While Vix had taught her how to read — and Rin genuinely enjoyed it — she rarely picked up a book unless it was to study for class. The languages got tricky. English, three different sets of runes, inscriptions, and endless symbols and numbers; all of it quickly overwhelmed her.

  English and the standard symbols were easy enough to memorize, but once magic got involved, everything became harder.

  If it hadn’t been for Eddie, she wouldn’t have made it this far. Sometimes the thought made her chest tighten — that sinking, hollow pit in her stomach that no spell could ease. Her heartbeat would thump so loudly it drowned out her own thoughts, her ears pulsing from the rush of blood. She’d never been good at hiding fear. If she was scared, she admitted it immediately.

  But that was when Uncle Remmy would take her hand — literally. Just that shared warmth made it feel like the fear was shared too.

  Drenco’s wrath, midterms and finals, failed spells, missed incantations… none of it mattered when he told her,

  He knew more. He knew better.

  And yet, beneath all that, her biggest worry was figuring out she even was.

  She was Rin — a girl from a desert with no memories, in a world filled with magic. She could perform magic herself, sure… but she’d never painted her nails, never dyed her hair, never worn the powders or creams.

  Then Chippy came along. Her roommate, her first real friend. The girl who filled their shared room with laughter, complaints, and chaos. Chippy would whine, tease, and coax Rin into joining her antics — and Rin would resist every time, only to regret it later.

  She’d hold Eddie’s hand sometimes, shyly, nervously. He’d always grumble and scoff calling her ridiculous for it. But it was hand she’d always find waiting when she needed comfort. Everything Rin knew about kindness and confidence came from her — from the way Chippy could cry one second and grin through tears the next.

  Rin smiled faintly at the memory. The darkness outside didn’t feel so heavy anymore.

  Her thoughts drifted as she sat in the passenger seat of her father’s levitating car. The world outside was still — no city lights, no hum of magic engines in the distance. Just the hum of their own.

  She turned her head toward him. Steve’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. His eyes were focused, sharp, but his lips held that familiar soft smile.

  Rin frowned slightly.

  “We’re almost there, baby,” Steve said, still facing forward. He didn’t even need to look at her — he knew.

  Rin smiled back. “Yes, Dad,” she said, trying to sound patient for him.

  She turned her gaze to the window again, mostly to look like she was doing something. But there was nothing to see. The forest stretched endlessly around them, its canopy forming a ceiling so thick not even moonlight could reach their car.

  Shapes flickered in the glass as she stared outside — echoes of memory. Just before winter break, when the cold bit her cheeks and nose until they turned red. When she had to watch Eddie and Chippy being driven away in that black car, powerless to follow. Her heart fluttered at the thought, and she covered her mouth, stifling a tiny giggle.

  She remembered seeing her father for the first time in the main office. The moment still burned bright in her mind — the warmth in his voice, the disbelief in his eyes, the tears that almost fell as he looked at her like he couldn’t breathe.

  He had the same kind of energy as an Enforcer… strong, commanding, reassuring. Like Vix, when she’d first met him in the desert. But somehow, Steve’s warmth felt deeper. Safer.

  None of the people in her life before him would have mattered as much if it wasn’t for him — her beloved father.

  It was Steve who brought her to Chippy’s home. Only then did Chippy get to teach her how to paint her nails, how to smile into a mirror, how to hold her wand with confidence. It was Steve who sharpened her spell-casting until even Eddie stared in awe.

  And sometimes — guilty as it made her feel — his open declarations of love for her almost made her wish Uncle Remmy could hear them, just to know someone else cared that much.

  Rin covered her face with both hands, smiling beneath them. She didn’t want to hurt her uncle, but… she had everything she needed now. Everything she’d ever wanted — in less than a year.

  She sent a quiet prayer of gratitude to whichever gods might be listening.

  Then she peeked over her fingers at Steve again. He was still driving, eyes sharp, both hands gripping the wheel, focused on the road ahead. She didn’t know where they were going, but it didn’t matter.

  Because it was .

  She didn’t even think about her mother anymore. That thought hadn’t crossed her mind once since meeting Steve. He was enough. More than enough.

  #

  “Over here, Master Chippy?” Jarvis asked, pulling the sleek black car up to the checkpoint.

  Immediately, a group of knights rushed forward, rifles raised, armor glinting under the barrier lights.

  “Identify yourselves!” one barked.

  “We are from the Staffire residence,” Jarvis declared sharply, straightening his posture. “My master has concerns regarding the operations in this area.”

  The lead guard froze, glancing at his partner. “…Captain… Staffire?”

  The second guard stepped closer, peering into the tinted window. “If this concerns the Captain, then who are these children in your vehicle?” he asked, suspicion heavy in his tone.

  Eddie swallowed hard, his teeth clattering audibly. His entire body was trembling.

  Chippy rolled her eyes. “Oh, for crying out loud.” She reached over and pressed the window button.

  The glass lowered halfway. “Hey, idiot!” she called out.

  The guard nearly jumped out of his armor. “M-Master Chippy?!”

  “That’s to you. Now let us in.”

