House of Bone

Chapter 1̞̗̯̑͒̑̒̒͡3͎ͬ ⧼⧼𝟏𝟐⧽⧽

When I came to the Institute, I did not know what I was expecting, but it was not this. I was hoping for some sense of normalcy, somewhere where I could finally fit in. Somewhere where people accept me for who I am, not the stupid labels I've been given by society.

I did find it, I think. But I can't help but be sceptical that this kindness is not being given for free, nor do I think I'll like the price I'll eventually have to pay.

***

I can't help but think this is a bad idea. What if I don't want to see these memories? What if they're locked away on purpose? Worse yet, what if I removed them so I wouldn't make a dumb decision? I sigh, pessimism doesn't suit me. If I had the ability to remove memories, I believe that I would've been more careful and that I would've made sure I didn't have any blank spots that I'd find suspicious.

The vents seem to be squeezing smaller and smaller, but I know it's just my nerves tricking my brain.

I can deal with tight spaces.

It didn't trouble me the first time, it won't trouble me again.

I don't know what's up with my nerves today.

I take a deep breath in, and I continue through the vents.

After who knows how much time, I begin to head back to my room. I had found absolutely nothing, all the classrooms were empty and I hadn't dared to go any further than the corridor outside the testing rooms, I had no desire to see those horrid rooms without cause.

Just as I was about to turn back into the section that leads back to our rooms, there is a faint murmuring sound coming from my left. I turn back and crawl towards the noise, and turn into a passage that I haven't been into before, it was in the opposite direction of the classrooms and testing rooms so I'd deemed it irrelevant.

Clearly, it wasn't.

As I crawl through the passage, the sound gets clearer, and it sounds an awful lot like voices. I can recognize one gravelly voice for sure.

Vynn.

I shudder, thinking of what I was put through the other day, what Tia and Shade have had to put up with for the past year.

I truly admire them for not breaking under pressure.

Vynn's sharp voice drags me back to reality and the tight vent space I'm currently crawling through. I can see some light shining up through a gap on the side, and I can hear the voices floating up through it. Found it.

"Are you sure that this was the correct course of action?" someone asks

"It was the best we could do at short notice with the information Kurai gave us. You should be grateful the Empress has her shadow to tell us these things." that voice is Vynn.

"Do we even know who this "Kurai" is? How can they be trusted?" The first voice asks

There's a quiet which I can only assume is Vynn shrugging, "You trust the Empress don't you?"

Another silent response.

"If you trust the Empress you should trust her informants."

A huff from the first person.

"It's not that I don't trust them, it's that if the girl is who we think she is... will it actually work for a long period of time? You know her kind had a strong resistance against charms."

"As I said," Vynn bit out "It was the best we could do with short notice. Thankfully the others don't have the same resistance, so even if she does sense something is off with her memories, the others won't sense anything wrong at all, and hopefully all will go back to plan."