Whispers in the Shadows

***Whispers in the Shadows*** is a mini spinoff of the Black Axis series.

## Story

### Setting

*Whispers in the Shadows* is set in the same worldline as *The Sacred Ward* and *Unveil*. The events of the story unfold in 2025, which is concurrent with *Unveil* and two years before *The Sacred Ward*. The story takes place at a private all-boys sixth-form college called St. Peter's Preparatory College (SPPC) which is located in the fictional town and district of Serabi in Sarawak, Malaysia. The college's students and staff members, including faculty, administrators, and even janitors, are exclusively male.

The college used to be a fort and residence to a British nobleman during the Colonial era, which was later repurposed into a boarding house for Catholic missionaries after the owner's death (while his family moved back to the United Kingdom). The place was abandoned during the Second World War, and it was severely damaged due to being burnt down during the Japanese occupation. After the war, the place was not claimed by the Catholics and was left in a state of disarray. However, it was soon bought by a private company and was eventually converted into a school that only caters sixth-form education meant to prepare students for tertiary education. After its conversion, the school grounds were expanded and additional facilities were built to accommodate students, though some of the buildings have went unused and left dilapidated throughout the years, including the old science building and the old church.

It is rumored that the school grounds are mystic, and that the original owner of the place was a sorcerer. The sorcerer had supposedly conducted magical rituals and experiments, including the summoning of a powerful entity, which is rumored to reside within the school, but in a sealed state. All of this is true, yet only a few know and realize the mystical happenings around and the true history of the school.

### Plot

*Whispers in the Shadows* focuses on a Lower Form Six student named Azri bin Abdullah, a student and class monitor of Form 6-B who is in a relationship with his mathematics and homeroom teacher, Omar Farid bin Abdul Kamaruddin. The story begins when Farid has mysteriously disappeared from the school without notice, which prompts Azri to look for clues pointing to his disappearance. During after-school hours, he enters Farid's room with a spare key given by him, but finds nothing of value. Suddenly, a rabbit appears in the room, catching Azri by surprise. It runs out of the room, leading Azri to give chase. Azri follows the rabbit to the unused chemistry lab at the old school building, where he finds a glowing light. The light begins to glow brighter, which eventually covers the whole room in a blinding light.

When it all ended, Azri, in confusion, exits the lab, but finds the atmosphere of the school to be mystifyingly different. The rabbit is also gone. Suddenly, Azri is attacked by a monster and is about to be dealt with a devastating blow. The scene instantly shifts to an unknown space. A large silhouette emerges from the abyss, taking the form of a plume moth (which Azri is oblivious of). The entity introduces itself to Azri, referring itself as the White Moth God, and it tells Azri of his current circumstances. While it knows of Azri's predicament and is willing to grant his power to Azri, the White Moth God also asks Azri to help him defeat an evil entity only known as the Crimson Deity that resides within the parallel dimension he is currently in, as the Crimson Deity is about to be freed. Azri, believing he has no other choice, reluctantly accepts the White Moth God's offer, and the two formally establish a contract. Azri, having been granted abilities by the strange entity, is transported back to the present time, instinctively dodging the monster's attack. With his newfound powers, Azri defeats the monster, and begins his mission to search for Farid, to defeat the Crimson Deity, and to look for a way out of the parallel dimension.

### Characters

Throughout the story, Azri meets several other characters who either aid him in his journey, oppose him, or remain neutral. The characters that do join him have their own unique set of abilities, and they are contracted with other magical entities.

**Azri bin Abdullah (Portrayer)**

Azri is the protagonist of the story. He is an eighteen-year-old student of Form 6-B and is its class monitor. Azri is known to be a well-mannered young man, being respectful and kind towards others. Despite having a few friends, he is popular in school and well-liked by both students and teachers. He is mature and wise beyond his years. While he generally possesses good and strong moral principles, Azri is not exempt from several characteristics that are often considered taboo, which include staff-student romance and premarital sex. He is a talented fencer and is a captain of the college's fencing team. He is in a relationship with Farid, his homeroom teacher. After forming a contract with the White Moth God, Azri is granted several abilities which include photokinesis, umbrakinesis, and healing.

