Chapter 5 - cold

The first thing Malric noticed was pressure.

Something — no, someone — was pressing down against his chest, just heavy enough to make breathing slightly annoying.

Blinking awake, Malric found himself half-buried under sagging blankets inside the remains of the collapsed pillow fort. The LED lantern still flickered weakly near his shoulder, casting soft shadows across the mess.

Lying directly on top of him — one hand pressed against his collarbone, her head tucked into his shoulder — was Illia.

Dead asleep.

For a second, Malric's mind blanked completely.

How did we even end up like this?!

He froze, hyper-aware of everything — the soft weight of her, the faint ticking sound near his ear, the slow rhythm of her breathing.

And then he heard it — the faint click-click-click of her necklace, the one she always wore.

Looking down as carefully as he could without moving her, Malric spotted the necklace half-hidden under the folds of a blanket. It wasn't just rattling — it was spinning, the small intricate parts shifting and clicking faster and faster.

Panic cut through the awkwardness like a blade.

"Illa," Malric whispered urgently, trying to nudge her awake without completely shoving her off. "Illia, wake up."

Nothing. She was out cold.

The clicking sped up, almost vibrating against his ribs now.

Heart hammering, Malric shifted slightly, trying not to jostle her too hard — but the air felt heavier than it should, like gravity itself was dragging them both down. Even a simple movement took more effort than normal.

"Come on…" he muttered, nudging her shoulder again.

Finally, Illia stirred.

Her hand flexed against his chest once, and she lifted her head, blinking sleepily at him from less than an inch away. Her eyes were unfocused for half a second — then locked onto his face.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them spoke.

After a long, silent beat, Illia calmly pushed herself off him without a word, adjusting her tangled hair and straightening her jacket like nothing odd had happened at all.

The clicking stopped the moment she moved, the necklace freezing mid-spin.

Malric sat up slowly, rubbing his chest and feeling very, very aware of how awkward the moment had been.

Across the room, Juniper yawned loudly and kicked the remains of a pillow wall off her legs. She sat up halfway, squinting toward them.

"Hey… why do you two look like you just committed a crime?" she mumbled.

Malric coughed into his hand.

"Nothing happened," he said automatically.

Illia just blinked at Juniper and said, "Gravity has increased approximately by fifty percent. Adjust carefully."

Juniper stared at her, processing the words very slowly through her still-half-asleep brain.

"…Cool," she said at last, before collapsing face-first into the nearest pile of pillows.

Quickly adjusting to the heavier environment, the group got ready for school.

Juniper had brought over two pairs of clothes for herself and Illia the night before. Cleaned up and in fresh outfits, the group exited the apartment, heading toward the Academy.

Before they even left the block, Malric noticed something — a mountain rising faintly in the distance.

Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't just tired, Malric's jaw visibly dropped — alongside Juniper, who had also noticed the new mountain.

"That mountain is new," Illia's flat voice broke the two out of their shock.

"Yeah… yeah, it is. I wonder how that happened," Juniper said, still recovering.

"Maybe it's related to the whole city passing out. We still don't have internet, so we can't check."

The idea that a mountain had appeared out of nowhere — and without a sound — had nearly broken the two. But they quickly found their rationale again and started thinking about the how.

Discussing possibilities along the way, the group made it to the Academy.

Walking up to the gate, the three of them heard the clicking of Illia's necklace speed up again.

Briefly — like a waning dream — a game-like interface flickered into view, only to vanish after blinking once.

"Okay, I'm not the only one who saw that, right? You both saw the weird floating menu?" Juniper asked, mild shock in her voice.

At this point, too many strange things had happened, and the shock of one more barely registered.

"Yeah, I saw it. Let's just ignore it for now," Malric said, already knowing Mr. Cassidy was probably going to talk about it in class.

Mr. Cassidy always liked to go over current events in the morning — as long as Malric could remember. It was usually fun and didn't take too much time, just a quick overview of anything and everything interesting.

Joining up with Filip, John, and Amina, the five of them talked about the experiences they had the day before. Illia walked quietly beside them.

Reaching the classroom and taking their seats, they watched as more students trickled in — including Jasmine, Braden, and Beth.

As Jasmine took her seat, the morning bell went off — though it was more of a tone than an actual bell — and Mr. Cassidy stood from his desk.

"Alright, today I'm renaming our current events segment to 'What Happened Yesterday.' Anybody want to take some guesses?"

John raised his hand, and after Mr. Cassidy nodded at him, he spoke.

"A mountain appeared in the distance. Also, the water got kinda shiny. Something chemically must have changed about the water."

"A good idea. Anyone else?"

Mr. Cassidy had no real idea what had happened either. He had spent the morning catching up on current events, hoping to piece everything together.

"Not only did the landscape change," Malric spoke up, "but before Illia, Juniper, and I entered school, a floating interface appeared for a second."

This revelation came as a big shock to the rest of the class.

An interface had appeared out of nowhere — like something straight out of a video game — before vanishing as if nothing had happened.

Clearly, this phenomenon wasn't just a geographical catastrophe; something technological was happening too.

Shivering in his short-sleeve shirt, Brayden was not prepared for the sudden cold that overtook the classroom in the middle of summer.

"Mr. Cassidy, can you turn the heat on? I'm freezing," Brayden asked.

"Something is very off," Mr. Cassidy muttered, ignoring Brayden's request as he quickly strode over to the window and opened the blinds.

"Well, that's also very weird. Can't get weirder from here."