The next morning arrived with a calm that felt almost unnatural.
The academy grounds were quiet, wrapped in a thin veil of mist that softened the outlines of the buildings. Even the wards hummed differently—less strained, more watchful. As if they, too, understood that yesterday had changed something in us.
Lira and Seris walked with me to the training hall without speaking. Not because they were avoiding conversation, but because silence fit. Their presence hovered close—warm, attentive, protective in a way that didn't feel smothering.
When we stepped inside, Halin was already waiting.
No lecture.
No reprimand.
No sharp reminder of yesterday's near collapse.
Instead, she stood with her hands folded behind her back and simply said:
"Today, we try again."
Lira straightened slightly.
Seris folded her arms, jaw set.
And I… I tried to keep my lungs from tightening.
Halin motioned to the center circle, where the runes were faintly glowing.
"This time," she said, "you won't enter the fractured resonance alone."
Seris blinked. "Wait, what?"
Halin stepped forward, placing three crystalline nodes around the circle.
"Yesterday proved something essential," she said. "The fracture reacts not to Arin's strength, but to his fear. And your connection to him stabilizes it more effectively than any spell."
She looked at Lira.
Then Seris.
Then me.
"So you will enter it together."
My heart kicked against my ribs.
Lira inhaled a startled breath.
Seris muttered, "Oh, that's going to be fun."
"We will not provoke the fragment," Halin continued. "We will observe it—with the triad fully linked."
Lira's fingers slid instinctively toward mine.
Seris pressed a hand lightly to my shoulder.
I nodded.
"I'm ready."
It wasn't confidence.
It was trust.
The three of us stepped into the rune circle.
The air thickened—warm at first, then pulsing with a faint, rhythmic pressure.
Lira's hand found mine immediately, her fingers warm and steady.
Seris took my other hand—firm, grounding, fingers curling around my palm like she didn't plan on letting go for anything in the world.
"Arin," Halin instructed, "open the bond. Slowly."
I breathed in.
The bond stretched—
soft warmth from Lira,
steady fire from Seris,
a quiet center forming around us.
Then, deeper—
a pulse.
The fractured resonance stirred.
Not violently.
Not like yesterday's shatter.
More like someone tapping faintly on the inside of my ribs.
Lira squeezed my hand gently. "We're here."
Seris leaned closer. "Nothing's pulling you this time. We're pulling you back."
I reached inward—carefully—
touching the fractured pulse.
It flickered, weak but insistent.
A thread of cold.
A memory that wasn't mine.
A voice half-formed.
My breath caught—
—and immediately Lira's presence wrapped around the fear, softening it.
Seris's warmth pressed in from the other side, shielding me.
The fracture responded.
It didn't lash out.
It didn't spike.
It… shifted.
Like a wounded animal trying to understand the hands near it.
Halin's voice came from somewhere distant. "Good. It's stabilizing. Keep the bond steady."
Lira moved a little closer, her forehead brushing lightly against my arm.
"You're doing beautifully," she whispered.
Seris squeezed my hand. "See? Told you we've got this."
The fracture pulsed again—
not violently,
but with a note that almost resembled…
Recognition.
My chest tightened.
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
But this time, it didn't break me.
Because warmth held me from both sides.
Lira inhaled sharply. "Arin—something's changing."
She was right.
The fractured resonance wasn't pushing outward.
It was tugging inward—
toward the bond,
toward us.
Halin's voice sharpened. "Do not let it merge. Hold your ground. Do not invite it."
Lira tightened her grip.
Seris leaned closer.
I kept breathing.
The fracture trembled—
a flicker
a heartbeat
a fading echo—
And then—
It settled.
Not healed.
Not gone.
But quiet.
Halin exhaled. "Good. Very good. You've made progress today."
Lira slumped slightly, shoulders loosening with pure relief.
Seris removed her hand from mine just long enough to brush her thumb over the inside of my wrist.
I swallowed, steadying myself.
"I felt something," I murmured.
Lira and Seris looked at me immediately.
"What?" they asked together.
"Not a memory," I said slowly. "But a… feeling. Like it recognized you both."
Lira's breath hitched.
Seris's eyes widened.
Halin's expression darkened.
"That," she said quietly, "is both promising… and deeply concerning."
The bond pulsed between us—
warm, alive, resolute.
Stronger than yesterday.
Stronger than fear.
Stronger than the fracture.
And as we stepped out of the rune circle together, the three of us breathing in sync, I realized something:
The fracture wasn't just mine anymore.
It had seen the triad.
Felt the triad.
Remembered something through the triad.
And whatever lay ahead…
We would face it together.
As we stepped away from the rune circle, my legs wobbled—not from exhaustion, but from the weight of what had just happened.
I had touched the fracture without being consumed by it. Not because I was stronger, but because Lira and Seris had stood on either side of me, steadying every shake, grounding every tremor.
Lira's hand brushed mine again as if she needed to reassure herself that I was still fully here. Seris hovered close, her shoulder brushing mine once, twice, until finally she gave up the pretense and simply stayed pressed against me.
Halin watched us carefully, her sharp gaze missing nothing. "What happened today," she said, "proves the triad bond is deepening—faster than anticipated." Her eyes flicked toward me.
"But the fracture's reaction to Lira and Seris… that is new. And significant."
Lira stiffened. Seris tensed. Halin continued, tone calm but grave, "If the resonance recognizes them, it means the imprint inside you is not resisting the triad. It is watching it."
A chill ran down my spine.
Lira stepped closer, her voice soft but steady. "Then we'll show it we're not something to fear." Seris nodded, her eyes blazing. "Or something it can take." Their confidence wasn't loud or boastful—it was protective, instinctive, fierce.
And I realized something then: the fracture might carry echoes of an ancient past, but what lived in our bond now was stronger than anything the entity had left behind.
Strong enough to stand between me and whatever tried to claim me.
When Halin finally dismissed us, the three of us lingered by the training hall door, standing in a small, warm cluster of shared breath and quiet understanding.
Lira slid her fingers between mine as naturally as if she had always belonged there. Seris's hand brushed my back before settling lightly at my waist.
The bond pulsed—slow, steady, sure. And as we stepped out into the hallway, a sense of newfound steadiness settled in my chest. Whatever the fracture remembered—whatever the entity wanted—it would have to face the truth: I wasn't a broken pattern anymore.
I was part of a triad that chose to hold me, no matter how deep the fracture ran.