A subtle pull in the air, like the breath before a storm. The scent of damp earth and flowers intensified—too sweet, sickly, like perfume poured over rot.
And then—
the shadows at the far end of the greenhouse shifted.
Not with noise.
But with presence.
From them, she stepped forward.
Clad in deep violet and emerald silk, her robes moved like they were alive—woven with the veins of blooming vines. Her dark green hair fell like waterfalls down her back, untouched by dust or sweat. Her steps were soundless. Deliberate.
But it was her eyes that stopped everything.
Cold. Sharp. Knowing.
Not furious, not panicked.
But calculating.
A queen who already knew the outcome before she arrived.
And when she spoke, her voice was soft—but it carried farther than any scream.
"That's enough."
Yuxin's shadows collapsed in an instant—not by force, but by instinct.
Her body went rigid. Her head pounded with a sudden wave of nausea. A bloom of invisible pain unfurled in her chest, and her knees buckled slightly.
She wasn't bleeding.
But her mind thought she was.
It was her fear, her rage, her trauma, blooming inside her like a poison flower.
Ruka clutched her temples. "What… is this feeling…?"
Blanche's pupils narrowed. "It's her Pacta..."
"Bloom of Malediction."
The air around Seryn shimmered, and vines with glowing petals bloomed behind her—pure illusion, but powerful. Her presence alone bent the senses.
She walked past the fallen students—unbothered, unsympathetic. Then she stopped in front of Marleth, who immediately bowed her head, shaking.
"Milady, I—"
But Seryn raised a hand. Just one.
And Marleth froze mid-sentence.
Not magically.
Psychologically.
"I do not recall authorizing guests into Viridia Hollow," Seryn said, her tone icy. "Nor ordering you to antagonize visitors under my name."
"I… I didn't know they followed—"
Seryn turned her head slightly.
That was all it took.
Marleth lowered her eyes, trembling.
She didn't yell. She didn't strike.
She didn't have to.
Seryn turned back to the trio—Blanche, Ruka, and Yuxin, who was now standing again but still tense, eyes burning.
Then, with perfect grace, Seryn bowed her head lightly.
Not deeply.
But enough to be deliberate.
"I must apologize. This incident was caused by my followers'... overzealous decisions."
Her words were clean, precise, like a scalpel cutting just above the bone.
"This Hollow is not meant for conflict. Nor was it meant for interrogation. If you are here with questions... then you should have come to me directly."
Yuxin wiped a line of blood from her lip, scoffing. "Pretty words for someone who gassed us the second we stepped in."
Seryn didn't even blink.
"Had I meant to harm you," she said softly, "you wouldn't be standing."
Silence again.
She studied them all.
Then she stepped closer, looking Blanche directly in the eyes.
"Lady Equinox. I will answer your questions. But next time, I suggest you knock before trespassing into another garden."
The Hollow shifted once more.
Within minutes, the chaos of broken glass and scattered alchemical tools had been swept away—by Marleth, who now moved silently, face flushed with humiliation. She poured steaming tea into fine porcelain cups, hands steady but stiff.
At the center of the greenhouse clearing, a small round table had been conjured from entwined vines and lacquered wood.
Two chairs faced each other—one already occupied by Seryn Eloweth, who sat with the effortless poise of someone who had never known fear.
Blanche approached and took the opposite seat, movements careful, every inch the image of a noble trained for courts and councils.
Behind her stood Yuxin and Ruka—silent, alert, tension brimming just beneath the surface.
Marleth retreated after serving, standing stiffly by Seryn's side, ignored except when needed.
Seryn lifted her cup delicately, her dark green hair spilling like a curtain over one shoulder.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Only the soft clink of porcelain.
Then Seryn said, voice as smooth as silk against a blade's edge:
"I commend your tenacity, Lady Equinox. Most who glimpse the Hollow choose to forget it exists."
Blanche met her gaze calmly. "We didn't come to forget."
Seryn's lips curled slightly—not quite a smile. "No, I imagine you came chasing ghosts."
Blanche set her tea down, untouched. "We came chasing the truth."
Another beat of silence passed.
Finally, Blanche leaned forward, voice even.
"There's a student missing. Connected to the east wing. Connected to this place, whether directly or through the flows of Æther that bleed from here."
Seryn didn't flinch.
She sipped her tea, then set it down with a graceful tap.
"I am aware one of your fellow students disappeared," she said lightly. "And yes, they were last seen near the borders of Viridia Hollow."
Behind Blanche, Yuxin tensed, fists clenching slightly. Ruka shifted her weight—listening carefully.
"However," Seryn continued, "I have no knowledge of what happened to them afterward."
She tilted her head slightly, as if studying Blanche like one would a particularly interesting page in a ledger.
