Echoes of Hollow

"Don’t go... Hye, I don’t want you to leave again..."

"I’m not going. Your birthday is coming up, why would I?"

"You said the same thing last time, and... when I woke up, you weren’t home anymore..."

"..."

Pulling the curtain aside, Hye returned to the side of the bed and sat on the floor beside it.

"I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, how does that sound?"

"So, if I don’t fall asleep, you’ll stay here all night...?"

"Well, yes..."

With a small smile on his face, he reached for the blanket and carefully covered Hilary up to just below her neck.

"But Aunt Samantha would be pretty mad if that happened. You still have school tomorrow, right?"

Puffing her cheeks, the girl turned, allowing Hye to do the same by turning his back to the bed.

"You know, that girl... she’s nice..."

"Really? ...So you liked her too?"

"Yes... it seems like you don’t need to smile just when you’re with me anymore..."

Grasping the blanket and bringing it close to her mouth, Hilary curled up and closed her eyes.

"Good night, Hye."

"...Good night..."

After the voices ceased, complete silence reigned. The bluish glow of the moon still illuminated the wood in front of him, constantly streaming through the curtain over the closed window. The open books on the small table next to the window seemed the same, though marked on different pages. They were close to the middle before, and now they’re almost at the end.

Clothes folded, even those not in drawers or the closet, shoes aligned below the bookshelves, and no visible or tangible dirt, even on the floor.

A creak echoed from the door, and Hye looked in that direction as Samantha peeked around the door and glanced at the bed.

"Is she asleep...?"

Hearing her light, steady breathing, Hye nodded.

"Then come to the living room, we need to talk."

Rising silently, before walking to the exit, he turned and adjusted the blanket over Hilary once more. His quiet footsteps moved away, followed by the creak of the door. Turning on the bed, Hilary’s eyes fluttered, and she briefly looked at the dark door. Even with him moving away, Hye’s footsteps were never clearer in her mind.

"Is it about me taking the hunter test...? Have you decided on my punishment?"

Her gaze swept over Hye, and crossing her legs, Samantha sighed.

"No, this is... something related to our family... come, sit here."

With Hye sitting beside her, Samantha tried but couldn’t calm down as she wanted. Even though it wasn’t her intention, her senses were too sharp, making him hear even the rapid, anxious beats of her heart.

Placing one hand on her leg, she sighed deeply.

"You know... it was supposed to be your mother to tell you this..., not me."

Seeing the constant tapping of her fingers against her leg, Hye stood up.

"Maybe it’s better if we talk about this later."

"No... sit down."

The tapping stopped, and her hoarse voice made Hye sit down next to her again after he looked into her trembling eyes.

"...Do you know why I was so surprised when you said you had awakened a system...?"

"Because you didn’t want it to happen?"

"That too, but... no, that wasn’t all... Our family doesn’t..."

The tapping started again, and biting her lip until blood came out, Samantha looked away at the floor.

"Our family doesn’t have systems."

"Doesn’t have..., so..."

Samantha is an awakened one, that’s obvious, as Hye has seen with his own eyes what she is capable of. But for her to say that she doesn’t have a system only leaves room for one response.

"Are you an irregular? ...And my mother was too, is that what you’re trying to say?"

"No, not exactly... I mean, yes, you could say that, but that’s not the point. I said our family doesn’t have systems, not just us two..."

Her eyes wandered, moving in various directions but always stopping at one point, the direction leading to Hilary’s room.

"We’ve never been bound by the start of what’s called a tutorial... Even before systems appeared, our abilities already existed."

"Is that even possible...?"

"Well, they weren’t as strong as they are now. For example, these days, your grandfather couldn’t even be considered rank S, probably. In fact, he..."

Clenching her fists, Samantha sniffed, while wiping her tearful eyes.

"...That’s why, aside from your abilities, your lack of mana is very strange. Without exception, up to now, we’ve all had the same type of mana in our bodies. I, your mother, my father, my grandfather, and so on, in addition to superhuman attributes, talking to beings with minimal intelligence, a memory, and learning rate unmatched by others—all of which you seem to have—we could all only use black mana and nothing else."

‘She says that but…, strange… the mana that girl possesses doesn’t resemble at all the one this woman used earlier.’

"So, that’s why..."

Sniffling, Samantha dried her tears once more.

"...when you didn’t show any sign of awakening like us, I... honestly, I was relieved, but not just for you. I thought... I believed that this could also happen to her, that awakening wouldn’t be the only path, but..."

"Even if she doesn’t awaken the family’s hereditary abilities, the system would still be an option..."

Hye hesitated. Clenching his teeth and holding his own hands, his gaze shifted towards Samantha, her endless tears falling to the floor. In his mind echoed Samael’s words from that afternoon;

‘A monster, certainly. A creature that shouldn’t exist in this universe or any other, that’s what this child represents.’

"Aunt..., actually..."

She deserves to know; it concerns her own daughter. Not telling would be completely irrational. But, despite knowing this and being confident in his decision, Hye struggled to say what was stuck at the tip of his tongue.

Tears flowed, and, instead of drying them immediately, Samantha lifted her head and looked at him with her trembling eyes, making him look away.

“…According to Samael, the systems aren’t really necessary. Since our family can use abilities even without it, it just means we have enough mana for it and… when he saw Hilary this afternoon, he…”

Covering her mouth with her hand, Samantha stood up. These words meant only one thing: worrying about the possibility of awakening is pointless. She walked towards the room and, lacking the courage or strength to open the door, sat in front of it while trying to stifle her own sobs and tears.

‘I thought you’d lie..., why didn’t you go through with it?’

‘And what would that achieve...?'

Rising from the couch, Hye glanced briefly in the direction Samantha had gone and walked to the exit.

‘The outcome would be the same.’

‘Indeed..., something like this couldn’t be hidden for long.’