The Academy let me walk back in.
That was the first mistake.
Or maybe it was theirs.
The gates parted without ceremony. No challenge. No stares. No patrol tightening ranks when they saw me. The stone beneath my boots felt the same as it always had—solid, familiar, worn smooth by generations of knights pretending permanence meant safety.
Nothing followed me.
No eyes tracking my movement.
No pressure tightening when I crossed thresholds.
No hidden figures looming at the edge of awareness.
The air felt… normal.
That was wrong.
I walked the long corridors at an unhurried pace, forcing my breathing steady, posture relaxed. Aura stayed buried. Will pressed deep but contained, like a fist clenched inside my chest.
Nothing reacted.
Students passed me like I was just another body in uniform. Some glanced twice, some looked away too fast—but no one stopped. Instructors walked by without a word. Sir Aldred didn't appear. No masked figures watched from balconies or shadows.
It felt like being erased while standing fully visible.
The day crawled forward.
Classes ended one by one. Bells rang. Training yards emptied. Groups dispersed toward dorms and halls.
Still nothing.
By the time the sun dipped low enough to cast long shadows through the courtyard arches, unease had grown into something sharp and insistent under my skin.
They weren't watching me.
They'd finished moving the pieces.
I didn't know why my feet carried me there.
Habit.
Memory.
Hope.
The Class 2-S training grounds stood quiet and wide, stone marked by countless strikes and footsteps that had once belonged to us. As I stepped through the entrance arch, voices echoed faintly—laughter, complaints, the scrape of steel being put away.
They were all there.
For a heartbeat, I just stood and watched.
Theon saw me first.
His eyes widened, then his face split into pure, unfiltered relief.
"RAIN!!"
He didn't hesitate.
Didn't wait.
Didn't think about protocol or tension or anything that had changed while I'd been gone.
He ran.
The impact nearly knocked the breath out of me as he slammed into me, arms wrapping tight like he was afraid I'd vanish if he let go.
"You idiot," he muttered into my chest. "Where have you been?"
Behind him, heads turned.
Conversations died.
I felt it immediately—the shift.
Not hostility.
Distance.
Only three stepped forward.
Theon, clinging like gravity itself.
Kazen, slower, cautious, one arm still carefully guarded.
Arion, solid and quiet, eyes sharp as he measured my posture and the injuries I hadn't fully hidden.
The others watched.
Seraphyne didn't move.
Kai stayed where he was, jaw tight.
Liam looked like he wanted to say something and didn't know how.
I noticed.
I pretended not to.
Theon pulled back just enough to look at me properly. "You look like hell."
I snorted. "You should see the other guys."
Kazen studied me carefully. "Where've you been, Rain?"
I considered telling the truth.
I didn't.
"Busy," I said lightly. "Got pulled into some… internal attention. Academy stuff."
Arion frowned. "That's vague."
"On purpose," I replied.
Theon opened his mouth, then stopped himself. "Are you in trouble?"
"No," I lied. "Not really."
It felt wrong the moment the word left my mouth, but I kept my expression steady.
"I don't want you worrying," I added. "They're just… keeping an eye on me."
Kazen's brows knitted together. "Keeping an eye on you usually comes with paperwork. And escorts."
I shrugged. "Guess they're trying something new."
They didn't look convinced.
But they didn't push.
Then I looked around again.
Counted faces.
Once.
Twice.
Something went cold.
"Where's Varein?"
Theon blinked. "He's not with you?"
My stomach dropped.
Kazen tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"He said," Kazen continued slowly, "that he was going to hang out with you. Said you two had stuff to talk about."
Arion's expression hardened.
"We haven't seen him since yesterday," Kazen added. "Why?"
I stared at him.
"He said," I replied quietly, "he was going back to the Academy."
Silence fell heavier than any aura pressure ever had.
Kazen's face shifted—confusion turning into realization.
"That doesn't—"
I stepped back.
Anger surged, hot and immediate, but I crushed it down on instinct.
That was enough.
I turned and walked.
Didn't explain.
Didn't answer when Theon called my name again.
