Aethra sat on the edge of a stone balcony, watching the stars swirl unnaturally in the sky.
> "Why do they move like that…? Like they're dancing around something that's not there."
Ever since her Awakening, her vision had changed. She could see things others couldn't—fractures in air, echoes in time, whispers in the dark.
No one had explained her rank. No one had dared.
All they told her was:
> "You are not to speak of your visions."
> "You are not to leave the eastern wing."
> "You are not to meet with Isaac again."
So of course, the first thing she planned to do…
> "Is find him."
Her fingers brushed the pendant on her neck—once a gift from her mother. It was cracked now, humming with unknown light since the Awakening. Inside it, she saw faint flickers—of Isaac's mirrored eye. Of herself. And of fire and wings.
> "Why do I keep seeing him?" she whispered. "Why do I remember things that haven't happened?"
She stood. The stars above pulsed once more. In her shadow, something shifted. A second outline.
She turned—but no one was there.
> "They're watching me too…"
---