The Academy did not wake the same.
Silence spread faster than sound.
Corridors once filled with light now flickered unevenly, as if the very walls struggled to remember their rhythm.
Aftermath
The doors of Aethern Hall burst open.
Students stumbled out—
Weak.
Shaken.
Some barely standing.
Lyra collapsed to her knees, breath uneven.
Lumi hovered beside her, its glow unstable—flickering between gold… and faint violet.
"Lyra!"
Eira rushed forward, supporting her.
Draven leaned heavily against a pillar, his hands still trembling with residual heat.
Riven winced, sparks crackling uncontrollably from his fingertips.
Seren held his head slightly, as if time itself hadn't fully settled around him.
Nyra stood still—
Too still.
Her shadow… not fully matching her movements.
Lockdown
A sharp bell rang across the Academy.
Once.
Twice.
Then continuously.
"ALL STUDENTS TO THEIR DORMS IMMEDIATELY."
Veyra's voice echoed across every corridor—
Not calm.
Not controlled.
"THIS IS A LEVEL-ONE LOCKDOWN."
Doors sealed.
Barriers activated.
Runes ignited across the Academy walls.
For the first time—
Fear was no longer hidden.
Fear Spreads
Whispers filled every hallway.
"Aethern Hall reopened…""They triggered something…""Something came back with them…"
Lyra sat silently in her dorm later that night.
Her hands still glowed faintly.
Not fully her own.
"…It spoke to us," she whispered.
Lumi curled beside her—
But its light wasn't calm anymore.
It was… listening.
Investigation Begins
Deep within the Academy—
Teachers gathered.
Ashveil.Seraph.Kaelith.
"The Vault pathways are active again," Ashveil said grimly.
Kaelith's voice lowered."…No. Something deeper than the Vault."
Seraph looked toward Veyra."You knew this could happen."
Silence.
Veyra's Partial Truth
Veyra stepped forward slowly.
Her expression unreadable.
"There are forces beneath this Academy," she said,
"…older than the Divisions."
A pause.
"And your students…"
Her gaze hardened slightly.
"…have just awakened them."
"But what exactly—" Seraph began.
"No."
Veyra cut her off.
"Not yet."
Ending
Far below—
The same violet veins pulsed again.
Stronger.
Faster.
And this time—
They answered back.