Rituals
Dune sat quietly in the classroom, his mind still reeling from the incident that had transpired four days ago. The room, once filled with the lively chatter of 120 students, now held only 96.
The weight of those missing presences hung heavily in the air, a constant reminder of the lives lost.
His gaze swept the room, noticing the empty seat where Alice once sat. A pang of guilt stabbed at his heart.
He sighed deeply and looked ahead, where Beth, their teacher, stood at the front of the class.
She was a striking figure, with long black hair that framed her face and eyes that held both sadness and resolve.
Despite the grim circumstances, she exuded a quiet strength. Her tall, graceful body was clad in the standard academy professor's attire, but there was nothing standard about her presence.