The Other Side

Her teacher sighed. 

"That is up to you. Now that you have Awakened, we have more options. You are not a prisoner of the Song Domain anymore… so, if you want, I can take you to safety, to wait out this entire mess."

She faced him, not saying anything. 

He chuckled. 

"What? I have nice places to take my student to as well, you know."

 Rain smiled faintly. 

"Says the man who has lived in my shadow for four years."

 The joke was just like countless others she had told in the past, but today, it did not land. She didn't feel it. 

Rain shook her head. 

"You know I wanted to Awaken because I wanted to be strong. Have I become strong to do nothing, then? Running away and hiding in a safe place sure sounds nice, on the surface. But do you really think that I would want to?"

Her teacher sighed. 

"No, not really."

He hesitated.

"So what do you want to do?"

Rain remained silent for a long while.