"If they ventured into restricted territory, it was not by my invitation. Nor is their absence a result of my faction's hand."
Blanche narrowed her eyes slightly. "Yet you admit the area was under your influence."
"Influence is not the same as ownership," Seryn replied smoothly. "If every shadow that crosses this garden was mine, I would be a very busy woman."
Marleth twitched faintly beside her, but didn't speak.
Blanche adjusted her tone, pushing slightly. "And the feather?"
Seryn's fingers brushed the edge of her cup.
"Ah... that, I can explain more directly."
Her voice remained calm, but the air grew subtly heavier.
"The feather you found once belonged to a Pacta experiment I was developing—one tied to my Astraga's bloom cycle. It was not... stable."
Blanche caught the implication immediately. "You lost control of it."
Seryn smiled, the kind of smile that had too many meanings behind it.
"Control is a relative term. I prefer to say... it outgrew its roots before I was ready."
Ruka frowned. "So whatever left that feather... might still be loose?"
Seryn turned her gaze slightly—cold and unblinking—onto Ruka.
For a heartbeat, Ruka almost forgot how to breathe.
Then Seryn spoke, still to Blanche but with a glint of amusement.
"Lady Equinox, I admire your persistence. But the answers you seek may lie beyond my garden's walls."
Another sip of tea. Perfectly composed.
"And if you continue digging... be prepared for roots far deeper—and darker—than you expected."
Blanche adjusted the porcelain cup in her hand, tapping a single finger against its side. Her voice, when she spoke, was calm. Measured.
"If you don't mind, Lady Eloweth... I would like to know more about this experiment. What exactly slipped from your control?"
Seryn didn't seem offended. In fact, she seemed almost... amused by the question.
She set her own cup down and leaned back in her seat, folding her hands neatly atop her lap.
"Curiosity suits you, Lady Equinox. Very well."
Her gaze drifted lazily upward, as if seeing something far beyond the vines and glass around them.
"The Pacta I developed was designed to evolve—an organic symbiosis. Not a weapon. Not a soldier. Something... purer."
Blanche listened intently, while Ruka scribbled notes quietly behind her.
"The goal was to create a living reservoir of Æther," Seryn continued. "A creature that could stabilize environmental magic flux. Heal, nurture, even enhance botanical growth."
There was no arrogance in her voice. Only the passion of a scholar.
"But as you may have noticed," she said, eyes glinting slightly, "Æther is rarely so easily tamed."
Blanche nodded once. "It mutated."
"Yes," Seryn confirmed. "It grew beyond the parameters I set. Intelligent. Mobile. Curious. I chose not to destroy it immediately... a decision I now see was perhaps shortsighted."
Yuxin muttered under her breath, "You think?"
Seryn ignored the comment gracefully.
"It wandered. Found places where Æther was weaker, more chaotic. Places like the Gray Zone. It left traces—petals, feathers, disturbances."
Blanche leaned forward slightly.
"But you didn't weaponize it. You never intended to use it for... more sinister purposes."
Seryn smiled again—small, controlled.
"No. I have no interest in petty warfare. Let Kael break bones, let Selene fix bets, let Vargan peddle fear. My work... lies in creation. In perfection."
There was an undeniable pride in her voice.
Not the pride of dominance.
But the pride of craftsmanship.
"I did not command it to attack students. Nor to abduct anyone. If it has become dangerous, it is because Æther itself twisted what I grew."
Blanche absorbed this in silence, weighing every word.
Ruka glanced at her, uncertain. Yuxin still looked like she didn't trust a single thing coming out of Seryn's mouth—but even she could feel there was no overt malice in the way Seryn spoke.
Only ambition.
Seryn sipped her tea once more, then added lightly:
"If you wish to chase monsters, Lady Equinox... I suggest you look beyond the gardens."
A pause.
"Something older stirs beneath your academy. Something even my Hollow would not dare embrace."
Her eyes flickered toward the ceiling.
As if... listening.
As if something was coming.
The last words from Seryn hung in the air like a fading spell.
Blanche opened her mouth to respond—but before she could, a gust of sharp, unnatural wind ripped through the Hollow.
The vines trembled. The glass above moaned.
Yuxin and Ruka stiffened instantly. Blanche snapped her head toward the entrance.
From the shadows, Vila emerged.
Her blond hair whipped like a banner in the gale.
Her golden eyes burned with cold, ancient rage.
No words.
No warning.
Only attack.
A blade of crystallized shadow bloomed in Vila's hand, and in a blink she crossed the distance between her and Seryn—faster than any normal eye could follow.
She struck downward—a vicious arc aimed straight for Seryn's heart.
Seryn didn't flinch.
She moved.
One simple, elegant step sideways.
The blade missed by inches, slicing a clean line through the air.
