Reincarnated as an Apocalyptic Catalyst-Chapter 84: The Dusk of the Last Day

I watched the Academy from the rooftops, the faint glow of torches and the soft murmur of students below meandering across campus, enjoying their final moments as students of the Academy. Some of them would actually be spending their last day here, as they were to graduate soon, while others were enjoying time with their seniors before having to bid them adieu. It nearly felt natural, it felt like once tomorrow had ended, we could find some sense of normalcy in the world.

Unfortunately, as I knew better than most, peace was a fragile thing. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe in it anymore. I lost Mara, I lost my original body, I struggled with Garret, and if we were going far back enough, I lost my old life and the world I knew as home. Everything was gone to me, but I still had to press on. For the sake of my new home, for the sake of my new love, I had to continue my mission.

The night air was crisp, the stars barely visible through the faint haze of mana that lingered over the campus. The past semester had been brutal—long, grueling months of bloodshed, training, and sabotage–for some more than others. A war fought in the shadows while everyone else studied for their next exam, blissfully unaware of the horrors lurking just beneath their feet.

Tomorrow, they’d all be gone. Most of the students would leave through the portal, heading home to their families, and celebrating the end of another successful semester. Others would linger, but not for long, there was no place at the academy during the break. They would have to funnel into the capital, completely unaware of the terror that was being wrought in the slums. No one cared about those who had nothing, it was just a problem to be brushed aside.

For Mara, this was supposed to be an escape. A way to toss aside everything that tormented her, even if one of those things to discard was me. I would give her up if it gave her a chance at a future. I would take down whomever I needed to protect her. I would always protect her, even at the cost of Morgana’s bullshit plan.

I crouched at the edge of the building, my eyes locked on the dimly lit dormitory window across the courtyard. Mara’s window. She hadn’t left it once all night. Meanwhile, Vance stood below, leaning against the wall in the alley beside her building, arms crossed. He had taken the first watch while I kept an eye on things from above. He hadn’t spoken much—but he didn’t need to. We both knew something was wrong, and we both agreed to do something about it.

I dropped down silently, landing in the shadows beside him. He didn’t startle, just exhaled sharply and tilted his head toward the window.

"Nothing?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Nothing," he confirmed. "But that’s part of the problem, isn’t it?"

I frowned.

"She should be packing. Writing letters. Saying goodbye to people. Instead, she’s been sitting in that room like a fucking corpse." His gaze flickered up to the window, his jaw tightening. "I don’t like it."

I swallowed, my stomach twisting. "Neither do I... But she seemed better today," I said, though even as I said it, I wasn’t sure if I believed it.

Vance scoffed. "Better? Did she seem better? To me, she is a hollow shell of what she once was. I don’t have the same memories to pull from, but I feel it deep in my core. I feel what she used to be, what she meant to us. I know this isn’t right, and so do you."

I didn’t answer, because he was right. Mara looked normal—moved like a person going through motions, and smiled in the way people expected her to. But there had been something in her eyes, something distant. A reflection of herself, watching from the other side of a wall we couldn’t break through, and now, she sat in that dorm room, silent, like a damned manikin.

We stood in silence for a while, listening to the distant laughter of students in the main halls, the sounds of normality pressing against the edge of the nightmare we knew was coming.

Vance shifted beside me. "We should go in."

I shook my head. "No. She’ll shut down. She’ll push us away."

"She’s already pushing us away."

I exhaled. "We wait. Just a little longer."

Vance let out a slow, frustrated breath. "Fine. But once the semester ends, I’m leaving to track down that last artifact. I need you and Ronan here to keep an eye on her. If she starts slipping further—"

"I know," I said. If Vance was going on a mission, I would be on my own. I would stand watch like a sentinel, making sure that any threats she faced would be dealt with before she had a chance to even register them.

I took over the watch when Vance needed to rest. The night deepened, the campus falling into a rare quiet. The torches burned lower and the laughter faded. Then cold settled in, as spring had not yet come, despite how close it lingered, there were many cold days ahead of us. Despite it all, Mara never moved, and if she wouldn’t then neither would I.

At some point, I found myself tracing the handle of my dagger, a restless habit. I thought of all the battles fought in these past months. The kills. The victories. The losses. The scars I’d earned, both on my body and my soul, but none of it compared to this. The waiting, the helplessness.

As I was lost in thought, Vance returned, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Not much had happened, but there was something positive I could report to him.

"She moved," I told him.

His posture straightened. "What?"

"She moved." I nodded toward the window. "She got up. Snuffed the candle. Went to bed."

Vance frowned. "...That’s it?"

"That’s it." I said dejectedly. It wasn’t a lot, but it gave me hope, and I knew it would give him hope as well.

He let out a slow breath, nodding to himself. "Alright. That’s something."

"Something is coming, and we will need to be prepared. I can’t tell what it is, likely the cult and their bullshit, but regardless, we need to be alert for anything, absolutely anything.

