The thirty minutes ended without a chime.
No alarm.
No interruption.
The room simply *noticed*.
Light gathered once more at the chamber's center, and Dean Aurelion Vael stepped back into existence, robes rippling as if brushed by unseen tides.
"I trust," the Dean said gently, "you have chosen."
Liam and Seraphine stood together.
Not side by side.
*Together.*
Seraphine reached for Liam's hand first.
He took it.
The instant their fingers intertwined, the chamber reacted.
The sigils beneath the floor ignited in cascading patterns, light racing outward in concentric rings. Gravity stuttered. Training batons that had not fully dematerialized snapped back into being and *lifted*, spinning slowly in the air.
Electric-blue kinetic arcs cracked between their joined hands, not violent—but *overflowing*. The air hummed, thick with pressure, like a storm holding its breath.
Aurelion did not flinch.
Instead, the Dean watched—intently.
"We choose each other," Seraphine said, her voice steady despite the energy screaming around them. "Not as a treaty. Not as a concession."
Liam tightened his grip, anchoring the surge without breaking it.
"We choose alliance by will," he added. "If the Navy requires strength—then let it be chosen, not imposed."
The energy spiked.
The stars beyond the glass warped, lines of light bending inward toward the chamber as if drawn by gravity that had no right to exist.
Aurelion raised one hand.
The room stabilized—not silenced, but *contained*.
"…As I suspected," the Dean murmured.
The holographic crests vanished.
Aurelion stepped closer, eyes luminous with something rare.
Approval.
"Your decision is accepted," the Dean said. "And respected."
The pressure eased. Objects drifted gently back to the floor, though faint sparks still danced along the air between Liam and Seraphine's skin.
"You will not be punished for this choice," Aurelion continued. "However—its consequences require supervision."
The Dean turned, gesturing toward the sealed exit.
"Come. You will walk a path few cadets are permitted to see."
The chamber dissolved around them.
---
They stood in a space that defied the Academy's clean geometry.
Stone and starlight fused seamlessly here, ancient runes etched into obsidian walls that pulsed with slow, living light. Gravity felt… *optional*. The room existed half a step out of phase with reality.
"The Sanctum of Convergence," Aurelion said. "Where bonds are studied."
Seraphine exhaled softly. "So we're an anomaly."
"Yes," the Dean replied. "And no."
Aurelion faced them fully now.
"You are experiencing a **Resonant Bond**," the Dean said. "Exceptionally rare. Older than the Academy itself."
The Dean extended a hand, and an image formed—two stars orbiting one another, their gravity wells overlapping.
"Such bonds occur when compatible talents align across multiple domains—combat, command, and support—*and* when intent is mutual."
Liam frowned. "So… the energy?"
"Is excess," Aurelion said simply. "You are producing more than your bodies know how to contain."
Seraphine glanced at their still-linked hands, faint sparks crawling along her knuckles. "And the… fritzing?"
Aurelion allowed a small smile.
"Your bond is attempting to synchronize," the Dean said. "But you are untrained. Each time you touch, your talents try to harmonize fully—pulling energy from the surrounding environment."
Liam swallowed. "Is it dangerous?"
"To enemies," Aurelion said. "Eventually."
The Dean's expression grew serious.
"To *you*, if left unchecked."
Aurelion stepped closer.
"That is why I have chosen you," the Dean said, voice lowering, "as my personal disciples."
Seraphine's eyes widened. "Personal—?"
"You will train outside standard cadet structures," Aurelion continued. "You will learn restraint, focus, and integration. Politics. War ethics. Bond control."
The Dean's gaze locked onto Liam.
"And survival."
Liam felt the weight of it—of history, of expectation, of something ancient leaning closer.
"Why us?" he asked quietly.
Aurelion's eyes flicked briefly toward the stars beyond the sanctum walls.
"Because the entities you will face do not fear fleets," the Dean said. "They fear *convergences*."
The sparks finally faded.
But the connection remained—steady now, warm instead of volatile.
"Your bond," Aurelion concluded, "is not a weakness."
The Dean turned away, robes trailing light.
"It is a warning to the universe."
Somewhere beyond steel and stars, something ancient recoiled—
—because two cadets had chosen each other.