Darkness, endless darkness.
The darkness that seemed to swallow everything up enveloped everything, making the people inside it feel as if they had been thrown into a universe without stars. Nothing existed except the boundless darkness.
It was as if something extremely heavy had been pressed on my chest, making it almost impossible to breathe.
And in such an oppressive darkness, only a deep voice was still muttering over and over again, and every syllable exuded the atmosphere of ancient vicissitudes.
What is that talking about? The pronunciation of some sentences seems to be ancient Greek, but when you look carefully, you can see that there are differences, which makes people feel confused.
However, the content of those words is actually secondary, because among these intermittent syllables, another idea is extremely powerful. Yes, that should be right, that feeling is like saying...
"...let me...out."
It was some kind of will to survive... No, it was not so much survival, but the desire to be "free".
At this moment, an idea that was completely different from the murmur just now suddenly burst out!
"strength!"
"...Do you want...power?"
In the empty Room of Requirement, Maka suddenly opened her eyes and her breathing became slightly heavier. While adjusting his breathing, he looked at the bald old man still lying on the floor in front of him, wondering what he was thinking.
After a while, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had carefully sorted out the images and sounds he had just experienced from the old man's memory.
"I see, is this the 'prediction' of astrology?" Maka nodded and said to herself, "The centaurs are also good at foreseeing the future from the stars. I wonder if this is the same feeling."
To be honest, from the memory gained from this horoscope, I can feel that it is a very strong negative feeling. Moreover, since the old man has used his astrological circle to predict several times, even Maka can clearly detect that although the content of each prediction remains the same, the pictures and sounds are different. Really for once.
This may mean that the predicted moment is getting closer and closer to now.
Because of this, Maka has reason to believe that the magic stone or the strange dagger of pain may be the key to stopping the coming terror.
"Well, at least it can be used for self-protection, right?"
Although even the old man in front of him only knew the strange power of those two things, even he was not sure whether they were useful or not.
Of course, as far as reasons are concerned, "powerful magic items" alone are more than enough - but don't forget, this bald man is also a very capable wizard!
"... No wonder this old man is so anxious." Maka thought for a while, but then frowned slightly, "But that feeling is really... Then what on earth is it?"
He vaguely felt that the whisper in his memory seemed a bit strangely familiar, but unfortunately, he couldn't remember it for a while.
"No matter what, let's do the things in front of us first! The Alchemy Competition is about to reach its most tense moment. Wait until this most important competition ends safely before thinking about other things..."
With this thought in mind, Maka raised her legs and walked towards the door, planning to discuss with Professor McGonagall how to minimize the negative impact of this commotion.
"Hmm... Also, it's time to start thinking about how to go in the future."
…
Just as Maka was walking to the principal's office, Sarah, who had left the Requirement Room before, was already lying down in the ward of the school hospital.
In fact, most people were confused about the unexpected situation that happened at the school gate. Even bystanders who have everything that happened at the scene imprinted in their minds have no idea what happened.
At best, they just saw Maka's vigorous activity. After a long confrontation with the suspicious white-robed old wizard, he ran twice to cast spells at a speed that was so fast that people couldn't see clearly, and saved six people in one fell swoop. a kidnapped child.
As for the key effect of Sarah's words, it can be said that very few people can understand it.
"Sarah, you...have confessed to Maka?"
Beside a hospital bed with a slightly raised quilt, the fat young man Noah was occupying two chairs. However, there was so much fat on his butt that even two chairs could not hold it, and a lot of it fell limply from the edge.
However, compared with his carefree sitting posture, his attitude when speaking was extremely cautious, as if he was afraid of offending the girl on the hospital bed.
However, his words did not receive a quick response. After a while, when the bulging quilt moved slightly, the girl's voice came out softly.
"Brother Noah," she said, "do you think... he will really choose to help me?"
The fat man was actually very insensitive to the title the girl gave him. As you can imagine, when a person knows that the girl who has always called him "brother" used to call his father by the same name a while ago, the feeling is not to mention how strange it is.
However, even Noah, the heir to the Hohenheim family, does not know all the details about Sarah.
The secret of artificial humans has always been known only to the head of the Hohenheim family. Even Noah only thought that Sarah might be a female ancestor who had been cursed by some terrible curse.
"Uh... I guess so?" After hearing Sarah's question, Noah thought for a moment before replying, "At least, I think he is a pretty good guy. If a friend encounters any difficulties, he will probably help him. of."
"Well," Sarah said quietly, lying on the hospital bed with her eyes slightly closed, "Are we 'friends' again...?"
A certain word in Noah's words obviously caused Sarah to fall into some confusion again.
In fact, when it comes to "whether she and Maka can be considered friends" - based on Sarah's observation and experience of the world over the years, she believes that the two should already be "friends".
Because, after the negotiation just now...or at the end of the conversation, she could put aside her own affairs of helping Maka save the child and ask Maka for help, and also tell her past frankly. Isn't this act of sharing secrets something only good friends can do
Maka, on the other hand, never clearly expressed her refusal to help from the beginning to the end, and even agreed to assist after hearing her describe the situation.
This kind of request and help, where both parties ignore the exchange of interests and only base themselves on honesty, is obviously based on the closeness of friendship... friend-like behavior.
But if you want to ask what kind of feeling can be called a "friend", she can't tell at all.
"The feelings between people... are really complicated..."
Sarah muttered to herself and shrank back into the quilt so that Noah couldn't see her face at all. But even if he didn't look, he would have already gotten used to it, because Sarah never had much expression when the two were alone.
"Oh, right-"
The two were silent for a while. Noah couldn't bear the silence and couldn't help but start looking for something to say again.
"This time you finally come out to school, then... how long will you stay at Hogwarts?"
This is indeed a problem, especially for Sarah.
"Four years at most... maybe even shorter." She turned her back to Noah and replied calmly, "The last time I went to school, I only stayed for less than two academic years, but this time with him here, You should leave as much time as possible.”
"Last time I went to school..." Noah scratched his scalp and said speechlessly, "I heard from the old man that the last time you went to school was when he was a child-"
"It took you a long time 'last time'." - He definitely couldn't say this sentence.
Just thinking about it carefully, this is something that can't be helped.
In Sarah's case, she is destined to spend most of her life in a place without many acquaintances, because she will not grow or die, even more so than Nico Flamel, who possesses the Philosopher's Stone. Also be surprising.
Or rather... it makes people curious.
Nico Flamel was pursued everywhere by those greedy wizards because he created the Philosopher's Stone, which was able to refine alchemical medicine that could extend life, and even took his wife to travel around to avoid being noticed.
If someone discovered Sarah's strange state, wouldn't she be subject to countless harassment and threats
So even if she wants to come out and interact with people, she must always pay attention to the state of the people around her and be ready to leave before causing trouble.
To be honest, this "topic" about friends given by Maka is really just right.
While the fake brother and sister were chatting casually across a thin quilt, there was a sudden sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the ward. The footsteps seemed a little hasty, and it sounded like... they seemed to be running towards this ward.
Fatty, who didn't really like silence, actually couldn't sit still anymore, but his father had already taken care of him before going to the stadium. It was best to stay by Sarah's side these two days. Therefore, as soon as he heard the sound coming from far and near, he immediately became energetic and stood up immediately.
"Ah... who is this, running in such a hurry? Let me go and have a look... "
But just as he trotted to the door of the ward, before he could put his hand on the doorknob, the door was suddenly pushed open.
"Bang!" "Yeah!"
When he opened the door, he hit the fat man... well, he hit his big belly. The door that was opened then bounced back.
As a exclamation came from outside, the door of the ward was closed again... closed...