve never seen them before."

Leon scratched his cheek.

"Not that I can remember."

Kael remained quiet.

Mira looked at him.

"What about you?"

He considered lying.

But something about her expression suggested she wasn’t asking out of curiosity.

"...I’ve had a few."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"What did you see?"

"A black door."

Mira’s fingers tightened around her cup.

Kael continued.

"I couldn’t see what was behind it. But I remember someone standing nearby."

"Who?"

"I don’t know."

For a moment, Mira looked as though she had forgotten where she was.

Then Leon interrupted.

"Well, that’s certainly unusual."

He leaned back.

"Maybe all three of us are simply suffering from academic exhaustion."

Kael nodded.

"That’s the most reasonable explanation I’ve heard."

Mira didn’t respond.

She was still thinking about the white corridor from her dream.

After breakfast, the three headed towards the library.

Kael had decided to investigate the mysterious manuscript Professor Graves had shown them.

He wasn’t particularly fond of ancient history, but the appearance of the seventh chair had been bothering him.

More importantly, he wanted to know why Pi had reacted so strangely.

The library was relatively quiet.

A few students occupied the reading tables, while the librarian sat behind her desk.

Mira led them towards the restricted historical section.

"Professor Graves said the original manuscript was discovered beneath the academy," she explained. "However, there are several copies in the library."

Leon glanced at the shelves.

"How many?"

"At least twelve."

Kael stopped walking.

"Twelve?"

"Yes."

He looked towards the towering bookshelves.

"Remind me why I agreed to this?"

Mira smiled.

"Because you’re curious."

"That’s a terrible accusation."

They began searching.

After nearly twenty minutes, Mira found a thin volume with a faded silver cover.

She placed it on the table.

"Here."

Kael opened it.

Most of the pages contained descriptions of ancient magical structures, but several illustrations caught his attention.

The first showed the familiar circular chamber.

Seven chairs.

Six arranged around a table.

One standing apart.

Kael studied it.

"That’s the same illustration."

Mira nodded.

"There’s something else."

She turned to the next page.

A diagram depicted seven doors connected by thin silver lines.

Beneath it was a short passage.

The seven were gathered before the first boundary was established. Each was given a place, though not every place was occupied.

Kael read the sentence twice.

"Not every place was occupied?"

Mira continued reading.

"The first accepted. The second remembered. The third refused. The fourth remained. The fifth was bound. The sixth was removed."

Leon leaned closer.

"What about the seventh?"

Mira turned the page.

It was blank.

Kael stared at it.

Then he noticed something.

A small inscription had been written near the bottom.

THE SEVENTH WAS NOT EMPTY.

His silver mark began to tingle.

He quickly pulled his hand away from the book.

Leon noticed.

"Your hand?"

Kael looked down.

"It’s nothing."

But Mira had already seen the faint silver glow.

She carefully closed the book.

"We should take this to Professor Graves."

Kael nodded.

For once, he didn’t argue.

Professor Graves was examining several documents in his office when they arrived.

He looked up as the three entered.

"Mr Veyron. Miss Ashbourne. Mr Ardent."

Mira placed the manuscript on his desk.

"We found something in the historical section."

Graves examined the cover.

His expression changed.

"Where did you find this?"

"In the restricted archive."

The professor opened the book.

He turned several pages before stopping at the illustration of the seven chairs.

"...I see."

Kael crossed his arms.

"Does it mean anything?"

Graves didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he examined the faded inscription.

"These records are older than the academy itself."

Leon blinked.

"How much older?"

"By several thousand years, if the dating is accurate."

Kael looked at the illustration.

"Who were the seven?"

"That is precisely what nobody has been able to establish."

Graves adjusted his spectacles.

"The records refer to them as witnesses, but their identities are missing. Even their names have disappeared from the surviving documents."

Mira pointed towards the passage.

"Then what about this?"

The professor read the lines again.

"The first accepted. The second remembered. The third refused..."

He stopped.

For a brief moment, his gaze settled on Kael.

"Curious."

"What is?"

"The wording."

Graves closed the book.

"It suggests that these individuals weren’t selected because of their abilities. They were selected because of what they were willing to do."

Kael looked towards the professor.

"And the seventh?"

Graves remained silent.

Then he answered.

"I don’t know."

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"That’s becoming a common answer around here."

A faint smile appeared on the professor’s face.

"Unfortunately, history doesn’t always provide convenient explanations."

Meanwhile, Elena was having a rather unpleasant morning.

She sat in one of the academy’s smaller lecture rooms, staring at an open notebook.