Vance studied me for a long moment before nodding. "Yeah," he murmured. "I feel it too."

I exhaled. "Then let’s be ready."

And as the sun broke over the horizon, painting the sky in pale gold and deep violet, I felt it in my bones. It would be the end of this peace, the final day before everything fell apart, and I knew, by this time tomorrow, nothing would ever be the same again.

Still, there were actions we could take, there was something we could do to stop this all from happening. So long as Veldrin didn’t betray us, we had a chance.

The Academy had come alive again. Even in the early hours of the morning, the campus was bustling with movement—students hurrying across the courtyard, gathering in small clusters, whispering about their final classes, and their plans for break.

I watched from the edges, blending into the shifting crowds as I made my way toward the training grounds. Vance was supposed to meet me there before our final debriefing with Veldrin. I needed something to do—something other than just standing outside Mara’s dorm, waiting for the inevitable.

The morning air was crisp, still holding onto the last remnants of winter. The warmth of spring would come soon enough, but not yet. The cold wind cut through the Academy, but no one seemed to mind. Excitement overpowered it. The semester was ending, and for most, it was a time of relief, but for me, it felt like a noose tightening around my neck. I no longer had jokes or humor, it was all pointless if I couldn’t solve this one issue.

It was the final day before break, students were either celebrating their victories or mourning their failures. Laughter rang out across the courtyard, mixing with the occasional outburst of spellfire from last-minute duels. They could do what they wanted, they could feel as they wanted, but I wasn’t here to celebrate.

Vance was waiting for me near one of the sparring arenas, arms crossed, his gaze distant as he leaned against a stone pillar. It was like Deja Vu, the same meeting place, the same posture, the same location. He barely acknowledged my approach.

I walked up to him, just like last time, except this time he took the initiative and asked me, "You brooding too?"

I smirked. "Yeah... But be careful, if you hang around me long enough, you might end up with a severe case of self-loathing."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s your thing, I won’t try and tread on your turf. Besides, I couldn’t pull off the same look you seem to have every time we meet," Vance muttered, his lips curling into something that wasn’t quite a smile.

"You are literally in the same exact spot with the same exact look as just yesterday" I retorted.

"It’s a good pillar," he shrugged.

So... what’s got you so... Me?" I asked, not exactly excited to hear the response. Vance was the closest I could find to myself, so everything he felt, I was confident that I felt as well.

He didn’t answer right away, but when he did, I could anticipate the response before he spoke, "Mara."

The humor drained from me instantly. No coping mechanisms, no witty comebacks, this was just something we had to work through. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

I forced my voice to stay neutral. "She’s still pretty fucked up..."

Vance turned his head, meeting my gaze with sharp intensity. "You saw her today, right?"

I hesitated. "Yeah."

"Same ol’ same ol’ I suppose."

I exhaled slowly, my jaw tightening. "Did we break her? Do you think she will ever recover? Did we really fuck up this bad?" I paused as I poured over my words. "I’m sorry... This isn’t what you did, this is what I did. I fucked everything up, I should have just confessed to her and tucked her away into a safe little corner until everything blew over. There was no reason to get her wrapped in this bullshit. Why! It’s just, what the fuck–I don’t deserve her.

Vance’s eyes darkened. "There’s no way you could have known what would come of this. She had an easy job by all accounts. I mean you and Ronan nearly died, while she just..." Vance felt the same pain I felt, so I understood his pause. "Listen, Lucian, it’s not over yet. We can do this, we can fix it all before shit hits the fan."

I flinched, but he didn’t stop.

"She never really talked about what happened when she infiltrated the cult," Vance continued. "We assumed she got out before anything happened, but that note you showed me, it proved that so much more went on. Despite all of that, it’s not over. She has you, she has me, she has Ronan, fuck she even has that bastard Garrett and his army of muscle-heads... It’s going to be okay."

"I know," I interrupted, rubbing my face. I didn’t want to think about it.

Vance’s voice dropped lower. "Despite all of that–what if they’re in her head? What if the cultists are the reason she is behaving this way?"

That thought settled in my gut like a lead weight. Mara had isolated herself for months. I had told myself it was grief, exhaustion, trauma—things she had every right to feel. But what if it was more than that? What if something else had been eating away at her this whole time, and we’d been too focused on fighting the cult to see it?

I swallowed hard. "We keep watching her."

Vance nodded. "After today, I’m heading out to track down that last artifact. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, so you and Ronan need to handle things here." He met my gaze. "If she gets worse—"

"We’ll handle it," I said, but I wasn’t sure if I believed it.

Vance studied me for a long moment, then exhaled sharply. "Alright."

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the Academy grounds swelled with movement. Families had arrived, students were preparing to leave, and the graduation ceremony was drawing near. Mara had gone to the ceremony. If I didn’t know better, I might’ve thought she was fine. That she was just doing what normal people did.

I knew better, and the weight of that knowledge sat heavy in my chest as Ronan and I made our way toward Veldrin’s study.

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