Chronicle Of The Stars

Silence.

Dust drifted, quills stopped, and books... hadn't turned in minutes.

A faint pillar of light broke through the classroom window, and in the center of it all, five masks remained.

Velmir - 0009

Elize - 0008

0035

0012

0005

The last five code names hadn't been uncovered.

No one spoke, but every breath was a command towards them: "Reveal yourselves."

The air thinned. Pressure coiled onto the floor.

The academy didn't breathe. And no one... wanted to be the last masked.

Zeon said nothing. He didn't need to. The others' gaze spoke louder than words.

Golden eyes watched, and in them, he smiled. Faintly, purposely, as if this moment had always been his plan. 

Elize didn't blink. Chin raised, hand at her cheek, she handled their pressure like royalty with a stare back. Her mask wasn't for fear, but because of dominance.

"Let them be," She mused, "I'll see what awaits them."

Her eyes flickered once, towards Velmir. "He hadn't changed since our last meeting... That look. He was still hiding."

"Just like me."

In the meantime, 0035 shook her hands. Shifted and froze at the edge of the mask.

Her gaze swept and locked onto the others.

She couldn't bear the thought of being seen.

What if they looked at her... and turned away?

"My... ugly face," 

0005 didn't care about others; instead, he looked at Velmir quietly with a faint smirk. 

He watched from the start. Not just words, but paused, silence, and tongues.

"That guy aimed at us..."

His glance fixed on back to Velmir, "Now, let's see what he does next..." - 0005 muttered, not too loud, only for him to hear it.

0012, too, was careless. She sat still, examining everything with a noble manner.

And she found the entire performance... tedious. "All this fuss over masks?"

Her eyes scanned through Zeon, Elize, and finally, herself. 

"I'll do as Elize then..."

Velmir didn't move. Didn't blink.

The whole room pressured him.

However, Velmir didn't answer back, only leaving the weight of his unseen thoughts collapsed onto the air.

And somehow, in that stillness, the four turned toward him.

Velmir saw their eyes, but avoided them. If he took off the mask, would he be "Velmir?" 

"To unmask is to live. But to live is also to carry an identity, a purpose."

Four people, each with their own reasons. Hidden, unspoken, unseen.

Maybe this was the way, maybe this was the ending Zeon wanted. And maybe, this silence was the most effective performance.

Then-

Velmir blinked.

Elize inhaled.

0005 eyes shut.

And someone... coughed.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The sound of the bell echoed, announcing the end of the day. 

The silence broke, but the masks stayed on.

The moment it passed, the casual hustle and bustle returned to the academy, but not the gaze of others...

"The broken masks of others are a weakness, because of that... those who hid are now the predators."

The bell had rung, others had left, but not his silence.

One by one, scholars came through the door, leaving only chairs and the quiet world.

Still, Velmir remained unmoved.

He sat still beneath the fading sunlight. It caught the edge of his desk, warmed his hand, but he didn't flinch. He didn't reject it anymore, his name.

"Velmir."

It was no longer a name that wasn't his.

It was the one he chose.

"I... choose this."

"For them. Lucas and Elize."

But,

His breath was heavy.

"But what if this name... is all that I am now?"

"If I reveal myself… would others truly see me as Velmir... Or a hollow vessel?"

"Would they know who he was? What he carried? His pain, his rage... and his life?"

Velmir clenched his left hand. So tight that his veins appeared on the surface of his skin. 

The air was too quiet.

Even sorrow had become a sound.

Outside the classroom, in the quiet corridor, two figures opposed each other. It was 0005 and Zeon Bathon.

No mocking, no comment, only stares. And it... created tensions.

0005 stepped forward, casting his shadow over the hallway.

Zeon Bathon leaned against the wall, arms crossed, head turned slightly as if a wandering fly had caught his attention.

"Ah... 0005," he murmured, voice soft. "What a coincidence."

0005 didn't answer at first. He stepped closer, just enough for him to whisper.

"Stop your games of mask, leave them alone."

Zeon pushed 0005 away distractedly. "You speak like I've done something wrong. I did nothing. I simply... gave them a choice."

0005 said nothing. His eyes didn't blink, even once. 

Then, sharper. His voice turned cold, like a sword that's ready to cut everything.

"This isn't a plea. It's the final warning."

Zeon ridiculously tilted his head before lifting it with a sharp gaze.

"Even him?" he asked.

"Would you protect him, too?"

The direct question put another pressure on the darkening academy. 

0005 didn't reply, only then a flame bloomed.

It wasn't only him; Zeon instantly ignited a flame on his hand, too. 

Yet, 0005 didn't flinch. He stepped back just enough for breath. Just enough to strike, if needed.

Zeon smiled, twisted, and on the corner of his lips curved a scary expression.

But before they could move-

"Hey! No fighting in the academy!"

A voice rang through the hall. It was a Magister.

In a moment, their fire extinguished.

0005 looked once more at Zeon.

Then he turned away, glancing one last time at the classroom.

"Especially him."

Somewhere on the path to home, Elize smiled bitterly. "...What turned you into this...? Velmir..." She didn't stop walking, yet... her heart paused.

...

...

...

[On that night]

In the blue light of the moon, Velmir came to the window and gazed at the stars. Books were piled in his room, but none of them had been read.

He didn't know... what should he do? In his eyes, the only thing he held onto was his home.

Velmir was lost. He lowered his head, looking at others' houses. Was he the only one alone? He witnessed others return to their "home" while his... wasn't there.

The home longing he once buried had now resurfaced in the breeze of midnight. Even then, that question still echoed in his mind.

"We both accepted this reality, Velmir... but in my heart. I wondered... is it right to let you lose in the past? I don't want to... I want others to know you."

"Your existence."