Reincarnated as an Apocalyptic Catalyst
Chapter 67: Not Crying, Just Summoning Dust Allergies

Chapter 67: Not Crying, Just Summoning Dust Allergies

Ronan was still in the corner.

It had only been like a minute, and the guy hadn’t moved, despite everything going on. No shifting weight, no awkward fidgeting, not even an annoyed sigh—just standing there, as if the very concept of time meant nothing to him. It was honestly impressive in the worst possible way.

But I didn’t have time to admire his dedication to the bit, because the sound of approaching footsteps snapped all of us back to reality.

Mara stiffened, eyes darting to the door. "Someone’s coming."

"No kidding," I muttered, already scanning for options. We didn’t have time to run. We couldn’t hide. The bookshelves were too narrow, the room too open. We were about to be very caught.

The door creaked open, and in stepped the unfortunate soul who had been assigned patrol duty. Not a professor, not a high-ranking enforcer—just some guy. Probably a graduate student earning extra credit or an overworked assistant who got stuck with the worst shift imaginable.

He blinked at us. We blinked at him.

A long, awkward silence stretched between us.

Then: "What the hell are you three doing in here?"

Well. That was fair. We certainly didn’t belong here, but we also couldn’t be caught.

I plastered on my best innocent smile. "Oh, just brushing up on some ancient history. You wouldn’t believe the kind of bedtime stories they keep locked away in here."

He frowned, unimpressed. "You’re not supposed to be here."

Mara sighed. "We know."

The guard reached for his staff, probably to call for reinforcements or, worse, an actual professor. That would mean lectures, detentions, and a lot of questions we really didn’t want to answer.

So, obviously, I did what any reasonable person in my position would do.

I looked at Ronan.

"Ronan. Handle it."

"The corner," he said with sorrow in his voice.

"Corner time is over, just handle it," I commanded

He moved before I finished speaking.

"Wait! Don’t kill him!" I barely had time to choke it out before he made contact.

He was fast—almost unnatural. His body surged forward, magic crackling just under his skin, and before the poor guard even registered what was happening, Ronan’s fist met his temple with just enough force to send him crumpling to the ground like a sack of regrets.

Mara sucked in a sharp breath. "What the—" She turned to me, eyes narrowing. "You really are training him like a guard dog."

I shrugged. "More like a really dangerous Roomba, but for our enemies."

"What is a Roomba?" She inquired.

"No, you’re right, that doesn’t make sense," I responded.

The guard groaned, his body twitching slightly. Not unconscious enough. I stepped forward and nudged him onto his side with my foot, just to make sure he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. "Alright, time to go."

Mara scowled but didn’t argue. We had no time for that.

Ronan, however, lingered, staring at the fallen guard like he was waiting for further instructions.

I waved a hand. "Good job. Now let’s leave before someone actually competent shows up."

He blinked, then nodded. "Understood."

"You can follow every order except for ones involving speech. This is absolutely unbelievable... What are we going to do with you?"

"I follow," Ronan responded and I pressed my fingers into my shut eyes, trying to massage the agony out of them.

"Let’s go."

We slipped out of the restricted archives, moving quickly but carefully through the halls. If anyone else saw us, we’d look suspicious as hell, but luck—or incompetence—was on our side, because we made it back to my dorm without incident.

Only once the door was locked behind us did Mara whirl on me.

"Okay. We need to talk about what the hell just happened."

The moment my door shut behind Ronan, I let out a long, exaggerated sigh and flopped onto my bed, arms spread like I’d just survived some kind of great war. Technically, I had—just one waged with bad decisions and suspiciously incompetent magic Roombas.

Mara, however, wasn’t nearly as relaxed. She tossed the stolen tome onto my desk with enough force to make the candles flicker. "Okay. We need to talk about what the hell just happened."

I groaned. "Can’t we just bask in the victory of not getting arrested first?"

She ignored me and gestured toward the door. "For one—that—" She pointed at Ronan.

I propped myself up on my elbows. "Gonna need specifics, Mara. A lot of that happened today."

She scowled. "Ronan, Caidan. You told him to ’handle it,’ and he did! Like—instantly. No hesitation, no questions, just full-on ’Yes, sir, let me go incapacitate this man for you.’" She ran a hand through her hair, looking genuinely unsettled. "Do you realize how weird that is?"

I waved a lazy hand. "Hey, you wanted to escape, didn’t you? You didn’t have a better idea."

"I had several better ideas, none of which involved commanding Ronan like a trained assassin!"

I sighed dramatically, sitting up. "First off, he didn’t kill anyone. Secondly, I can say with confidence that you have no idea what a trained assassin is capable of, and Ronan is no assassin."

"I—" She stopped herself, visibly frustrated. "That’s not the point."

I smirked. "Sounds like it’s kind of the point."

Mara groaned, rubbing her temples like she was already regretting every decision that had led her here. Which, honestly, was fair.

Meanwhile, Ronan was still standing stiffly near the door, back straight, arms at his sides, like some ominous sentry waiting for his next order. He hadn’t moved since we entered. Hadn’t spoken. It was starting to get unnerving.

