Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Floating Islands
As they stepped into the Great Hall, Aiden, Sevan, and Adrian noticed a familiar figure standing near the entrance.

Ivara was dressed in a long, simple dress that had an ethereal, cottagecore feel- a soft cream fabric with delicate lace trims, the kind of outfit that made her look like she had just stepped out of an elven forest. It was such a stark contrast to her usual practical training gear that Adrian did a double take.

When she spotted them, her face lit up with a bright smile. “Oh, perfect timing! I was just about to look for you three.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow, glancing at her dress. “Did you, uh, wander into a fairy tale by accident?”

Ivara laughed. “No, I just didn’t feel like wearing my usual today. I do own things other than training clothes, you know.”

“Didn’t say you didn’t. Just… unexpected.”

She waved a hand dismissively before getting to the point. “Anyway, since we don’t have duels today, I was thinking of watching some of the upper-year fights. Amihan’s resting- she got pretty sore after training- and Emmeranne is nowhere to be found, so I figured I’d ask if you guys wanted to come with me.”

Aiden exchanged glances with Sevan and Adrian before shrugging. “We were planning to watch anyway. Might as well stick together.”

Ivara leaned in slightly, lowering her voice with an eager glint in her eyes.

“You’ll want to see today’s matches. The first placers of the second and third years are having a duel.”

That caught their attention.

Aiden, Sevan, and Adrian all stopped mid-step, exchanging glances.

“The first placers?” Aiden repeated, his interest piqued.

Ivara nodded. “Yeah. And you know that means it’s going to be an all-out fight. The top-ranked students don’t get their spots easily.”

“Now that’s worth watching. Who’s fighting?” Adrian asked.

“I don’t know all the details, but I heard the second-year first-placer is someone really flashy,” Ivara said, adjusting her dress. “Apparently, they don’t just fight- they end it before the duel even starts.”

“So a show-off.”

Ivara grinned. “Oh, definitely. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious. It’s not every day you get to see the strongest from other years have a duel. Might even give us an idea of what we’ll be up against in the future.”

Aiden nodded thoughtfully. “Good point. We should watch.”

Once they finished eating, they made their way back to the bulletin board to double-check the schedule.

Ivara squinted at the list of duels. “Alright, so second-year first placer Tachyon Takhus versus second-year ninth placer Ullr Echelon. But…” Her voice trailed off, her brows furrowing.

Adrian leaned in beside her. “Why does it just say ‘Labyrinth’? No actual location?”

Sevan crossed his arms. “Maybe it’s some hidden arena or something.”

Aiden frowned, looking at the schedule. “We’ve never heard of a place just called ‘Labyrinth’ before…”

He glanced around, his eyes scanning the hall before landing on something. “Let’s use the Holloways again.”

Adrian grinned. “Good thinking, Chase! Those things always know where to go.”

It didn’t take long before they spotted one- an eerie, shadowy figure wandering at the edges of the Great Hall, its indistinct form barely noticeable to most students. Aiden stepped forward, raising his hand.

The Holloway stopped moving.

“Uhm, hello. We need to find the Labyrinth,” Aiden said.

For a moment, the Holloway remained still, its mist-like body shifting as if considering the request. Then, without a word, it turned and started gliding away.

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t lead us to our deaths,” Sevan muttered, following after it.

“Don’t be so morbid.”

“I’m not.”

With Ivara right behind them, they trailed the Holloway.

The Holloway led them further than they expected, past the Botanical Garden and toward one of the many waterfalls scattered around the academy’s grounds.

The crashing water sent a fine mist into the air, cool against their skin. The group stopped at the edge, looking at one another in confusion.

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “So, what? The Labyrinth is down the waterfall? Do we jump?”

Sevan crossed his arms. “Maybe there’s a hidden entrance behind it?”

Ivara looked at the Holloway, who simply stood there, unmoving. “You could at least give us a hint,” she muttered.

But before they could debate further, a pair of slow, deliberate footsteps echoed behind them.

It was strange how, at that moment, all four of them instinctively turned as if compelled by some unseen force.

And then they saw her.

A girl who was, without a doubt, strikingly beautiful.

Not in the delicate, untouchable way of royalty, nor in the over-polished perfection of noble families. No, her beauty was the kind that turned heads effortlessly, as if she were a dream given form, something half-real and half-illusory.

