Paradoxical Convergence (Book 1)

Chapter 5: Training

After class, Cecile found himself seated in the bustling cafeteria of St. Benedict of Nursia Academy. The room hummed with the noise of clattering trays, lively conversation, and the shuffling of uniformed students navigating between tables. The walls were adorned with framed photos of alumni—many of whom had gone on to prestigious careers or influential positions, their smiling faces watching over the current students like silent judges.

For Cecile, the grandeur of the school still felt new, a stark contrast to the chaotic supernatural life he had been dragged into. St. Benedict had an old-world charm that made it feel like you were stepping into another era. There was a sort of refined elegance to the stone archways, high ceilings, and expansive courtyards. It was the kind of place where generations of families sent their children, each wave continuing the legacy. Cecile could feel that weight on his shoulders, even if he wasn't here by legacy—but by scholarship.

Across from him sat Jonathan, his new friend from 4-B. Jonathan was an animated guy, always talking with his hands, his glasses constantly sliding down his nose as he got more excited with every word. His mop of messy brown hair added to the general air of disarray around him, but his sharp mind always caught Cecile off guard. Jonathan was full of trivia and random facts—today, his attention had latched onto the urban legends surrounding Luna City and the school.

"—I'm serious, man!" Jonathan leaned forward, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, though the room was far too noisy for anyone else to hear them. "This city is weird. Everyone knows it. Like, ghosts, demons, aswangs... the whole shebang. If there's a creepy story to be told, it probably happened here. Luna City is basically the Philippine version of Gotham, except with more folklore and less Batman."

Cecile smirked, swirling his spoon around in the bowl of soup in front of him. "Folklore instead of superheroes? Sounds like we got the short end of that deal."

Jonathan's eyes widened behind his glasses, an excited grin spreading across his face. "Exactly! I mean, haven't you heard about the girl from the second-floor bathroom? The one who appears in the mirrors? Dude, everyone knows about her."

"Yeah, like some sort of local Bloody Mary?" Cecile quirked an eyebrow, feigning nonchalance. He had heard enough about ghost stories to fill a library, and he wasn't about to admit that some of them—like the one involving an aswang—were more real than Jonathan could imagine.

"Well, not exactly Bloody Mary," Jonathan replied, lowering his voice again, leaning even closer. "This girl's different. They say she drowned in the old fountain years ago, back when the school was still an all-girls' academy. Now she haunts the second-floor bathroom. If you see her in the mirror, it's not just that she scares you or pops out to scream at you. She'll follow you. And the more you try to ignore her, the closer she gets."

Despite himself, Cecile felt a shiver crawl down his spine. Normally, he would have written off a story like that as just another urban legend—something bored students passed around to spook each other. But after what he'd seen in the past few days—the creature in the alley, the aswang, Aria's eerie abilities—he knew better than to dismiss the supernatural out of hand.

"Yeah, well," Cecile muttered, trying to shake off the unease that prickled at the back of his neck, "I'm not exactly planning on spending a lot of time staring into any mirrors here."

Jonathan grinned, oblivious to Cecile's discomfort. "Smart move. There's so much creepy history in this place. Like, did you hear about the weird suicides from back in the 1970s? Or the Butcher?"

Cecile tensed slightly at the mention of the Butcher, the memory of his confrontation with the aswang still too fresh in his mind. He'd heard about the serial killer before—the gossip at the jeepney stop, the grim newspaper articles. Luna City had been living in fear of the Butcher for weeks, but Cecile knew the truth now. The Butcher was no human—it had been an aswang. And Aria had dealt with it.