SHAMAN PROTOCOL-Chapter 122: Mystery Answered

"Nocty, while in the Labyrinth, where was Mikel?"

Mister Nocty paused at the question. His mouth parted, but no voice came out. Now that the question was raised, it felt like a slap back to reality.

Seeing his reaction, the headmaster was slightly confused. "What is it, Nocty?"

"I left him behind," Mister Nocty whispered as he lowered his gaze. "I left him all alone to fend for himself because... I couldn’t control my emotions."

No matter how deep the illusion was, Mister Nocty knew one thing. He had left his student to alleviate his own guilt for something that had already happened. The right word for it was foolish, and he knew it. But now, this new guilt seemed to have found a comfortable place on his shoulders.

The headmaster observed him quietly. He had initially assumed that Mikel and Mister Nocty were separated by the labyrinth, or that Mikel had left him. Or perhaps, he had lost him. Any of those could explain some things that had been on his mind.

After all, the headmaster had been suspecting Mikel of one thing, but it seemed he was wrong... or not.

"Nocty," the headmaster called, waiting for Mister Nocty to raise his head. "The Cursed Labyrinth is a powerful existence in this world, and its illusion is unlike any other. Finding yourself cursed to relive your life and falling for it is not your fault."

"I didn’t fall for it, Headmaster," Mister Nocty smiled wearily. "I knew it was an illusion, but I still made a decision based on just my own feelings and not as a teacher of the academy."

He was lucky that Mikel was safe. Otherwise, he didn’t know what he would have done or felt.

"This is why I never meant to enter Zone Zero," he continued under his breath. "I am incapable of making the same sacrifice as the agents had in the name of humanity. In the name of duty."

For him to admit this took a lot of courage. It wasn’t that he didn’t know; in fact, he knew it too well, but he had blamed it on his insufficient and limited spiritual power. Now, reality had corrected him with a slap he would never forget.

It wasn’t just his limited spiritual power that made him fail to enter Zone Zero, but his inability to uphold duty over his feelings.

"Nocty, learning is not limited to students," the headmaster expressed solemnly. "Learning is a continuous process not only for our students but also for teachers, for the agents, for me, for everyone."

He nodded mildly. "Nocty, all agents of Zone Zero were once students from either the academy or the other clans who established the organization. Without their mentors, they wouldn’t be who they are today."

"I’m saying there were those who were meant to fight, meant to lead, meant to assist, and those who were meant to teach, mentor, and coach," he continued. "And it is not always a bad thing, as we all have different callings."

Mister Nocty’s face softened, although the bitterness in his eyes remained. He nodded, but the heaviness in his heart kept weighing him down. Even so, he knew what the headmaster said was right.

Learning was a continuous process for everyone, and this incident taught him one thing: he was now a teacher, a second parent to all of his students, and someone who had to protect them regardless of his own pain and suffering.

A duty he had pledged to do for the rest of his life. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

***

"Headmaster, are you alright?" Butler Basil entered the headmaster’s office with a tray of tea, catching the ghost blanket floating right in front of the window.

He placed the tray on the edge of the desk, placing the cups on it. When he glanced at the headmaster, all he saw were the agents still outside the building, investigating the incident.

"Basil." Suddenly, the headmaster called, making Butler Basil look back at him. "I think I finally found the answer to the mystery from that fire incident decades ago that we—even Zone Zero—couldn’t figure out."

Deep lines appeared on Butler Basil’s forehead. "You mean, how Everest turned out like that? And who did it to him?"

"Mhm," the headmaster hummed. "But without proof, it can only be taken as a hunch or a theory."

After all, for many years, one question from that fire incident had haunted everyone who knew about it to this day:

Who killed Everest?

Who stopped him?

During that fire incident, after Mister Nocty saved Jake, members of Zone Zero arrived on campus with the headmaster. The incident had happened at a time when the headmaster was not around, after all. Everyone knew that was one of the reasons Everest had dared perform such a wicked act—to take advantage of the headmaster’s absence.

However, when they found Everest in the school gymnasium, he was... gone, dead. The young man was chewed up like some sort of monster had chewed him like bubblegum before spitting him out. His skin was crisp and withered; one touch, and he would disintegrate into ash.

There was no life force, no lingering spiritual energy, not even a soul or the sort.

For them, whoever did it to Everest was one more person to watch out for. After all, what happened to Everest was total death—the true death. Not the usual and natural process of death.

Yet, there was no sign of anyone who had done it. The only thing those who found Everest could remember was the faint remnants of a strong force before any traces of whoever did it had disappeared out of thin air.

Now, the headmaster was saying he had finally found the monster Zone Zero had in their cold cases?

"Basil." Slowly, the headmaster turned and faced Butler Basil squarely. "It seems the person responsible for saving this academy back then didn’t disappear out of thin air."

He paused and glanced back at the window. "It’s possible... he just didn’t live in that time, and was only meant to be there for a short visit."

***

NOTE:

With the changes of the present, those who had known the incident automatically had their memories altered about Jake’s existence, including the world, except for Mister Nocty and Mikel. So, everyone’s version of the story during the incident followed what happened during the time Mikel and Mister Nocty were in the Labyrinth, not the one Mister Nocty remembered (which was the original turn of events).