Chapter 18: Meet Class 1-S (The Classroom of Eden)

I stared at my reflection in the mirror of my dormitory room. The man looking back seemed familiar, yet utterly foreign. My usually bright gray eyes looked dull, like dark clouds in the sky. I touched my face, the sensation muted, as if through layers of gauze.

"This isn't me," I whispered, the sound of my voice echoing strangely in the bathroom.

After Principal Mazzi told me everything about his laboratory, and the homunculi he created there, I don't know what to think anymore…

The world had felt distant and unreal. Sounds were muffled, colors muted. Even my own body felt alien, a vessel I piloted from afar. Class introductions were unbearable, the chatter and laughter sounding like noise from another dimension.

So I retreated further into myself, finding solace in the quiet of my apartment. But even the familiar comfort of my surroundings felt thin and insubstantial. A wave of despair washed over me. Was I trapped forever in this strange, detached state?

My very own sister, Benesha, is a homunculus and the Daughter of the Sin of Wrath.

The girl I used to be madly in love with, Mandane, is a homunculus and the Daughter of the Sin of Sloth.

The Princess of the Netherlands, Maeve, whom I protect in the Utrecht Metropolitan Self-Development School, is a homunculus and the Daughter of the Sin of Pride.

My fiance, the girl my parents took into their care, and the very first living being I named, Alisha, is a psychopathic homunculus…

She manipulated my every move, making sure I unknowingly did her bidding… Me joining the military and excelling as a Dutch soldier, was all a part of her damn plan.

She coupled me with Mandane only to destroy our relationship in the end, just so that she could hurt her.

She coupled me with Haniya so that she would be taken over by her Sin of Lust and seduce me.

The fake fire in that private all-girls school was to frighten Eliza and cause me to rescue her…

She completely destroyed Kayla, all in my presence. But I had no idea.

Then she had the audacity to use one of my explosives to murder Zipporah and her husband.

I don't know who or what I am anymore. Since my entire being was crafted by Alisha, I have lost touch with myself now that I know the truth…

I stood in the hallway next to the classroom of class 1-A, together with Hazyah and Yeshaya. We heard what transpired in the classroom between Alisha and Zipporah.

Alisha burst out of the classroom and ran off somewhere. "She isn't aware that I know everything, is she?" I asked.

"She isn't," Zipporah answered. "I know that you've been thinking a lot about everything, Sansula. But I ask you to forgive Alisha. We need to stop this cycle of hurting each other. Benesha and her sisters hurt Alisha, Alisha hurt others including you, me and my husband. If we don't forgive her, we will end up creating more victims down the line. Do you understand?"

"I don't know what to think…" I sighed.

"Take your time," Hazyah comforted me. "You need to organize your thoughts and feelings first. Don't do or say anything to Alisha, Benesha and the others, until you have processed all of this. Let's go to our classroom, Sansula. It may help you relax."

Hazyah held my hand and led me to our classroom; the Classroom of Eden…

18.1

No other student knows where this secret classroom is located. It is an underground classroom connected to the school's park.

Water from the fountain of the park falls within the classroom, which makes it appear like a waterfall.

"This is a beautiful room, isn't it?" She smiled at me, as she moved around freely in the room. But I don't know.

"By the way, I elected you as the Vice Class President of class 1-A. I look forward to working with you!"

"I see." She looked a bit sad at me.

"I am going to video call my mom, okay?"

Hazyah grabbed her personal smartphone, which we S-ranked students are allowed to use, to connect to the outside world and call her mother.

Her mother answered the call rather quickly. "Hiiiii mom!" Hazyah was overjoyed to see her mother.

"Hi hi sweetie! How are you? How is the school?"

"I am feeling great! Look, mom! Look how beautiful this classroom is!" Hazyah switched her phone to the outer camera to show the classroom to her mother.

"Woah… I have never seen a classroom like this before!"

"I know right?!"

"Hey big sis!" I heard the voice of a little boy coming from her phone.

"Hi lil bro! Check this out!" She showed the classroom to her younger brother.

"Woah, that's amazing! I want to attend classes at your school too!"

"Hehe! But not every student has the privilege to be here!" She said, "It's only reserved for the two most excellent female and male students of an entire school year!"

"Wow as expected from big sis! No other girl can be better than you!"

"Hehe!" She triumphed.

"Who is the male student?" He asked.

