"I’m not afraid of them," she said softly, her voice trembling. "I’m afraid of what this truth will do. I’m afraid of losing them. I’m afraid of being different. I’m afraid that when they look at , they won’t see the sa person anymore."
Dante reached out and gently lifted her chin, his fingers warm against her skin, tilting her face up so she had to et his eyes.
"Truth does not break real bonds," he said, his voice low and steady. "It tests them. It challenges them. But it does not break what is real."
Her eyes wavered, tears threatening at the edges.
"...But what if they speak about it?" she asked, her voice cracking. "What if they tell soone else? What if they can’t keep the secret?"
This ti, his expression turned more serious. Not harsh, but honest.
"That will create problems," he said. "For . For the academy. For the balance we have maintained for centuries."
He paused.
"And I will be held responsible for allowing it."
Alina’s heart dropped into her stomach.
"...Then I won’t tell them," she said imdiately, her voice firm despite the tremble in her lip. "I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want to be the reason—"
"You are choosing fear over trust," Dante said quietly.
She flinched.
"That’s not fair," she whispered.
"It is," he replied calmly.
There was no harshness in his voice, his voice gentle.
"If you trust them, then trust them fully," he said. "Not halfway. Not with conditions. Not with escape routes. Trust that they love you enough to accept what you tell them. Trust that they are strong enough to carry this secret. Trust that the years they spent raising you were not wasted on fragile love."
She looked at him, her eyes uncertain, her heart torn between two fears.
"I am not asking you to force them into this world," he continued. "I am asking you not to hide your life from the people who love you. Not to protect them from a truth they deserve to know."
He paused.
"They deserve to know who you are. All of who you are."
Her breath caught.
"And what if they see differently after that?" she asked quietly. "What if they can’t accept it? What if they want to leave?"
Dante’s gaze softened deeply, the way it did when she let herself be vulnerable with him.
"Then they never truly saw you to begin with," he said.
The words settled heavily in the air, simple and devastating and sohow freeing.
Alina’s eyes lowered again, her hands trembling in his.
"...You’re making this very difficult," she murmured.
"I am making it honest."
Silence filled the room for a mont. The clock ticked softly on the wall. Sowhere outside, wind moved through the trees.
Then slowly, she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder, letting his warmth seep into her.
"...I need ti to think," she whispered.
Dante placed his hand gently over hers, covering her fingers with his palm.
"Take it," he said.
His voice softened.
"But do not run from it."
She closed her eyes, her breath evening out, her heart still racing but slowing, settling.
He didn’t push. He didn’t ask for more.
He just sat with her, in the quiet of their ho, letting her think.
Letting her decide.
****
The next day, Alina walked into Class D with a soft smile on her face, already sensing sothing different even before she fully stepped inside.
And the mont she stepped through the doorway, she paused.
The entire class was gathered in one corner.
Not scattered around the room like they usually were during free ti. Not sitting at their desks pretending to organize their things while actually whispering to each other.
All of them were surrounding one single floating figure.
Boo.
He was back.
And today, he looked different.
On his head sat a ghostly cap, slightly tilted in a way that suggested either dramatic intention or complete accident. It shimred faintly with a soft silver sparkle, translucent like it was made of mist and moonlight, yet sohow it stayed perfectly in place despite his constant floating and spinning and gesturing.
It looked ceremonial. It looked important. It looked like sothing that had been given to him with great seriousness.
And Boo was treating it with the gravity of a king receiving his crown.
"I have returned," he announced as Alina entered, though he was clearly mid-story and didn’t pause for her arrival. His voice was already at full volu, carrying across the room. "And you won’t believe what happened."
The children leaned in.
Luna had her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her expression fixed in its usual scowl. But her ears were fully alert, swiveling toward Boo with every word, and she hadn’t moved away from the circle despite pretending she didn’t care.
Kelpie sat cross-legged on the floor, his hands cupping his chin, his eyes so wide they seed to take up half his face. A small puddle of water had already ford around him, forgotten in his excitent.
Rocky clutched his favorite stone against his chest but leaned forward so far he was practically folded in half, his stone face frozen in an expression of pure wonder.
Even Felix had moved closer than usual, his eyes fixed on Boo with sothing that might have been curiosity or might have been concern. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, the way they got when he was trying not to react.
Sable sat pressed against Lucien’s side, bouncing with excitent. Lucien sat calmly beside him, but his dark eyes were fixed on Boo with quiet attention.
Even Vlad Jr. was listening with a serious expression indicating his interest.
And Boo, Boo was floating in the center of them all, his cap sparkling, his chest puffed out, his translucent hands gesturing wildly as he spoke.
"And then," Boo continued dramatically, his voice rising and falling like he was telling the greatest story in the history of storytelling, "you won’t believe what happened next!"
The children leaned in further.
Luna’s ears twitched.
"What?" Kelpie breathed.
Boo paused. He looked around the circle slowly, letting the suspense build, letting his audience wait. His cap shimred. His eyes narrowed with dramatic importance.
Then he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"They made sleep on an energy ball."
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