Date: One Week After Class Assignments
Location: Academy Library, Then Courtyard Fire
They said:
> "Form your team. The first mission begins in days."
David didn't elaborate. He never did.
But his meaning was clear — we weren't students anymore. We were recruits. Drafted into a world where hesitation costs lives.
Leander, Riya, Anna, Gideon, Elric, and I had gathered.
We had survived the early weeks of hell.
Now, we had to trust each other — not as classmates, but as comrades.
But we were still one short.
One name missing from our formation.
Lily.
The girl who stood at the top beside us… but never within reach.
---
I hadn't planned to find her.
The library was empty near midnight. Rows of lamplight stretching like sleepy stars. I came for peace — for ink, silence, and spell diagrams.
And there she was.
Seated at the far end, surrounded by open tomes and pages.
Her hands moved carefully — turning pages as if they held secrets no one else was meant to see.
She didn't notice me. Or maybe she did and didn't care.
I sat a table away. Quietly. Respectfully.
But I couldn't help watching as she read through a conjuration sequence and frowned. Her lips moved — silently mouthing formulas.
After a while, she sighed.
> "You're staring," she said without looking up.
I blinked. "Just... interested in your notes."
She glanced at me. Her voice didn't rise.
> "Do you always approach people like this?"
"No," I admitted. "Usually I wait until they're less likely to set me on fire."
A pause. Then... a small, very brief smile. Barely there. But it was real.
> "This spell…" she tapped the runes. "It's elegant. But its structure collapses if the caster's mana flux isn't steady. I've tried reshaping the equation, but—"
"You're overloading the second array," I said, sliding a piece of parchment toward her. "The symmetry's breaking at the midpoint. Shift your core flow here."
Her eyes followed my finger.
She was silent for a long moment.
Then she pulled the parchment closer.
---
For the next hour, we worked. Not like teacher and student. Not like rivals. Just… minds meeting over magic.
Sometimes she asked. Sometimes she challenged.
> "Why anchor the glyph with memory, not will?"
"Why do you assume mana pools should be static?"
And I answered. Not always well. But honestly.
When we disagreed, she narrowed her eyes like a duelist.
When she agreed, she didn't say it. She just turned the page and kept going.
I respected that.
---
Eventually, she leaned back and rubbed her eyes. "You're good at this."
"I've had time," I said.
"Still. Most mages rely on instinct or repetition. You use theory like… like strategy."
I shrugged. "Maybe because I'm not just a mage."
She looked at me for a while. Something unreadable behind her gaze.
Then she said:
> "You've built a team already. Why come here alone?"
"I wasn't recruiting."
"No?"
"I was… hoping to understand you better."
Silence.
Then:
> "Why?"
I looked at her.
Not her power. Not her reputation. Just her.
And I said:
> "Because even in a room full of magic, you still feel... distant.
Like you're trying to stand just close enough not to be left behind.
But far enough not to be pulled in."
She didn't speak. Her breath caught for a moment — barely — before she looked away.
"I don't work well with people," she whispered. "It's safer that way."
I nodded. "Maybe. But if you keep pushing everyone out, someday you'll need help… and no one will know how to reach you."
Another pause.
Then she closed the book between us and said:
> "Your team… still has a spot open?"
I didn't smile. I just nodded.
And she stood.
---
Later that night, under the courtyard stars, our team gathered around the fire.
Leander talked too loud. Anna bounced like a flame.
Gideon sat steady and silent, Elric passed roasted fruit, Riya grinned with messy joy.
And Lily?
She sat just within the firelight. Listening. Saying little.
But not alone.
We didn't talk about spells. Or tactics. Or teams.
Just stupid things. Childhood stories. Fears we wouldn't admit in daylight.
I didn't think she'd laugh. But she did.
Not often. Not fully.
But enough.
---
> We were no longer strangers in a storm.
For the first time… we were building something that might hold.
Tomorrow, we would train.
But tonight, in the quiet between battles—
We were something close to whole.