Behind me, I heard movement—someone reacting.
Kazen caught up quickly, long strides despite favoring his arm.
"Rain," he said, trying to keep his voice even. "Maybe he's just busy. Or—"
I didn't respond.
Didn't look at him.
Aura stayed locked down. Will compressed so tightly it felt like it might crack bone.
That scared me more than letting it flare.
Because this was controlled anger.
And controlled anger was sharp.
Kazen faltered when he realized I wasn't going to slow.
"Rain," he tried again, quieter this time.
Nothing.
We stopped in front of an unmarked section of wall that looked no different from any other corridor to anyone who hadn't felt it before.
I raised my hand.
The stone shifted.
Kazen froze. "Rain… what is this?"
I pushed the door open.
The chamber was empty.
No glass wall.
No silhouettes.
No voices.
Just old stone and the echo of my footsteps as I crossed the floor.
My chest tightened.
"This is where they spoke to me," I said flatly.
Kazen swallowed. "Who?"
I turned in a slow circle.
Nothing.
No wards reacting. No presence answering.
The silence snapped.
"WHERE IS VAREIN?!"
My voice slammed through the chamber, reverberating off ancient stone. Aura burst outward without permission—water surging in violent ripples, white thunder cracking along the walls.
Kazen stumbled back as the pressure hit him.
"You can target me!" I shouted. "You can watch me, hunt me, cage me—"
I took a step forward.
"But leave them out of it!!"
The air twisted.
Eyes opened in the walls.
Masks emerged from shadow after shadow.
Eight this time.
I moved instantly.
No thinking.
No strategy.
No restraint.
I crossed the distance like a storm breaking containment.
First blade severed tendons. Second shattered on impact with my shoulder guard as I drove through it. My sword screamed as it met resistance after resistance, edge chipping faintly, metal crying under abuse.
I didn't stop.
Didn't breathe.
Water roared around my legs, carrying me through space faster than thought, white thunder punching through guards and joints like judgment made physical.
One tried to flank—
I turned and cut through him mid-step.
Another raised a spear—
I broke it with brute force and slammed my knee into his mask hard enough to cave it in.
They fell fast.
Not because I was careful.
Because I had enough.
When the last one dropped, I nearly collapsed.
Blood soaked my sleeve again.
My lungs burned.
My sword's edge was chipped in three places now, small scars that screamed of overuse.
Five more presences stepped forward.
They didn't wear masks.
They didn't need to.
They stood calmly, untouched by the carnage.
Five figures.
No weapons visible.
Authority radiated from them like a suffocating fog.
"You defying us was a poor decision," one said.
Then—
Movement behind them.
Masked figures stepped forward.
And between them—
Varein.
Hands bound. Bruised. Breathing hard.
"RAIN!" he shouted. "KAZEN!"
Relief hit me so hard my vision blurred for a second.
He was alive.
That mattered.
A hand lifted.
Knives rose.
Edges hovered at Varein's throat.
"You bastard," I growled. "He's a student. You think the royal family would allow—"
They laughed.
The sound was light.
Dismissive.
"The royal family?" one echoed. "They don't know."
Another tilted their head. "And we are very good at ensuring they don't."
My blood turned to ice.
"You should never have crossed us," one continued calmly. "You should have become what you were designed to be."
"A weapon," another added.
I bared my teeth. "I'll die before I become yours."
Good.
That made them smile.
The blade pressed closer to Varein's throat.
"Sheath your sword," one said. "Now."
I stood there shaking.
Every instinct screamed to move.
To kill.
To burn the chamber down.
I couldn't.
Varein met my eyes and shook his head.
I clenched my fist so hard my nails cut into my palm.
Slowly—
I lowered my blade.
The sound it made sliding back into the sheath felt like betrayal.
Ropes snapped around my arms instantly.
Kazen cried out as he was seized too.
"No—wait! Let them go!" I shouted. "They didn't do anything—!"
Something struck the back of my head.
The world spun.
As darkness took me, the last thing I heard was Varein's voice shouting my name.
I realized that the Academy had never been empty.
It had just been waiting.