Chapter 26: Ep 26 - Nines
The school bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes at Mishiro High. Students flooded the hallways in waves, laughter and chatter bouncing off lockers and half-opened windows. But in Class 2-A, three students remained at their desks, far removed from the mundane rhythm of normal life.
Kurumi sat in the back row, her chin resting on her palm as she stared blankly out the window. Her once-sparkling eyes had dulled since their return from Frestco. Now they shimmered only during her dreams, when the glyphs came.
"You’re spacing out again," Akira said softly, leaning closer.
Kurumi blinked, straightened her back, and gave him a half-smile. "Sorry. I had another dream last night."
Sera, seated across from them with a worn magical map tucked into her textbook, looked up. "The same dream? With the girl in gold?"
Kurumi nodded slowly. "There were more of them this time. Eight silhouettes, all holding Crestella fragments. One was in flames. The ground cracked beneath his feet."
Akira stiffened. He reached under his uniform shirt and touched the Crestella stone embedded in his chest. It pulsed faintly, the rhythm faster than usual.
"Mine’s been reacting weird too," he admitted. "It flared up during gym. I nearly torched the soccer field."
Sera sighed and unfolded the pendant-map her mother left behind. Now, the once-dormant glyphs shone with eerie intensity. On its surface, tiny glimmering dots moved slowly across the globe—nine in total. One of them blinked furiously in the region marked as Brazil.