CHAPTER FIFTEEN

March 3rd, 2022

Hey, diary. Raiden stopped coming to me, and Velvet hasn't appeared either. I started to wonder what had happened. I went downstairs and into the kitchen for a cup of tea.

"Mom! You're home?"

I was surprised to see her in the kitchen. "I thought you left early this morning?"

"Yeah, I caught a cold, so I took the day off."

"Cool. Looks like I'll be home all day, just receiving lectures," I muttered to myself.

"Why aren't you in school?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't feel like it," I answered nonchalantly.

"What do you mean, you don't feel like it? Look, Rockie, if something's bothering you, you can talk to me, you know?"

I looked at her, a little confused. "I can?"

"I'm your mom, of course you can."

I hesitated, then asked, "Why did you give me the name… Rockie?"

She looked up at me immediately. "Rockie?"

"Yeah."

She cleared her throat, then stood up and walked out of the kitchen toward the dining room. I followed her, curious. She opened a drawer, took out an album, and handed it to me. The album was filled with pictures of me growing up.

"You were so tough, so adamant. Nothing could get through you. You were kind, benevolent, strong… and above all, you were my little Rockie."

"'Were?'" I asked, puzzled by the past tense.

"Yes. Were," she said, her voice softening.

"Why?" I asked, my confusion growing.

"Because I don't know you anymore, Rockie."

"What do you mean?" I asked, more confused than ever.

"Rockie is an Italian name. Its origin comes from the Germanic word hrok, which means 'rest.'"

"Rest???" I repeated, even more confused.

She stood up, walking away from me as she spoke. "It's your name, Rockie. Only you can discover what it truly means."

"But—"

She didn't wait for me to finish and left the room.

I stood there, unsure of what to think, before heading upstairs to my room. I grabbed my laptop and searched for the name Rockie.

What I found was… a lot. It meant rest, rock, stone, grit, determination. It also described someone difficult to impress, someone tough to affect or move. And lastly, it meant I believe.

"Difficult to impress, huh?" I muttered aloud.

I stood up, staring into the mirror, trying to understand myself better.

"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward," I said to my reflection.

Suddenly, the mirror cracked, and a ray of black light shot out, filling my room. The black smoke morphed into Rafaal.

"Rafaal??" I whispered, a rush of anger rising in me.

"It's good you remember me, Rockie..." He looked me up and down with a smirk.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice cold.

"I've been portrayed as evil," he said, his tone full of bitterness.

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you ever wondered why I'm after the generation of Raya?" He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to respond. "She killed my only son."

"You're a liar!!!" I shouted.

"Oh, so you think I'd just be killing all of you for nothing?" He sneered. "Evil doesn't always need a reason to strike."

"At least I have a reason!" I retorted. "What's your reason for wanting to defeat me?"

"I'm a descendant of Velvet."

"That's not a reason!" I snapped back.

"It is!" Rafaal insisted. "Listen, Rockie. A dead man doesn't seek revenge for injuries."

"A school?" I asked, confused by the sudden change of topic.

"A school of Yfel. They want to bring it down."

"School of Yfel? Why?"

"I should be asking you that," Rafaal replied with an unsettling smile. "Come with me."

"Why should I trust you? Why would I go with you?" I demanded.

"You want answers, don't you?"

Before I could protest, he snapped his fingers, and my clothes shifted into a beautiful black ball gown. He extended his hand toward me, and, despite my hesitation, I took it. We teleported through the mirror and appeared in front of a large, haunted-looking building.

"This is the school I run," Rafaal said.

"What do you teach here?" I asked, still on edge.

"Yfel," he replied simply.

"What's Yfel?"

"Evil," he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"You teach people evil??"

He nodded. "And very soon, evil will rule the world."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I don't blame Velvet at all."

"I don't either," Rafaal said, his eyes glinting. "Why should good always be praised? Why should evil always hide in the shadows? All of this can change if you work with me."

"And what?" I asked, my voice filled with skepticism.

"We could rule the world together," he said, his smile dark and inviting.

"You're crazy!" I shouted. "I want to go back home!"

"Not so fast, Rockie," he said, his tone colder now. "I need your powers."

"What powers? I don't have any powers!" I yelled, panicking.

"You don't know yet, do you?"

"Don't know what?" I asked, feeling a wave of dread wash over me.

"Lucky me," he muttered, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself running in circles down a long hallway. I felt dizzy, but before I could stop, Rafaal appeared in front of me again.

"Why does every generation of Raya's bloodline always seem to take the bad path?" he asked, mocking.

In a desperate panic, I grabbed the gown, making it easier to run faster. But fear crept in, and suddenly I found myself teleported into a huge cage.

"You made it so easy for me," Rafaal said, standing in front of the cage, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

"Did I do that???" I gasped, horrified.

"Oh yes, you did," he replied, his voice dripping with menace.