In a world where supernatural beings exist, Zodia Academy is where you'll find twelve unique teens. Locked behind the soaring four walls of Zodia, a place they train, live and call home, only to visit reality in times of jeopardy. They are Earth's H...
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- CHAPTER TWELVE -
TWELVE NO MORE
⌿⍀
The door creaks open like it's afraid to make noise. The hallway behind her is dead quiet, the kind of silence only found in the deep, breathless hours before dawn. The floor under Ace's feet tilts slightly, maybe from the pain in her jaw, or maybe because she hasn't slept in twenty-four hours and bled out half her body weight onto the Dome floor.
Either way, she's pretty sure she's walking sideways. She limps inside. The room smells like burnt candle wax and cheap food but mostly chaos. Clothes scattered. A constellation of notes pinned to the walls. Six cups of Zodia Brew crowd the bedside table.
And in the middle of it all: Abi Aries. Sitting cross-legged in bed, eyes wide, back hunched, ink-streaked hands flipping feverishly through Orion's journal like it's whispering to her.
Ace leans against the doorframe, cracked lip curling, "okay, either you found the secrets of the universe... or you joined a cult."
Abi doesn't look up, just mutters, "wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen this week."
Ace shuffles in with a groan, each step weighted by bruises and indignation. She shrugs off her hoodie, revealing her black eye and the bandages wrapped around her jaw like a tragic war scarf.
Abi finally glances up, eyes glazed and electric, "oh my stars. You look like a cursed Pez dispenser."
"Thank you," Ace deadpans, dropping into her bed like a fallen myth. "I feel like a sexy bag of broken bones."
Then they speak at the same time, excitement too much to contain for light banter and teasing:
"Okay, so you won't believe what I found—" "Ace, I need to tell you something—"
They stop and stare each other. Then a laugh breaks out, the sight of both of them a tickle to their bellies. The sheer perseverance on their faces, Ace fighting through injuries that need rest and Abi a black hole of tiredness still active, despite a day of battling ahead.
Ace lets out a wheeze-laugh and waves her off. "Go on, you've got that 'fire of justice' look in your eye. It's very unsettling but I'm listening."
Abi doesn't hesitate, "I read the entire journal...since you didn't get the time," she says, voice low, urgent. "Orion's journal. It's not just records. It's memories. Confessions. Regrets."
"Damn. We're not just snooping — we're trauma bonding." Ace raises an eyebrow.
Abi laughs, snorts before her voice drops, "we know he's old but he's been here, Ace. Since the beginning. Of everything. The first Zodia. The first war. The first Contract, that has to do with the Book of Contracts, he kept that part vague."