Hazyah wrapped her arm around my neck and dragged me to her phone. "This guy!" She said, enthusiastically. "His name is Sansula, my best friend in this entire school! He's also from the military and the captain of his division just like I am!"

"Ah yeah you told us about him! You two lead such similar lives!" Her mom exclaimed.

"You two look cute together!" Her little brother teased. "Ooh la la! All alone in a classroom looking like a garden with a male student?! How naughty of you, big sis!"

"UGH YOU LITTLE!" She immediately hung up the phone, feeling very embarrassed. Her entire face turned red. "Such a little pest he is! I can't believe him! Ugh!"

She looked at me and saw no emotion or reaction coming from me, which worried her. "Won't you call your family? Or your friends?" She asked.

"No," I answered. "There's no need for that."

My phone rang, but I simply ignored it. "Aren't you going to pick that up?" She asked. "It might be your mother, you never know."

"There's no need for that."

Hazyah's phone vibrated as her ringtone went off. "Oh I'm getting a video call! I'm getting a video call! Who could it be?" She looked at her screen and saw the name 'Madiha'. "OH!" Hazyah quickly answered the call.

"Good afternoon, Captain Hazyah!" Madiha wore military attire. She also resembled Benesha and Haniya simultaneously for some reason… Is she homunculus?

"Good afternoon, Vice Captain Madiha!" Hazyah returned the greeting. "Is everything okay? How is everyone doing?"

"Yes! I came to report that everything and everyone is doing good! Yourself?"

"I'm doing great! Thanks for asking! Look at this!" Hazyah showed her the classroom, too.

"Woah… That looks so lovely!"

"Mhm!"

"By the way, I heard you're sharing that room with a man… Kyaaaaa! How romantic!"

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT???"

"The male Captain who is temporarily replacing Sansula," she answered. "His name is Ezra."

"Ezra?" She said, confused.

"Yeah he suddenly rose up the ranks out of literally nowhere. He is called a prodigy in the army because of that."

"Interesting…" She said, "Hmmm… How did he know about me and Sansula, though?"

"He's homunculus too so I guess that the Head Scientist told him," she answered. "Anyway, I also called to let you know that he's been trying to reach out to Sansula. Tell him to answer his phone."

"Ah alright!"

"I'll speak to you later, Captain!"

"Bye bye Madiha!"

"Byeeee Hazyah!"

Hazyah hung up the phone. "Madiha is one of Tifsa's sisters," she said to me, "and a good friend of mine too. But she is related to you, since you both have the same mother."

True… One of Tifsa's biological mothers is my mother as well.

My phone rang once again. Hazyah sighed and took it out of my pocket. She answered the video call and we both saw Ezra on the screen…

He does indeed have white hair and blue eyes. His skin is a bit dark… He is comparable to Alisha when it comes to physical appearance.

"Hello, Sansula, Hazyah," he greeted us. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the two of you."

"Hey hey Ezra! It's nice to meet you too!"

"Is Sansula doing okay? He looks ill…"

"Yeah don't worry about it! What's up?"

"I just called to warn you both."

"Warn us of what?"

"Stop messing with Alisha, or else you will face severe repercussions…"

"Hah," Hazyah laughed. "So you must be Gilgamesh, created to comfort Alisha, right?"

Did the Principal create another homunculus? He didn't mention this to me…

"Correct," he answered her question. "That's all I wanted to say."

"And let me give you a heads up, Ezra," Hazyah wasn't done yet.

"Oh?"

"I will teach you why you shouldn't mess with humans. You will regret acting all cocky towards me."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm!"

"I look forward to your lesson then." Ezra hung up the phone to Hazyah's dismay.

"AH! I wanted to hang up the phone! The total prick! I'll show him who the real boss is!"

Hazyah returned the phone to me and noticed that I still didn't react to anything. "Sansula, tell me how you're feeling. You can talk to me, you know? I'm here for you…"

Should I… Open up to her? It's not like I have anyone else to talk to anyway…

18.2

The room spun, a nauseating carousel of my life flashing before my eyes. I wasn't sure if I was even blinking. I walked up to the waterfall and looked at my reflection in the water as a stranger – a face I recognized, yet the eyes held a chilling emptiness.

"My entire life..." The words scraped out of my throat, raw and disbelieving. "A puppet show."

