The next morning, the entire world had heard about Norrington.
Every news article carried the same horrifying visuals, bloodstained hallways, shattered classrooms and the gaping hole blown into the side of the building.
The death toll had been confirmed overnight: 110 students and teachers killed. It was the worst terrorist attack in recent years.
Every news channel was demanding answers from the government.
It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under an entire civilization. The safety and security that the Federation's citizens had taken for granted for decades was now, for the first time in living memory, being openly questioned.
Calls for immediate retaliation against the organization responsible echoed across every platform.
While the world burned with outrage, Damian finally woke up.
He felt better as the deepest exhaustion had finally lifted from his bones thanks to some actual rest.
He picked up his communicator from the bedside table and scrolled through the flood of social media posts about the attack. Comment after comment, outrage after outrage and hashtags trending worldwide…
And as he read them, he realized just how much he had changed.
If this had happened to him before he'd regained his memories, he would've reacted exactly like the people commenting.
He would've been horrified, furious, demanding justice and crying for the dead students he'd never met.
But now –
Nothing…
He felt absolutely nothing.
The 110 dead were just numbers to him. People whose deaths didn't touch him in any meaningful way because none of them had been Luna or his parents.
'…This isn't right.'
The thought arrived quietly, but it landed with force.
'I need to admit it. I'm not in a healthy mental state. Even Alessio cared about his mafia like family... He had people he was willing to bleed for. But the way I'm feeling right now...'
He set the communicator down on his lap.
Flashes of yesterday's violence rose unbidden in his mind.
'Why am I not even slightly affected? Why is killing this easy for me? I'm not Alessio… I'm Damian. I'm a fifteen-year-old student who's about to enter an academy. I shouldn't be this calm!'
The realization wasn't comfortable, but it was necessary.
'I need to set rules for myself. If my emotions are broken right now, then I'll work with logic instead.
Murder isn't normal, torture isn't normal and people my age aren't supposed to do these things without flinching. If I can't feel the weight of what I'm doing, then I need to act like I do…'
A reality check… That's what this was.
He was dangerous right now and the only person who could rein him in was himself.
'I even raised my hand against Luna…'
The thought made him wince.
And the moment he thought of Luna, the memory from last night came flooding back.
He shook his head sharply, as if he could physically dislodge the memory. Then he stood up and walked toward the door.
****
The moment he stepped into the living room, he heard raised voices.
"You have to understand… the kid is a genius! Why are you so stuck on the fact that he killed someone? You've killed people! I've killed lots more! Even Lyandra has killed more than the rest of us in this room combined!"
"My wife and I kill monsters, Sebastian! We kill the threats to humanity! There's nothing wrong with that, and I agree more than anyone! But that doesn't mean it's normal for a fifteen-year-old to kill humans for the first time and feel nothing!"
"It doesn't matter, Alaric! You've always been so stuck up about everything! In this world, you can only survive by being like that! My nephew is completely sane! He doesn't need a damn therapist!"
"He's not alright! I suggested it because there might be things he can't bring himself to share with us! I care about MY son! Just like I cared about you when we were younger! But you shut me out every time I tried to help–"
"Oh, here we go again! You always think you're the one who knows everything, who understands the most, who has all the answers! I'm an adult, Alaric! I'm not the baby brother you keep treating me like! And not everyone needs your help, goddammit! Sometimes people need to figure themselves out!"
"BOTH OF YOU! SHUT UP!"
Lyandra's voice cracked across the room like a whip.
Both brothers froze mid-argument and turned to look at her, and then followed her eyes toward the doorway where Damian was standing, watching them in silence.
****
Damian had heard everything.
And as much as he hated to admit it, both his father and his uncle were right in their own ways.
He didn't want to see a therapist. The thought alone made his skin itch.
His instincts rebelled against the idea of letting any stranger inside his head, but Alaric's concerns were also accurate, almost painfully so. His mental state wasn't normal and he himself knew it wasn't.
He couldn't fault either of them for their argument.
But what he did notice, what was harder to ignore than the words themselves, was how different his parents had become around him since yesterday morning.
Lyandra's smile didn't reach her eyes the way it used to and Alaric's silences carried more weight.
Even their body language had shifted around him, becoming careful and watchful.
They were trying their best, He could see them trying so hard to treat him the same as before.
But the effort was exactly what made it feel forced.
He didn't want this for them or even for himself. He needed time – time to figure out who he was now, time to settle into this new reality of himself, time to stop being a stranger in his own home…
So… he made a decision.
The moment Lyandra's shout died down, Damian spoke.
"I've decided to go to Stormhold Academy today. I won't wait for the official start of classes."
All three adults turned to him.
"I received a message from them last night and it seems they're already aware of what happened at Norrington and the circumstances surrounding it... They've extended an invitation for me to come early."
He paused, glancing toward his bag near the wall.
"I'll head back to our place and pack my things."
He hadn't lied.
The notification from Stormhold had genuinely arrived sometime during the night, and he'd seen it the moment he picked up his communicator.
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he picked up his bike keys from the side table and walked toward the front door.
****
He'd just settled onto the seat of his bike and was about to pull on his helmet when the front door opened behind him.
And Luna stepped out.
She was holding her own helmet under one arm and without a word, she walked over and climbed onto the back of the bike behind him and settled in like she always did.
"…"
Damian didn't say anything as he just put on his helmet and started the engine.
The ride was quiet.
There was an awkwardness hanging between them now, heavy and impossible to ignore.
Luna was clearly mortified by what she'd done last night, the whisper she'd left lingering in his ear refusing to leave either of them alone.
And Damian still didn't fully understand what he was supposed to feel about any of it.
So… neither of them spoke.
The silence held all the way back to their house.
When Damian parked the bike and headed inside, he made it as far as the hallway before a small hand caught his sleeve.
He turned around.
Luna was looking up at him with an intensity she rarely showed, her silver eyes locked onto his, her lips pressed together like she was steeling herself for something.
"I'll come to Stormhold Academy next year too. So… wait for me."
BAM!
The moment the words left her mouth, she turned and bolted to her own room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Damian stood in the hallway for a long moment, staring at the closed door.
Then his lips curved into a small, genuine smile, the first real one he'd worn in days.
"…I'll be waiting."
He turned and headed to his own room to start packing.
****
Stormhold Academy was located near the center of the Federation, far from Norrington City, which sat in the northern regions of the continent. The journey would take most of the day.
Damian packed his clothes, basic supplies, his gun and the spare magazines, the bullets and his communicator charger.
Everything else, he could buy or replace once he arrived.
He took his bike straight to the train station and went through the procedures to register the bike as luggage.
Once he had his ticket, he made his way to his assigned compartment.
It had been more than a full day since he'd done any breathing exercises. The moment he settled into his seat, he closed his eyes and began circulating his Aura, drawing fresh Aura particles into his core and refining what he already had.
The train pulled out of the station shortly after.
Its speed was far greater than Damian had expected – Alessio's memories provided no comparable reference point – and yet the ride was smooth, quiet, and almost luxurious. There was no shaking or any noise. Just the faint sense of forward motion and the world outside flowing past the window.
When he finally opened his eyes and looked out, what he saw made him pause.
This world was far more beautiful than his past one.
The technology was obviously advanced, but so was the environment. Forests stretched out beyond the train tracks, wild and lush in ways that no part of Alessio's old world had ever been.
Cities flickered in the distance with elegant architecture that rose into the sky in graceful curves rather than the rigid rectangles he was used to.
The setting sun painted everything in warm orange light.
For a moment, Damian let himself feel the peace of it.
Then it hit him, he'd been on the train for hours already and he was almost at his destination.
"Status."