CHAPTER 32
1138 Words
Elise opened her eyes slowly.
The light in the room was soft.
Not too bright, but enough to make her squint a little.
Her head was heavy.
Like it wasn’t really part of her body.
She lay there for a second, still and quiet, just staring at the ceiling.
Where was she?
She turned her head to the side.
That’s when she saw him—Kai.
Sitting in a wooden chair right next to the bed.
His head was tilted down like he’d been dozing off, arms crossed, one leg tapping softly like he was waiting on something.
No.
Not something.
Her.
The second her movement made a sound, Kai looked up fast.
“Elise?” His voice was low, but full of relief. “You’re awake.”
She blinked at him. Her lips moved, but nothing came out. Her throat felt dry. She tried again.
“…What happened?”
Kai sat up straighter, leaning in a little. “You passed out. Back at the training grounds. After the light… the blast.”
Right. The light.
Her eyes widened as the memory came back. That feeling in her chest. Like fire. Like her whole body was a balloon that finally popped.
“I—I lost control,” she muttered.
Kai shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
But Elise looked away.
Her heart was heavy, like something inside her had snapped and couldn’t be put back.
She didn’t say anything right away. She just stared at the ceiling again, lips pressed together.
Then she whispered, “I hurt someone.”
Kai leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “You didn’t mean to. It wasn’t like that.”
“I could’ve hurt someone, Infact, I already did… I hurt that warrior, I was blinded by the light—” She lifted her hand.
“It felt like it wasn’t mine anymore. Like it was… using me.”
Kai gently reached for her hand.
But when she tried to summon the glow again, nothing happened.
Her hand stayed empty. Still.
She stared at it. Tried again. Squeezed her eyes shut.
Nothing.
Not even a flicker.
Her chest tightened. “It’s gone…”
Kai looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
“My power,” she whispered. “It’s gone.”
She tried one more time.
Her hands trembled, but still — nothing.
Not a spark. Not a glow.
Not even warmth.
Just a numb, cold emptiness.
Kai stood up, pacing a little. “Maybe it’s just resting.
You used a lot of it. Maybe your body’s trying to recover—”
“No,” Elise said. Her voice was small, but sure.
“It’s not coming back. I can feel it. Or… I can’t feel it.”
And then the tears started.
She didn’t cry loud.
She just lay there quietly as the tears rolled down her cheeks, soaking into the side of the pillow.
Her chest moved up and down like it was hard to breathe.
Like something deep inside her had been ripped out.
Kai walked back to her side and sat down again.
He touched her arm gently. “Elise…”
But she didn’t look at him.
She turned her face to the wall.
“Maybe they were right about me all along,” she said. “Maybe I wasn’t meant to have it.”
“Stop,” Kai said softly. “Don’t say that.”
She gave a broken little laugh.
“How can I not? I finally tried to use it the right way.”
“I didn’t fight back, I didn’t even try to show off, and still, I lost it? What kind of sick joke is that?”
Kai had no words.
All he could do was sit there, feeling helpless. Watching the strongest girl he knew fall apart in front of him.
Meanwhile…
Back at the council chamber, the mood was different.
Word had already gotten around.
“She lost it?” one of the elders asked, raising a brow.
“Yes,” someone replied. “The healer said there’s no sign of the power. No glow. No surge. Nothing.”
There was a long pause.
Then the elder gave a small, almost satisfied nod.
“Maybe it’s for the best.”
Another elder—one who had been openly afraid of Elise—leaned back in his seat, smiling faintly.
“She was unstable. We all saw it. Powers like that don’t belong in untrained hands.”
Elder Kion said nothing.
But the silence in his eyes wasn’t pity. It was calculation.
Like he was redoing a puzzle in his head now that a big, dangerous piece had disappeared.
“She’s no threat now,” someone else said.
“She never was,” came a quiet voice from the end of the table — one of the youngest council members.
But no one paid much attention to that.
They were already busy thinking ahead about what this meant, what it changed, and what it took off their shoulders.
Back in the infirmary…
Elise had cried herself till the tears stopped flowing on its own.
She lay there with her back turned, still holding onto the corner of the blanket like it could keep her from falling apart.
Kai never left her side.
He sat there, just watching her.
Guarding her.
He didn’t know what to say that could make it better.
He was having a conflict with himself.
He knew he couldn’t help her in anyways except maybe some motivating words.
And Elise didn’t want words.
She didn’t even need it and he understood that.
All she could think was why now?
Why give her something only to take it away the moment she tried to prove she wasn’t a mistake?
The universe loved to always play tricks on her every single time she tried to put her hopes out there.
It didn’t only take it away, it showed everyone what they wanted to see — that her powers were harmful and dangerous.
What an irony!
But deep in her heart, even through the sadness, one thing still burned.
Not power.
Not pride.
But a small, steady state of anger.
Not at herself.
At them.
They were relieved.
They were happy she’d lost it.
She could feel it in the silence.
The way the halls outside didn’t buzz with concern or worry.
The way no one came to check on her.
And something about that… something about the way they all let go of their fear so easily…
It made her clench her fist.
They might not fear her anymore.
But someday, they would respect her — power or no power.
She didn’t know how yet.
But she would find a way.
Even if she had to start from zero all over again.
- Writer