Her hair, cut into a sleek, straight shoulder-length that framed her face, was dyed in gradient of pinks, shifting from soft blush to deeper shades of rose and fuchsia. The colors blended so seamlessly that it was as if someone had painted her directly from the hues of a sunset.

But it was her eyes that truly captivated- light green, luminous, almost unnatural in their intensity. They carried a knowing glint, as if she had already unraveled every secret in the world and found them amusing.

Then there was her beauty mark- small and delicate, just beneath her right eye, drawing attention to the way her gaze flickered over them with effortless confidence. It was ridiculous how such a tiny detail could add to her charm, how it somehow made her look even more alluring.

She was dressed in the standard Genvah Academy uniform, but she had altered it to suit her.

The vest was absent, leaving only the crisp white blouse, and her skirt was shorter than regulation- just enough to be rebellious, but not enough to invite outright reprimand.

Everything about her screamed effortless, untouchable, like she existed in a world slightly apart from theirs.

“Are you lost?”

For a moment, none of them answered.

It wasn’t just Aiden who had been caught off guard; Adrian, who was usually the first to come up with a snarky remark, had fallen completely silent, and Ivara, who never let anyone throw her off, was staring, her mouth slightly open.

Even Sevan had only managed a delayed, weak response.

The girl was simply breathtaking.

She’s so pretty…

Aiden clenched his jaw, realizing how ridiculous he was being.

Why am I thinking about this?, he thought to himself.

He shut his eyes for a brief second, willing his thoughts into order, but the moment he opened them, she was still there, still effortlessly mesmerizing, still looking at them with that unreadable expression.

Adrian, who had just barely managed to pull himself together, cleared his throat. “Depends. Who’s asking?” His usual confidence had returned, but Aiden could tell.

He was affected, too.

The girl smiled, tilting her head ever so slightly. “Just someone who’s curious.”

That voice. It was smooth and light, teasing but not forceful, as if she already knew how easily she could control a conversation and didn’t even need to try.

Ivara was the first to recover, though not completely. “You, uh…” She shook her head, muttering to herself before standing up straighter. “You’re an upper-year, aren’t you?”

The girl gave a small shrug. “Second-year.”

Sevan blinked, his usual sharp wit failing him. “Right.”

For the first time in his life, Aiden felt something close to secondhand embarrassment for all of them. They were acting like absolute fools. Even Adrian had taken a second too long to get his words together.

The girl simply smiled at them all, completely unbothered.

“Well,” she finally said, as if granting them mercy, “I assume you’re here for the labyrinth?”

Before he could dwell on it, the girl spoke, her voice smooth and self-assured.

“Cypris,” she introduced herself. “Second-year. You must be the first years trying to figure out where the duel is.”

Aiden forced himself to focus. “Yeah,” he answered. “The board said ‘labyrinth,’ but there wasn’t a location.”

Cypris smiled knowingly, like she found their confusion amusing. “That’s because it’s not on this island.”

That caught their attention.

“What do you mean?” Ivara asked, tilting her head.

Instead of answering right away, Cypris bent down and picked up a small rock from the ground. She turned it over in her fingers, waiting for something- then, with a flick of her wrist, she tossed it forward.

Aiden expected it to fall into the waterfall. But instead, the rock skipped, not on water, but across air. With each bounce, a floating stone platform materialized, forming a path forward.

Aiden squinted. At the very edge of his vision, past the floating rocks, he could barely make out the silhouette of something massive- a floating island, hidden away from the rest of Genvah.

Cypris turned back to them with an easy grin. “Genvah is built on floating islands,” she explained. “First years usually stay on the main one, but there’s a lot more you haven’t seen yet.”

Ivara’s eyes widened. “That’s the labyrinth?”

“Yeah, The Labyrinth is one of them,” Cypris confirmed. “And that’s where the duel for today is happening.”

Adrian scoffed, crossing his arms. “You’re telling me we’ve been stuck on one island this whole time, and no one told us there were more?”

Cypris smirked. “Would you have believed me if I did?”

Sevan exhaled sharply. “So not only do we have to deal with the fact that if we didn’t wait for you, we could have plummeted to our death, thinking the entrance was to throw ourself down the waterfall, but now we have to cross floating rocks just to get there?”

Cypris tilted her head, feigning innocence. “What, scared of heights?”

“No, I’m scared of falling.”

Unbothered, Cypris stepped onto the first floating rock with perfect balance. She turned back to them, eyes gleaming with challenge.

“Well? Are you coming or not?”