Before Vila could recover, Seryn's arm shot forward—grabbing Vila's wrist with iron precision—and twisted.
Vila staggered, though a small huff escaped her lips and a small tuck of an amused smile forming on the elf's lips, Seryn didn't let go.
In a fluid, effortless motion, Seryn redirected Vila's own momentum, slamming her back-first onto the ground with a heavy thud.
No magic. No spectacle.
Just pure, brutal efficiency.
Yuxin cursed under her breath. "Holy shit…"
Ruka's eyes widened. Even Blanche was momentarily stunned.
Seryn loomed over Vila, her expression unreadable.
"I wondered how long it would take you," she said softly.
Vila gave Seryn a blink, forcing herself up despite the shock, continuously hopping to her allies' side after recovering with a small jump from that inconvenient spot. Her blade shattered into mist.
"You and your gardens of lies," Vila hissed, voice sharp with disdain. "You sow nothing but ruin. You think you can twist Æther and call it beauty?"
Seryn didn't react with anger. Only a slight tilt of the head, like a queen humoring a cold madwoman.
"You cling to the past like moss clings to stone," Seryn replied coolly. "The world evolves. You would let it rot out of fear."
"Fear? Or is it half-baked knowledge you perceive as special that you challenged yourself with?", Vila responded with disappointment etched on her face.
Vila's poker face persisted, but Blanche stepped forward quickly, raising a hand.
"Stupidity, and I was just giving the last nail.", Vila spoke before she was stopped by Blanche's effort.
"Enough," Blanche said, voice cutting across the rising tension. "I want an explanation."
Seryn turned her gaze to Blanche—sharp, assessing—but then gave a small, almost gracious nod.
She spoke with perfect composure:
"Lady Equinox, let me make one thing clear. I do not corrupt Æther. I refined it. It is something I guide."
She gestured around at the Hollow—at the blooms glowing with impossible colors, the vines humming softly with controlled magic.
"Æther is wild, chaotic, self-destructive. Left alone, it decays—frays the very fabric of life. I do not force it. I cultivate it."
Seryn's eyes met Vila's, cold and unyielding.
"You call it pollution. I call it evolution."
Vila spat on the ground, standing fully now, tense and dangerous.
"You don't guide anything. You just poison what you don't understand."
Blanche's mind raced, weighing the words carefully.
Two forces stood before her.
Both convinced they were right.
Both dangerous in their own way.
The tension in Viridia Hollow was so thick it was almost suffocating.
Vila stood rigid, breath sharp, shadows still coiling faintly at her feet. Seryn remained poised, one hand resting lightly on the back of her chair, as if she hadn't just thrown Vila to the ground moments before.
Blanche took a breath and straightened her posture, refusing to let the situation spiral further.
"If both of you claim to protect Æther," Blanche said, voice calm but edged, "then explain. In full. No riddles. What exactly are you afraid of?"
The Hollow was silent.
Then Vila spoke first, voice low and tense.
"Æther isn't just energy," she said. "It's a memory. Soul. It breathes with the world. And the more you tamper with it... the more you wake up to things that should stay asleep."
Her golden eyes darted briefly to the vines overhead, to the glowing flowers.
"Your experiments—" she spat the word like venom, "—scratch too close to roots you can't control."
Seryn's eyes narrowed slightly, but she remained composed.
"And your solution, guardian?" Seryn asked smoothly. "To let the world decay into oblivion because you fear its growth?"
Vila didn't respond, she knows she doesn't have to. Truth is something you don't share to those unworthy.
Blanche caught that hesitation, a hint.
Something Vila knew—something she wasn't saying, something that everyone in the room wouldn't be so prepared to hear about.
But before Blanche could push further, Vila took a sharp step forward, placing herself between the trio and Seryn.
"We're leaving," Vila said, tone brooking no argument. "Now."
Yuxin glanced at Blanche, uncertain. Ruka frowned, tightening her hold on her notes.
Blanche didn't move immediately. She looked between Vila and Seryn—two forces, two half-truths.
And Seryn, ever graceful, offered one final, parting shot.
"By all means," she said, her voice honeyed but cold. "Run back to your shelters."
Then she fixed Blanche with a gaze like knives wrapped in velvet.
Then, without a word, she turned.
"We're not running back, we're too fed up with your nonsensical upbringings."
Vila's voice cut through air, while Yuxin and Ruka followed quickly, shadows pressing in tighter as Vila led them out of Viridia Hollow—swift and silent.
"But remember this, Lady Equinox—"
A pause from Seryn, thus ignoring Vila's words, just enough to make the words weigh heavier.
"Not all ancient relics deserve your trust. Some things rot... long before they die."
Blanche held her stare for a heartbeat longer, reading every layer of meaning behind those words. While Vila's face winced in disgust after listening to words filled with, mockery?