It began with an apology.
Not from Lucien, of course. He was too busy trying to balance a biscuit on his forehead.
"Mr. Drex," said Headmistress Elenora slowly, "do you understand the seriousness of what happened in the Labyrinth?"
Lucien didn't move. "That depends. Are we talking about the maple syrup geyser, the sentient socks, or the chrono-loop banana incident?"
Renn nearly choked on laughter.
Ira clapped once. "Chrono-bananas are my new favorite fruit."
Seraphina was already massaging her temples. "Why are we like this."
The headmistress inhaled sharply. "The Labyrinth reactivated for the first time in twenty-seven years. That should have been impossible. One of you must have tampered with the base sigils."
Renn raised his hand. "It definitely wasn't me."
"Suspicious," Ira whispered.
Lucien smiled faintly, still balancing the biscuit.
"Let me be clear," Elenora continued, "this is not a game. One more unsanctioned reality breach, and I will recommend formal evaluation by the Grand Hex Council. That includes all five of you."
Caelum said nothing. He was already watching Lucien. But not like the others did. Not with confusion.
With recognition.
---
📚 Back to Class… Sort Of
The following week at Arcanum Academy was a quiet riot. No one said anything directly, but the whispers never stopped:
> "Those are the Labyrinth survivors."
> "Did you hear the hallway glitch? That's their fault."
> "I heard the blonde one eats chaos for breakfast."
Renn enjoyed the fame for exactly forty-two minutes before someone spilled spicy inkshade soup on his boots "by accident."
Ira pretended to be famous and signed five spellbooks under the name Princess Daggerface.
Lucien, for once, actually showed up to class — but only to sleep through it.
---
🧑🏫 Enter Professor Mirein
She arrived mid-week. Tall, sharp, voice like a folded knife.
"History of Arcane Warfare is not a joke," she said. "And neither are your transcripts."
Lucien opened one eye. "Is that a compliment or a threat?"
Her gaze landed on him.
"I haven't decided yet."
---
🧥 Pale Sigil, Behind the Curtain
In a vaulted room no student could access, a shadow meeting convened. Eight hooded figures. One open file.
> "The Architect is alive."
> "Lucien Drex?"
> "Memory wiped. Mostly. But the pattern fits. He altered the Labyrinth protocol."
> "And Caelum?"
> "He's still ours. But the link is fraying."
> "Activate Professor Mirein. Watch both."
---
🌙 The Library – Late Night
Lucien sat on a balcony high in the academy library, surrounded by empty chairs and humming sigils. His finger traced lazy patterns in the air — glyphs folding, unfolding. He wasn't thinking.
He was remembering.
Caelum appeared like a ghost.
"You altered the Exit Protocol," Caelum said.
Lucien didn't turn. "I was wondering when you'd bring it up."
"I bent time around my own thread. My memory wasn't erased."
Lucien sipped something from a silver cup. "Good. I would've been disappointed if you hadn't."
Caelum stepped closer. "Everything links back to you. The sigils. The traps. Even the reshaping. You designed it."
Now Lucien turned, just a little.
"You're the one they used to call The Architect, weren't you?" Caelum asked. "That was your codename before the Obsidian Project. Right?"
Lucien didn't deny it.
Caelum continued, his voice low and relentless. "Did you build the Labyrinth before the project… or during? Did your old self know I'd show up? You left a letter — for me. It wasn't written by who you are now."
Lucien gave a faint, distant smile. "Or maybe I'm just really good at predicting accidents."
"Do you even want to remember who you were?"
Lucien stared at the empty air. "Honestly… I don't recall much. They took most of it. Files burned. Memories sealed. But…"
He looked up, eyes sharper than before.
"How could I forget you? We weren't close, but we shared a cell. And him — the one who led the Project. That's the last thing I'd ever forget."
Caelum was silent.
Lucien stood, brushing invisible dust from his coat. "Tell me something, Caelum. What if the Pale Sigil isn't a separate group? What if they're just the Obsidian Project in nicer clothes?"
Caelum flinched — not physically, but in his aura.
Lucien walked past him. "Ever wonder why the professors don't stop them? Why most of the Year 4 elites are part of it?"
Caelum: "You think they're allowed to exist?"
Lucien: "I think they already run this place."
Caelum stepped closer, voice low and urgent.
"The Headmistress said the Labyrinth hasn't opened in twenty-seven years.
But both of us know this place is connected to you."
"So what does that mean, Lucien? Did the Labyrinth exist before?
Was someone using your blueprints and pretending to be you?
Could the Obsidian Project have replicated your methods?"
He paused, watching Lucien's expression for any twitch of emotion. There was none.
"Or maybe you found the original structure when you were six or ten and redesigned it from scratch.
Maybe we're missing a string piece entirely."
"Or worse…" Caelum's voice darkened, "maybe someone's watching us fall into their traps.
And if that's true — that means there's another trap master out there. One like you."
Lucien finally looked up, and for a flicker of a second, something unreadable crossed his eyes. Thought? Memory? Or just calculation?
"You're asking the right questions," he said softly. "But here's the problem with the right questions — they rarely give you comforting answers."
He took a step back, glancing out over the quiet arches of the library balcony.
"Maybe I did discover the Labyrinth years ago. Maybe I remade it. Maybe I forgot I did. Or maybe the blueprints were never mine to begin with, and someone gave them to me to keep me busy while the real game played out."
He turned, smirking faintly.
"As for someone watching us?" He gave a short laugh. "People have always been watching us, Caelum. Just like you were instructed to watch me by the Pale Sigil."
Lucien tilted his head slightly, voice light but dangerous.
"So if there's another trap master out there?" He gave a slow, theatrical shrug.
"Wouldn't that just make everything… more interesting?"
He vanished down the stairs.
Caelum didn't follow.
But as the shadows swallowed Lucien, Caelum whispered:
"...Architect."