I waved a hand at him. "Okay, Ronan, you did Good. Now go back to your room, get some sleep, or... I don’t know, stare at the ceiling until morning."

Ronan nodded once like that was the most reasonable suggestion in the world. "Understood."

"STOP— Whatever, just, get to it." This was insane, he was absolutely a robot.

And then he left. Just like that. No questions. No lingering. Just turned and walked out like he was clocking out of work.

Mara watched him go, her frown deepening. "That’s still weird."

I stretched, leaning back against the headboard. "Weird or efficient?"

She shot me a look. "No, it’s weird."

"Yeah, alright," I admitted, exhaling. "It’s a little weird."

We sat there for a moment, the room feeling smaller now that it was just the two of us.

I glanced at the tome on my desk, at the old sigil on its cover, and let my grin slip—just a little.

"Alright," I muttered. "Let’s talk about what we actually do next."

The room felt heavier after Ronan left like he was all that was keeping the room light. I leaned against the desk, flipping open the stolen tome, scanning the brittle pages for anything that might give us a lead. Ancient rituals, fragmented texts, ominous footnotes about the dangers of "tampering with the unknown." Yeah, all very reassuring.

Across the room, Mara lingered by the window, arms crossed, but I could tell her mind was somewhere else. She had that look—distant, searching, like she was trying to fit a puzzle piece that didn’t quite belong.

I waited, letting the silence stretch. Finally, she spoke.

"There’s something I don’t get about you."

I didn’t look up. "You’d have to be more specific. People tend to find me pretty confusing."

She didn’t take the bait. Instead, she turned fully to face me, and when I glanced up, there was no usual frustration, no exasperation—just quiet, careful scrutiny.

"You remind me of someone."

I kept my expression neutral. "Oh?"

She hesitated, like she was testing the waters. "Lucian."

For a fraction of a second, I faltered. The name hit like a blow I hadn’t braced for, but I kept my face carefully blank, despite all the fucking pain in that word, I kept my face blank.

Mara continued, her voice measured, thoughtful. "It’s not just the way you talk. It’s the way you think. The way you dodge questions but somehow still lead them exactly where you want them to go." She tilted her head slightly, studying me. "The way you act like everything is a joke, but somehow, you always know exactly what’s happening."

I leaned back, forcing a smirk. "Sounds like he was a charming guy."

"He was infuriating."

"Then I take it as a compliment."

But she wasn’t smiling. Instead, she took a step closer, her fingers tightening at her sides. "You don’t get it. I haven’t heard from him in over a month."

The smirk faded from my lips. "...Oh. You two fall out of touch?"

"In a way, yes. He said he would wait for me every night in a specific location, but I haven’t found a way to get out and find him. He was the kind of guy who would always find way to keep in touch, but he didn’t. And I can’t just leave the Academy to track him down." She exhaled, shaking her head. "Maybe it’s only been a month, maybe four, five, or six weeks at best... Okay it’s been six weeks—but when you’re trapped here, it feels like forever."

Her voice lowered. "I keep thinking about the last thing he said to me. That we’d always be together, that even apart we would be together." Tears started building in her eyes. I couldn’t see them, as she had tried to avoid my gaze, but I could sense them, and they were the same that built in my eyes as I shifted my gaze away just in case she looked over to me.

I felt something twist in my chest. I had told her that. I had promised. And now, I was right here, standing in front of her, and she had no idea.

Mara looked away, jaw tight. "It’s stupid. He’s probably fine. Maybe he got distracted, maybe he’s off chasing some insane plan, maybe he just... forgot."

The idea that I had forgotten her—forgotten this—was almost laughable. But I couldn’t tell her that. I couldn’t tell her anything.

Instead, I did the only thing I could do.

I reached out, gently squeezing her shoulder. "He didn’t forget."

She turned, searching my face, like she was trying to find something in my expression that I couldn’t let her see. She didn’t pull away, but she did flinch as the wet stains under my eyes, the ones I had tried to dry, tried to avoid.

"...How do you know?"

A dozen answers flickered through my mind. None of them were ones I could say.

So I smiled instead. Soft, almost regretful. "Because, you seem like someone worth waiting for."

Mara let out a breath, half a laugh, half exhaustion. "You’re still insufferable."

"I do my best."

The air between us felt charged, heavy with unspoken words neither of us dared touch.

Then, just as quickly, she pulled away, rubbing her arms like she was shaking off the moment. "We should get some sleep. We have too much to deal with tomorrow."

I nodded. "Yeah."

She moved toward the door but hesitated, glancing back one last time.

"Caidan... Who are you?"

I didn’t answer right away. Then, with my usual smirk, I said, "Just a guy trying to unravel a mystery."

Mara rolled her eyes but didn’t push further. "Right... Well, if you knew Lucian, if you had any connection with him..." She choked up, there was something very important she had to say.

"It’s just, there’s something I need him to know..." I waited in anticipation, desperate to hear what she had to say, leaning in close so as to not miss a single word.

"Forget it..."

And then she was gone.

I stood there for a long time, staring at the empty space where she’d been.

For the first time in a long while, I felt I really fucked up.