[Celestial Academy — Days 12 to 15]
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[Summoning Room — Old Building — Day 12 — 2:00 AM]
Alex returned alone.
Deliberately — he woke at two, verified that the corridor had no coverage during the hours Kira had mapped, and went.
The summoning room.
The circle on the floor.
He sat in the center.
Where he had stood at eighteen with three years of academy behind him and the certainty that this day would change everything.
Fragment 1 recognized the place.
Fragment 4 as well — quieter, more observing than recognizing.
Alex looked at the circle.
*Ms. Walsh used to say that summoning was the moment where the mage and the world recognized each other. That the companion wasn't assigned — it was found.*
He had remembered it during the Ceremony.
He had said it quietly while everyone laughed at the empty circle.
And then the circle hadn't been empty.
Only no one saw it that way except Alex.
*How long were you here, Grim?*