**Omar Farid bin Abdul Kamaruddin (Portrayer)**

A twenty-eight year old teacher who teaches mathematics and additional mathematics at the college. He is also the homeroom teacher of Form 6-B, which Azri attends. A friendly and easygoing teacher with a charismatic charm and good-looking appearance; he is very popular in school and is labelled as an eye-candy by both student and faculty. Having only taught at the college for two years, Farid is relatively new to the school. He is also an alumni, having graduated from the college ten years ago. He is currently in a relationship with Azri, whom he met six months ago, and both of them have been seeing each other for about three months. Despite his outwardly warm demeanor, Farid has a complicated past as well as other secrets. He is captured and taken to the Parallel Dimension by Tan and his minions, who plan to make use of him in a dark ritual.

**Donnell Eddard Ngayan**

Also known as Don, he is eighteen-years-old and is a repeating student in Form 6-C. He is an enigmatic young man who is usually quiet and aloof, preferring to isolate himself from others, particularly by hanging out behind one of the old school buildings, which he marks as his territory. Don and Azri are acquaintances who know about each other from reputation, though they never actually interacted. Despite Don's reservedness and cold demeanor, he often helps those who are in need. Don is actually one of the few guardians of the school, thus, he knows the school's history and the strange events transpiring around it. He is contracted to an entity known as The Guardian of the Scales. He possesses powers that are based on the seven heavenly virtues and the seven deadly sins.

**Wei Chen**

Wei Chen is a seventeen-year-old student of Form 6-A. He is known to be the top student of the school, acing in every subject and is on track to be accepted by the country's prestigious universities. He is also very active in extracurricular activities such as debates, decathlons and science competitions. Due to these reasons, he is very well-known. Chen is generally known to be curious, enthusiastic, and somewhat eccentric. Along with Don, he is also one of the school's guardians. He has the ability to transform into **a rabbit**, which is the form he used to lure Azri to the old school building. Chen is contracted to a deity known as **Heaven's Flow**. His abilities are based on the concept of *Panta Rhei* in Greek philosophy, which allows him to manipulate 'things that flow'. He currently demonstrates the abilities of hydrokinesis, aerokinesis, and limited chronokinesis.

**Rajanathan "Raj" Kumaravelu**

A twenty-nine-year-old man who was a student of St. Peter's Preparatory College, but went missing for a decade. In truth, he was stuck in the Parallel Dimension, sealed in a time-suspension space. As such, he still retains the physical appearance of a young man in his late teens. He and Farid know each other due to being senior and junior of the same class. Raj is an outgoing man with a fiery personality; he is brave, determined and action-oriented, though he often comes off as blunt and airheaded to others. Still, he possesses a good heart and is usually friendly around other people. He is a guardian who, with his band of friends, defeated the Crimson Deity and sealed it back ten years ago, at the expense of his freedom. Despite harboring regret for his lost time, he remains steadfast and believes things happen for a reason. He is contracted to a deity known as the **Flame of the Festival** (whom he believes to be Agni). His powers are based on the concept of Agni, which is associated with fire, thunder, and the Sun, thus, he exhibits pyrokinetic, electrokinetic, photokinetic, as well as healing abilities.

**Tan Wei Leong (Portrayer)**

A teacher who teaches general knowledge at the school. He is a man of muscular build in his mid to late forties. Tan is the main antagonist of the story. He is a mage who is contracted to the Crimson Deity that is bound in the Parallel Dimension at the school. He, along with the minions of the Crimson Deity which he orders, plan to release him into the real world. The crux of his plan involves using Farid as a ritual sacrifice for the summoning of the Crimson Deity. Tan is revealed to be Farid's former love interest during the latter's student years, and has been harassing Farid ever since he arrived at St. Peter as a teacher.

## Gameplay

The game is made using RPG Maker 2000! Value.

## Development

In the early draft of *Whispers in the Shadows*, the characters were initially set to be those from *Unveil*, with the elements of a parallel dimension in a school, human-deity contract, and student-teacher romance being intact. Several other elements, such as character rivalry, were scrapped from the story and reused in *Unveil* instead.