She had written the same sentence several times.

Don’t let him choose alone.

She didn’t remember writing it the previous night.

Yet the handwriting was unmistakably hers.

Elena rubbed her forehead.

"What is wrong with me?"

A student sitting nearby glanced at her.

"Miss Veyron?"

She quickly closed the notebook.

"Nothing."

The student returned to her work.

Elena looked towards the window.

A familiar image lingered in her mind.

A ruined city.

A young man standing before a black door.

And a voice that sounded almost identical to her own.

You don’t have to carry it alone.

She pressed her fingers against her temples.

The memory vanished.

But this time, something else remained.

A name.

Kael.

The afternoon passed without any further incidents.

Kael attended his scheduled classes, participated in a short training session, and spent most of his free time discussing the upcoming practical examination with Leon.

Yet he couldn’t stop thinking about the manuscript.

By the time evening arrived, he had decided to visit the old lecture hall where the strange formation had appeared.

Pi accompanied him.

The courtyard was almost empty.

The western training grounds were quiet, and the instructors had already left for the evening.

Kael approached the stone formation.

The six pillars remained in place.

He crouched beside the central crystal.

"Let’s see..."

He examined the inscription again.

The word Witness was still there.

However, something had appeared beneath it.

A thin line.

Then another.

They formed a small symbol resembling a broken chain.

Kael’s breathing slowed.

He recognised the shape.

It was almost identical to the mark on his palm.

He extended his hand.

The moment his fingers touched the stone, a voice whispered inside his head.

You’re late.

Kael immediately withdrew.

His heart was beating faster.

"Who said that?"

Nothing answered.

Pi jumped from his shoulder and landed beside the formation.

Its golden eye glowed.

"Pi..."

Kael looked down.

"What is it?"

The creature approached the inscription and pressed one claw against the stone.

A faint vibration travelled through the ground.

Then the central crystal illuminated.

A message appeared across its surface.

ROOM SEVEN REMAINS OPEN.

Kael stared.

"Room Seven?"

The words began fading.

A second sentence appeared.

THREE KNOCKS. THEN ONE MORE.

His expression changed.

The memory of last night’s knocking returned.

Three knocks.

A pause.

Then a fourth.

Kael slowly stood.

"Pi..."

The creature looked towards him.

For the first time that day, it seemed genuinely afraid.

That night, Kael returned to his room earlier than usual.

He placed Pi on the desk and sat beside the window.

He had several questions.

What was Room Seven?

Why did the manuscript contain the same symbols as his mark?

And why did Pi seem to recognise things that he couldn’t remember?

He looked towards the creature.

"Listen."

Pi raised its head.

"I know you understand more than you let on."

The little creature remained still.

Kael leaned forward

"If there’s something you know about me, I want you to tell me."

Silence.

Then Pi slowly approached him.

It placed one tiny claw against his palm.

The silver mark glowed.

A faint warmth spread through his hand.

For a moment, Kael saw something.

A small room.

A wooden desk.

A silver quill.

A young man sitting beside a window.

And a note resting on the desk.

IF YOU COME BACK, KNOCK THREE TIMES.

Kael’s eyes widened.

The image disappeared.

He gripped the edge of his desk.

"What was that?"

Pi lowered its head.

"Home..."

Kael stared at it.

"Home?"

The creature nodded.

Then it spoke again.

"Not... now."

Kael leaned closer.

"What do you mean, not now?"

Pi looked towards the window.

Its golden eye reflected something that wasn’t visible outside.

A white door.

Kael turned.

There was nothing there.

When he looked back, Pi had already curled up beside his books.

He remained seated for a long time.

Eventually, he went to bed.

But before closing his eyes, he looked once more at the silver mark on his palm.

"I don’t know what’s going on..."

He turned towards the ceiling.

"But I’m going to find out."

---

Somewhere beneath Aetheris Academy.

A sealed chamber stood in complete darkness.

Seven chairs surrounded a circular table.

Six remained empty.

The seventh had begun to move.

A faint scraping sound echoed through the chamber as it slowly turned towards the entrance.

Then—

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

A pause.

Knock.

The enormous door trembled.

A thin line of silver light appeared across its surface.

And from somewhere beyond it, a familiar voice whispered:

"He’s beginning to remember."

Another voice answered.

"Then the others will follow."

A brief silence.

Then the first voice spoke again.

"And when they remember everything?"

The silver light disappeared.

"We’ll find out whether he still makes the same choice."

The chamber fell silent.

But the seventh chair continued turning.

As though someone invisible had just taken their seat.