My fiance, my sister, everyone – created in a laboratory. The memories, the joy, the heartbreak in my relationship with Mandane – joining the military – meeting Haniya and being intimate with her – enrolling into this school – are all meticulously crafted to mold me into... what? A weapon? A pawn?

A wave of dizziness crashed over me, pulling me further away from my body. I felt like a ghost trapped inside a slowly deflating balloon, everything stretching thin and distant. The floor beneath my feet seemed miles away.

"Who am I, then?" The question echoed in the hollow space of my mind. Was there anything real about me? My experiences, my feelings – were they genuine, or just lines in a script written by Alisha?

Panic clawed at my throat, hot and suffocating. I sank to my knees, the ragged gasps escaping my lips a distorted echo in my own ears. The world fragmented, the edges of reality blurring and dissolving.

"This can't be real," I rasped, the words a desperate plea to a silent, indifferent universe. Everything felt like a cheap imitation, a poorly lit stage set. My memories, once vibrant, were now hazy watercolor paintings, their colors bleeding away.

Suddenly, a flicker of anger, a spark against the overwhelming numbness. I wouldn't be a puppet anymore. I wouldn't let her control me. But the anger was thin, a frail candle flame against the encroaching darkness.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to breathe, a slow, desperate attempt to ground myself. Focus on something real, anything. The scratchy texture of the rug beneath my knees. The dull ache in my leg from that military exercise last week. Something, anything, to anchor me back to this distorted reality.

A sob escaped my lips, a ragged, pathetic sound. I didn't know who I was, what was real, or what the future held. But in that moment, all I could do was cling to the faintest shred of myself, hoping, desperately hoping, that it wouldn't be enough for her to control me anymore…

Hazyah's hand, warm and calloused, found mine. It was a small anchor in the storm that raged inside of me. The depersonalization, a constant unwelcome companion these days, threatened to pull me under. The room blurred at the edges, the comforting sound of the waterfall turning into a roar.

"Hey," Hazyah's voice, gentle and laced with concern, cut through the haze. "You alright?"

I tried to nod, but my muscles felt detached, unresponsive. Staring down at our intertwined hands, I saw not my own, but a stranger's. Was this real, this connection, this warmth spreading through my chest? Or another string in Alisha's twisted web?

"It's okay," Hazyah murmured, squeezing my hand softly. "We can leave this school behind, we can leave the laboratory behind, and we can leave the military behind, if you want. And go abroad and start a new life somewhere else. I'll take my family with us, too. I have the money to arrange all of this."

The offer, simple yet profound, was a lifeline. I forced a shaky breath. "No. I... I just need a minute."

Hazyah didn't press, her silence a balm to my churning thoughts. I focused on the pressure of her hand in mine, the steady rise and fall of her chest. Slowly, the room came back into focus, the sound of the waterfall a dull thrum rather than a maddening cacophony.

Being with Hazyah was different. Unlike the whirlwind romances I had with Mandane and Haniya, orchestrated by Alisha, this felt... real. Tentative, yes, but genuine. We met a month ago, drawn together by a common cause which is to direct the Seven Deadly Sisters and Alisha to the right path. Our connection had been slow, built on shared laughter, quiet evenings spent talking, and comfortable silences that spoke volumes.

With Mandane and Haniya, love had been a blinding explosion, a carefully crafted illusion. With Hazyah, it was a slow burn, a flicker of warmth that chased away the gnawing cold of depersonalization. I couldn't explain it, but when I was with her, the world felt a little more solid, my reflection in the mirror a little less like a stranger.

Was it healthy, clinging to this new feeling in the wreckage of my past? Maybe not. But right now, it was all I had. A fragile hope, a flicker of light in the encroaching darkness. I squeezed Hazyah's hand back, a silent thank you for the anchor, the tether to something real, something that felt like my own…

I looked at her, and she smiled at me, saying, "You are Sansula Badila. A smart, handsome, reliable and strong man. You are a real hero who saves people, and who tries to make the world a better place for everyone. Alisha didn't craft all of that, you did it yourself, okay?"

Her words, laced with a quiet strength, were a balm to the churning chaos in my mind. I looked at Hazyah, her concern etched on her beautiful face, and a flicker of something real, something genuine, ignited within me.

"Sansula," I repeated the name, tasting it on my tongue. It felt foreign, yet strangely familiar, like a forgotten melody resurfacing from a dream. I met her gaze, searching for any hint of manipulation, any sign that this too was a carefully constructed scene. But all I saw was genuine care and unwavering belief.

