A crisp autumn wind curled around Eydis’s boots, tumbling dry leaves across the empty path that led to the cricket ground. With every step she snapped a twig, so clearly stealth remained a work in progress.

  All clear on the field, Your Majesty, Envy whispered, slipping back into her mind like fog.

  Eydis stopped at the edge of the pitch, noticing a green blazer lay in the grass. It was nearly camouflaged, except for the ugly splash of dried blood across the back.

  She clicked her tongue and felt Envy’s cold aura coil close.

  “Swallowing a whole student now? That's Gluttony, even by your standards. At least leave a scrap for the ravens, they adore leftovers.”

  Envy’s aura wobbled, distinctly offended. Your Majesty, I—

  “Dispose of this. Now.”

  Mist thickened, and became a sleek, obsidian serpent. It slithered over, unhinged its maw, and gulped the blazer with a wet pop.

  The texture, Envy groaned.

  “Disobey me, and trust me, polyester will be the least of your concerns.”

  Envy shuddered dramatically. I'd rather have your iron grip permanently latched onto my neck, Your Majesty.

  Eydis smiled. “Then that's not punishment, Envy, merely incentive.”

  Violet threads burst from her raised hand, twined round a drifting leaf, and disintegrated it to ash.

  Envy’s forked tongue flickered nervously. Message received, loud and clear. But your mana…

  Eydis sighed, “Negligible. But it’s a start."

  While Tiffany’s insecurities had served her up as Envy's delectable meal, Eydis refused to feed the Sin's hunger. It was a resistance that came with a price, however, locking away Envy's true power.

  Petty jealousy was beneath her. She would never be the Sin’s pantry, bond or no bond. No wonder it had latched onto Tiffany the moment it was free, like a fly to a honeydew-covered simpleton.

  I hear you, Your Majesty, Envy grumbled. Once my memories returned I swore loyalty.

  "Bound to this body, you're about as free as a puppy on a retractable leash. Now, quiet down before I yank the cord."

  Envy coiled up her arm in an exaggerated sulk, which she pointedly ignored.

  She knelt on the sigil she had inscribed weeks earlier. With her palms pressed against the markings, she chanted under her breath. Purple lines lit beneath her palms. The sigil began to siphon energy from the churn of adolescent resentment saturating the academy.

  The irony was not lost on her. This academy, with its cruel ranking system, unknowingly nurtured the very angsts fueling her power.

  Violet runes pulsed, lifting glowing numbers, equations, and glyphs into the air. Sensing her need, Envy began to pick a specific brand of shadows into her.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Envy. Because, really, what else? The one emotion this place produced in abundance.

  Yet even as the magic seeped into her, something inside resisted, like trying to fill a bucket with a crack in the bottom. Still, it was something. A sliver, small, but hers.

  Pre-dawn glimmered at the horizon when she severed the flow. The sigil guttered out. She stood, feeling a little stronger, but not strong enough.

  To survive, she needed her Sins, every last one.

  All of them.

  “Explain Tiffany,” she said, brushing dust from her skirt. “Was she truly your target or just an appetizer?”

  Envy’s golden eyes darted away.

  Aside from her unique personality, she held traces of mana. Not hers… the Sin admitted. But left behind by those she lingered near, enough to make her useful.

  “So the Gifted students were your main course. That explains your sudden affection for Natalia.”

  An observant queen as always, Envy hissed. This school overflows with ripe emotion and mana.

  “Then track Pride. Immediately.”

  My range is limited, the serpent protested. Detection is your talent, not mine.

  "Then use your wretched eyes for something besides ogling teenage misery," Eydis snapped. "Find the anomaly. Now!"

  Air rippled as Envy dissolved into violet smoke.

  As you command, Your Majesty.

  Then, it was gone.

  Envy was right. Sins thrived in solitude, attuning to their own domain. And since Envy’s range was tied to her presence and limitations, it could only detect anomalies within the academy’s boundaries.

  But once she regained her strength, once her influence stretched further, Envy would have more to work with.

  Given this place was dripping with mana, just like Envy, the others wouldn’t be able to resist. The arcane energy here was too strong, too tempting. They would come and she would be ready.

  After all, she was in the mood for a good hunt.

  She left the field and angled toward the library. Being a librarian, Eydis had discovered, came with unexpected perks. A private bedroom and a shower was a superpower in its own right.

  The staff lounge was blessedly empty. She locked the door, splashed water on her face, and met her own amber stare in the mirror.

  Skipping class today was survival, not rebellion. Last night she had fenced words with a girl whose vocabulary never rose above Me. By the time lies, lies, lies hit its tenth repetition, she’d seriously considered taking up poetry.

  Ode to a Screeching Banshee had a certain ring to it.

  She tilted her head slightly. Tiffany’s grimy handprint was still faintly visible against her skin.

  Ah, memories.

  If restoring her power was this tedious, returning home would take a miracle. And Damien, if he had landed here, was doubtless in some equally tragic predicament.

  Would he also lose all of his power, like her, and be reincarnated as an ordinary doppelg?nger? She had heard no news of any strange arrival other than the Eye. Or would he already have been discovered and strapped to a lab table while government-y—as Natalia put it—people poked at his alien DNA?

  Either way, she had stumbled into that elusive, almost mythical thing called me time.

  In a plush hotel suite, two figures sat across a dark mahogany tea table. The room was sealed so tightly that not even New York’s usual hum of traffic could be heard.

  That only made the tension worse.

  Damien, a knight devoted to his “chivalric principles” to the point of absurdity, sat stiff-backed, his pristine white suit gleaming as though it had been polished alongside the furniture. He clung to the armrests with a death grip.

  “Damien,” Indigo started calmly.

  “Sir Damien."

  Indigo sighed. “Fine, Sir Damien. It’s just a—”

  “That is not ‘just’ a needle,” Damien hissed. “It is a miniature pike, a device of infernal torture. Even Aurora fell to one accursed prick.”

  Indigo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mighty slayer of monsters undone by medical equipment. How inspiring.”

  “This barbarism demeans a knight.”

  “It is a blood test,” Indigo said. “Not an assassination attempt.”

  “Explain how this helps capture the Queen of Shadows.”

  Indigo leaned back, tapping a file against the table. It wouldn't, but bureaucracy demanded sacrifices.

  “Listen, sir, hunting down this so-called queen has been… challenging. Look.”

  He slid a crude sketch, drawn none other than by the esteemed knight of another world. The alleged Queen of Shadows wore wild, dark robes, her jagged teeth and tattered dress edges defying reason—or perhaps showcasing the artistic flair of a toddler.

  The toddl—Damien shrugged.

  "If her threat is so imminent," Indigo continued, "why hasn't she acted yet? Perhaps she's not even here. Which is why a bio-signature tracker, using a sample of your unique biology, could be the key to locate her.”

  Damien’s scowl softened ever so slightly. Just as Indigo thought he might be close to convincing him, a cheerful birdsong ringtone sounded, and Adrian’s face flickered onto the holo-screen.

  “Hold that thought,” Indigo sighed. He stepped into the adjoining study and took the call. “Indigo here.”

  “Professor, we have a situation,” Adrian whispered. “Chief Advisor Romanov just—”

  “Of course we do.” Indigo’s voice went flat. He closed the door, leaving Damien alone with his needle-induced crisis.