Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

A month passed by with no incident and honestly? I was thankful for it. Although I was still baffled at the sudden pop up of Luna’s memory and the involvement of demons and a celestial with her ‘death’, I knew I couldn’t do anything about it. At least not yet anyway, but I did promise that I would figure it out. Since there was a possibility that a celestial was helping out the demon clan and another celestial framed my sister. There was even the possibility that it was the same celestial, but I did not recognize the celestial from Luna’s memories, only that he worked closely with the celestial king because of his clothes.

Of course other than that problem in which others shouldn’t be concerned, I was still keeping an eye on Kai since something might happen even though there had been no incidents regarding him, and then there was also me observing Freya. Speaking of observing Freya, she actually started talking to me about her condition which was a huge help in her treatment. She still had an attitude towards me but I guessed it was because she’s too competitive and her pride as a nobility was at stake.

But then, everything isn’t always nice and good. There would be a time when complications would rise which is normal. One complication in my life is when I woke up at the entrance of the northern forest.

Now northern forest was off limits to everyone, both students and faculty of the Imperial Academy. It wasn’t just because of the abandoned school building but because the area was technically dangerous. So when I found myself at the entrance, I knew something was up.

“What the hell?” I asked to no one in particular. I looked down and saw that I was still wearing the clothes I usually sleep on. “How did I get here?”

I noticed that it was still dark, but I could see the sun already peeking at the horizon. I immediately teleported myself back to my dorm room and checked id there was something wrong inside. The good thing was, everything seemed to be in place and the only odd thing was that my balcony was open.

“Was I sleepwalking?” I asked myself once again.

I never had a case of sleepwalking before and of all the places I had to end up in the forbidden forest in the north of the academy grounds.

After that one incident, I became restless as I always found myself waking up in the forest. And worse of all, the spot I wake up was getting further and further away from the entrance.

“Hey Hysi!” I was cut off from my thoughts when Freya suddenly poked my cheek and yelled my name. “Are you okay? You look distracted.”

“Sorry, I just, I got lost in my thoughts.”

“Clearly. You’re supposed to be starting the treatment for my situation now how come I’m thinking that you’re the one that needs it.”

“Can you stop being such a rude little brat for a second?” I let out a groan of frustration and we started our session. It was simple, I just had to ask her about her experience and figure out which stressful situation made her break into five personalities.

-Freya did not have it easy. Her family’s too rigid for their own good.

***

“-una! Luna!” I was snapped awake and I found myself in Kai’s embrace.

“Kai? What… Where… Why are we here?”

“You tell me. You passed by the boys’ dorm but you didn’t answer when I tried to call your attention. I had no other choice but to follow you.”

I looked around and noticed that I was once again inside a forest, but other than the woods there was a four story building in front of us. The building looked abandoned with vines creeping on its walls.

-It’s the abandoned school building.

“Hay Kai, I think we should-“

Kai stood frozen on where he stood. His gaze was glued to the abandoned school building but he held a look of fear on his face.

“Kai?”

“I- I think I’ve been here before.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “It’s the abandoned school building and no one’s allowed here.”

“Not recently no, but I gave seen this place a long time ago. I- I just can’t recall when but I’m pretty sure I was young when I came here.”

“I think we should go.” I told him. “The headmaster already said this place is off limits and it’s dangerous too so I think we should go.”

“Wait, why did you go here?”

“I don’t have any idea.” I answered. “I’ve been sleepwalking lately.”

“Oh, I guess we all have our problems.”

“No kidding.”

The next day, I spent the rest of my free time in the library. I decided to research about the old school building. I found a book about the school’s history and luckily, it recorded the early days of the abandoned school building.

According to the book, the building used to belong to the alchemy department. Classrooms and laboratories for the sole use of advanced alchemy classes were located there. But ten years ago, it was suddenly closed down for unknown reasons. And ever since then, it had been off limits.

“Why didn’t they record the reason why they closed down the building?” I muttered, lost in my thoughts as I did more research. “And why did Kai say he had bee to that place before? And more importantly, why am I sleepwalking in that place?”

A sudden cough got my attention and I saw a figure in front of me. I looked up and saw that it was Freya. She had an annoyed look on her face and her arms were crossed over her chest.

“What do you want?”

“Aren’t we supposed to have a session today? You didn’t show up.”

-Right, we were supposed to meet today.

“I got preoccupied. Uhm, is it okay if we don’t have any sessions until winter break is over?” I asked.

“Why? I thought my mental health is important.”

“It is but your condition is more like a matter of self-acceptance so you might want to talk to your other personalities and settle things with them, especially with the red-eyed you called Fan.:

I heard her click her tongue and she walked away. Once Freya was no longer in sight, I released a deep breath, but I noticed someone sit beside me.

“You’re researching about the abandoned school building? Why?” asked Senior Leo and started flipping the books I just read. “I don’t think this is in the first year’s curriculum?”

“I’m doing the research for myself, is that bad?”

“Not really, but usually people who try to find out about that place are those who went there and had seen it.”

I swallowed the non-existent lump on my throat and cautiously closed the books one by one.

“Now I’m pretty sure that place is off limits.”

“Do you know why it’s off limits?” I asked.

It was his turn to be stunned. He thought he was able to hide it but I caught the look of nervousness on his face. Although he managed to keep himself in check and hide it behind a poker face.

“You shouldn’t be nosy on things Luna. There’s a reason why it’s off limits.”

“It's why I'm asking.”

“Well for one, it’s an old school building with shaky foundations, so it’s a dangerous place. That’s why, try to stay away from it, yeah?”

He already stood up and left before I could ask him any more questions.

-Oh there’s definitely something about that place. And I’m going to find out about it.