A choked laugh escaped me, a humorless sound that surprised even myself. "Saving people? Me?" The image I conjured was distorted, a puppet playing a hero's role on a pre-written script. Could there be any truth to it?

Hazyah's hand tightened around mine, her grip firm yet comforting. "Yes, you," she said, her voice steady. "Alisha might have manipulated the situations," Hazyah continued, her hand tightening around mine, "but your actions, your choices, those were all you. You volunteered for the military. You saved Eliza, Kayla, Haniya and many others. You're the one who chooses to be kind, to be helpful. That's the core of who you are, Sansula, and no one can take that away from you."

Her words were a spark in the darkness, igniting a forgotten ember of pride within me. I closed my eyes, trying to recall those memories, to sift through the fabricated and unearth the truth. Visions flickered – the adrenaline rush of a mission, the camaraderie with my fellow soldiers, the relief etched on the faces of civilians I helped. Were these real? Was any part of me real?

Hazyah's voice, a soothing murmur, guided me back. "You might not remember everything perfectly," she said gently, "but the core of who you are, Sansula, that's not something anyone can craft. That's all you."

I opened my eyes, a single tear tracing a path down my cheek. I didn't know if I could fully believe her yet, the scars of Alisha's manipulation ran deep. But for the first time in a long while, a sliver of hope pierced through the despair. Maybe, just maybe, there was a part of me, a core of Sansula, untouched by manipulation. And maybe, with Hazyah's support, I could rebuild myself, piece by fragmented piece, into who I truly was.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I squeezed Hazyah's hand back. "Thank you," I rasped, the words thick with emotion. "For believing in me, even when I can't believe in myself."

Hazyah smiled, a radiant beacon in my storm-tossed world. "You'll get there, Sansula," she said, her voice filled with unwavering faith. "We'll get there, together."

18.3

I stared at Hazyah, a dawning respect blooming in my chest. Her words had a profound impact, painting a picture of a woman far stronger than I ever imagined. "Why?" I finally managed, my voice barely a whisper. "Why are you so… supportive? So willing to help me through this mess?"

Hazyah met my gaze, a flicker of vulnerability crossing her features before she offered a small smile. "You remind me of someone," she admitted. "Someone from a long time ago."

Intrigued, I leaned closer. "Who?"

She took a deep breath, her eyes distant for a moment. "Myself, when I was younger." With a sigh, she began to weave a tale. A tale of a war-torn land, the loss of her father, a hero soldier who died a martyr, defending his country. A tale of a young Hazyah, fueled by grief and vengeance, who enlisted in the military at a tender age. But it wasn't just revenge that drove her. She possessed a natural talent for strategy and a fierce dedication to protecting others. She rose through the ranks quickly, contributing to missions that saved countless lives and ultimately ended the war.

"But somewhere along the line," Hazyah continued, her voice softening, "I started questioning. Was I truly saving lives, or just trying to avenge my father? In the end, I realized that ending the war was the best way to honor him. By bringing peace, I didn't just save lives, I gave meaning to his sacrifice."

I listened, captivated by her story. I saw a strength and resilience in Hazyah that mirrored my own struggles, a shared understanding forged in the crucible of hardship. "That's… incredible," I breathed, a newfound respect welling up for her.

A playful glint entered Hazyah's eyes. "It is, isn't it? But that's not the only reason I care, Sansula." She reached out, her thumb brushing a stray tear from my cheek. "The truth is, I like you. A lot."

My heart lurched. It felt real, this connection with Hazyah. But the specter of Alisha's manipulation still lingered. Though was this genuine affection, or a form of coping, a desperate grasp at normalcy? The doubt gnawed at me.

Sensing my hesitation, Hazyah leaned in, closing the distance between us, her voice a husky whisper. "Maybe we can figure that out together," she murmured, and before I could respond, her lips met mine in a gentle, yet firm, kiss.

The kiss was soft, hesitant at first, yet filled with a quiet promise. It was a connection, a spark that ignited something real within me. Her lips, soft and warm. It was a simple gesture, yet it felt like a jolt of electricity, grounding me, anchoring me to the present.

The world seemed to fade away, leaving only the warmth of her touch and the promise of something real, something I desperately yearned for. Perhaps, just perhaps, amidst the wreckage of my past, I could find not just my identity, but love that bloomed from the truest part of myself.