I stared down at Thyrian. He was asleep, yet my face was full of worry. This whole trip has been a sham, a waste of a journey.

I heard a knock on the door and stood up, reaching for it. There stood Seth. He had that low, guilty look on his face, but it made me sneer.

"Enough with the acting!" I snapped, moving to close the door, but his hands reached out and stopped it.

"Let me explain. We didn’t mean to blame you for everything. My mum has just been on edge. She didn’t mean her words," he said, trying to coax me, but my gaze was filled with nothing but void.

"Hm," I muttered. The part that hurt me was that she said those words to her injured son... and in front of him.

"No need," I said and slammed the door in his face.

We should really leave. This was all a big mess. But Thyrian brought me here, how would I leave when he was unconscious? I don’t know my route back.

"Raven, for completing the mission, you have been given an additional reward: Animal Communication," Cat’s voice echoed in my head, and I smiled faintly.

But what creature could actually take me and Thyrian away?

After a few thoughts, I finally closed my eyes.

"Okay... concentrate," I whispered to myself, tuning every sound out, but really, how do I call the creature?

I snapped my eyes open and ran my hands through my hair.

"Just say what you want, and all the sea creatures will choose," Cat finally appeared.

"Oh, so you are here?" I asked as the surroundings faded into black and white.

"Well, I had to sooner or later," she said, and I crouched down. Before she could say another word, my hands rested on her head, gently petting and caressing her hair. I watched her sassy eyes soften slightly and licked my lips.

"How’s everyone in the academy?" I asked.

Her lips parted. "Doing well, I guess... but Azrael got into trouble," she said, and my eyes widened. I froze.

"What did he do?" I asked, and she chuckled.

"You should probably see that yourself," she said with an evil smile.

"What did he do?" I asked again, my voice trembling slightly.

"Good luck. I just wanted to see how things are here, and it seems okay," she said.

I sneered but didn’t say a word. She disappeared, and everything returned to normal.

I closed my eyes again and muttered—

"Whale."

I felt my body tremble, and the ocean rippled around me. Just when I thought it worked, a knock came from the door. It was loud and heavy, and I snapped my eyes open.

"I’m not seeing anyone again," I said, but the knocking was annoyingly persistent. I walked toward the door and opened it, ready to scold whoever it was, but froze.

Outside stood a whale about 70 feet long, massive and overwhelming. My eyes widened as it blinked at me, almost smiling.

The ocean really was magical.

I swam back to Thyrian and held him by the shoulders. I could feel his heavy breath against me—it gave me goosebumps. I swam out, and the whale gently opened its mouth. Carefully, I placed Thyrian inside, and just as I was about to enter, someone swam toward me.

"Are you leaving?" Seth asked.

I nodded, and his face darkened.

"But it’s only been two nights you’ve spent here..." He paused, seeing the seriousness in my eyes, and sighed.

"At least let’s give you a proper goodbye."

"I don’t need it."

"But—"

"No buts, Seth. It was fun for a while here. But I don’t ever want to experience or come back here again."

I turned, not waiting for another word, and entered the whale’s mouth. I stared out as Seth’s gaze remained fixed on me. I even saw his parents behind him, watching... doing nothing.

The mouth closed, and it swam away.

"To Beasts’ Bound Academy," I said inwardly, and the whale made a low sound, as if it understood. I sat down on its tongue, my mind drifting far away.

Thinking back... I really do wonder who sent me that warning letter. I still don’t understand. Nothing happened—apart from the creature attack... and that certainly wasn’t a coincidence.

Wait...

Maybe someone was controlling those creatures earlier. If that’s true, then that means....

"Raven."

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Thyrian. His eyes were open, wide, and filled with something fragile... and troubled. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"I’m sorry... I couldn’t do much to protect you," he said, trying to stand, but I moved toward him and gently pushed him back down.

"You did," I said softly.

He didn’t argue. Instead, he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Master... when we get back to the academy, I have to tell you something," he said, and I raised a brow.

"Can’t that happen now?" I asked.

He chuckled softly. "Don’t be in a hurry... there’s time."

I didn’t push further and simply nodded.

It didn’t take long to arrive. It was barely half an hour before we were out of the whale’s mouth. I gently touched the whale’s head and smiled softly. It looked calm, as if the journey had refreshed it, and it blew water out of its blowhole.

I yawned softly. I was really tired, I had hardly slept.

I watched as the whale swam away, then collapsed onto the ground. Thyrian too lay there, completely naked. After sighing and catching my breath, I stood up and handed him the pants and shirt I had. He wore them, and just then....

"Raven!"

I heard Lilith’s voice and froze. Was I imagining things... or was it really her?

I closed my eyes. It felt like she was here. I muttered softly, letting my hair spread across the green grass.

Then...

HUG!

I felt myself pulled tightly into someone’s arms. I opened my eyes.

It was Lilith. Huh? Why was she here?

"What are you doing here?" I asked, staring at her, and she flashed a bright smile.

"Did you forget? It’s visiting day today," she said, and an "oh" escaped my lips.

But then my expression darkened, so today, was the D-day.