Year Two: Rebels - Cara Wylde Page 0,41
Except… it wasn’t a nightmare at all, because from a nightmare, I could’ve woken up. I have some tricks up my sleeve. But there are no tricks to wake up from reality.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I truly am. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“I know you’re busy.”
She sighed. “When you’re a Grim Reaper, you don’t have a life anymore. I never understood why there must only be twenty-two Grim Reapers. Why not thirty? At the very least. We’re all being overworked.”
“I pulled through.”
“As you always do.” She wrapped an arm around me and pulled me in for a hug. “If you don’t want to erase your memories, then don’t. I’ll support you no matter what. But they’re not really your memories. You know that, right? They’re Lovecraft’s. You just… adopted them.”
“So, what you’re saying is… I won’t actually lose something that’s mine.”
She released me and shrugged. We were in the Ninth Sphere of Heaven. The streets were empty, not a soul in sight. I wondered about Domina and her parents. The Ninth Sphere was beautiful, with buildings covered in gold and precious stones, all glittering in the sun. There was too much light, though, and I had to shield my eyes.
“Don’t you agree?”
Well, I had to admit. Mila was right.
“Okay, I’ll do it. Ask Lorna if she can help me.”
“Good.” She looked around her one last time, her blue eyes squinting because of the merciless light. “Ready to teleport back to the Academy?”
“So ready!”
CHAPTER TWELVE
We teleported outside of the Holy Chapel. Mila left as soon as she made sure I was going to be fine, and Corri and I entered the Academy through the chapel. I briefly considered going in to check the scoreboard but changed my mind in a second. I didn’t care. The moment I’d told Lucien what my mission was, what my life’s work was going to be… that was the moment I decided that nothing else mattered. The worth points, the grades, all the rules and norms we had to follow at Grim Reaper Academy – they were all abstract concepts and illusions a bunch of people had agreed upon. And then, more people came in, wanted to join the game, so they agreed too. And that was how a system was born. A system I didn’t particularly want to belong to. So, I walked past the door to the chapel and headed straight to the classrooms.
“You should rest,” Corri said. She was flying by my side, her wings buzzing incessantly, as always, spreading pixie dust all over the walls and the carpet.
“I rested well enough in Heaven.”
The students and the professors had already had lunch. For now, the hallways were empty. Everyone was in class. I felt pumped. I felt like I needed to do something, to take action. I patted my back pocket. The piece of paper the old, wise angel had given me was safely tucked inside. In my other pocket I had Corri’s new bell. There wouldn’t have been any point in looking for the lost one, so she’d given me a new one. I felt good. I felt strong and grounded. I hadn’t yet figured everything out, but I was on the right path. I knew it. My encounter with Lucien had proven that nothing was coincidental. He’d given me crucial information that would help me move forward, which meant that I was supposed to accomplish what I’d been working toward all this time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have met Lucien, and he wouldn’t have told me about the five mages who’d opened the portals and brought the Great Old Ones to our world thousands of years ago. I was getting close. I could feel it in my bones, and I was so excited that I felt like running into the woods and screaming my head off. No. I felt like running down into the caverns and screaming into the well: “Your days are numbered, bastard!” Well, months, not days. I had exactly one year at my disposal to figure out the missing pieces of the puzzle and find the descendants of the original mages to perform the banishing ritual. Next year, on Christmas Night. That was going to be the end of my journey and, possibly, the beginning of a new one.
I knew my class schedule by heart, and I didn’t have PE now. Yet, I rushed right toward the gym. Domina had PE, and I needed to have a word with her. Once and for all.