  “Y-Yes, ma’am! Right away!”

  Chippy raised the window again with a little flick of her wrist, smirking smugly as the knights scrambled to drop the barrier. The energy field flickered and split open, allowing their car through.

  Eddie stared at her. “I can’t believe that worked,” he muttered, half impressed, half horrified.

  Chippy beamed. “I can’t believe it either!” she squealed, clasping her hands together.

  “It’s that it did! What the heck?!” Eddie groaned, throwing his hands up.

  Jarvis suppressed a smile as he steered the car through the security gate and parked among rows of armored transports and magical defense vehicles. Officers moved briskly across the lot, enchanted weapons at the ready.

  In the distance, Eddie spotted a man with crimson hair in Enforcer robes boarding an EMV already humming for takeoff.

  “Whoa… is that Lieutenant Stark?!” Eddie gasped, pressing his face against the window.

  “Who?” Chippy asked, blinking innocently.

  “…Never mind,” Eddie sighed, dragging a hand down his face.

  Jarvis parked and unlocked the doors. “I’ll remain with the vehicle, Masters,” he said politely. “Please notify me when you are ready to return home.”

  “Got it! Thanks so much, Jarvis!” Chippy chirped, hopping out and tugging Eddie by the wrist.

  Together, they walked hand in hand through the military lockdown—two kids weaving through squads of armored knights, glowing sigil posts, and the hum of containment wards surrounding the warehouse.

  #

  Steve jerked the car to a stop the moment light spilled across the windshield. He cut the engine and shut off every lamp, every rune—until the car was swallowed by the night.

  Down the hill, the warehouse glowed faintly under the moon, its perimeter crawling with Enforcers and vehicles.

  “What the hell…?” he muttered under his breath.

  Rin leaned forward, following his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

  “I wasn’t expecting so many…

  Enforcers here,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Rin blinked.

  “Never mind,” he said quickly, forcing a smile. “We can still do this. I can still show you what I’ve always wanted to.”

  He stepped out, closing his door softly before circling to her side. The door clicked open, and Rin hopped out, her boots crunching against the grass.

  Steve drew his wand immediately, his other hand gripping Rin’s smaller one. “Stay close,” he whispered.

  Together they moved down the hill, crouched low, weaving between parked transports and field tents. Enforcers shouted orders in the distance, their armor reflecting the blue shimmer of magical barriers. Steve’s grip tightened whenever someone passed too close.

  Rin tried her best to match his pace, but when she fell behind, he simply lifted her in his arms and carried her. She didn’t protest. His silence was heavy, and the way he moved—quick, deliberate, avoiding every line of sight—told her not to speak.

  When they finally reached the warehouse, Steve pressed his hand against the door’s seal. It hissed and gave way.

  Inside, darkness swallowed them whole.

  Rin’s eyes adjusted slowly. Along one wall, she could just barely make out a line of slumped shapes—bags, maybe. There were hundreds. Except… they were shaped like people.

  Heads. Shoulders. Legs. Some were stained dark, the red nearly black in the low light.

  Rin’s breath caught. “Dad, what are those—?”

  “Don’t mind that,” Steve said quickly, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the room. “We’re almost there.”

  He found a metal platform in the corner and stepped onto it, waving his wand over the controls. The elevator hummed to life, lowering them down three stories in silence.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  When it stopped, a soft chime echoed through the shaft.

  Steve stepped out first. “Come on, baby.”

  Rin followed—and gasped.

  The chamber stretched wide before her, the crystalline walls fractured but still glowing faintly with hues of pink, purple, and soft blue. Light refracted in every direction, painting the air in drifting shards of color.

  “It’s so pretty…” Rin whispered, raising her hands as if she could catch the light.

  Steve’s expression softened—but his eyes gleamed with something else.

  “It’s all for you,” he said quietly. “Just for you…”

  Rin smiled, missing the shadow that crept into his voice.

  Steve barely glanced at Rin’s awestruck expression as he stepped toward the altar in the center of the chamber. The fractured crystal beneath his boots crackled faintly with every step.

  He ran a trembling hand along the altar’s smooth surface. Still intact.

  “Rin?” he called without looking up.

  “Yes?” she chirped, jogging over to his side.

  “Allow me to explain, dear,” he said softly. “This place is officially called… the Crazy Place. Though, I’ve never once thought of it that way.”

  “Crazy Place?” Rin giggled. “That’s silly! It’s so beautiful!”

  “Isn’t it?” His smile widened, though sweat glistened down his temples. He placed his hands gently on her hips, lifting her with surprising strength and setting her atop the altar. “Go on — stand right there.”

  Rin balanced herself on the smooth crystal, grinning.

  “Now, draw your wand for me, dear.”

  She nodded eagerly, pulling her wand free and holding it out in front of her.

  “This place,” Steve continued, “is unique. It’s been waiting… just for you.”

  Rin tilted her head, confused but smiling.

  “Point your wand downward,” he said, voice calm, eyes sharp.

  She obeyed — trusting him completely.

  The moment her wand aligned with the altar, a soft hum filled the air. The crystal beneath her began to glow, faintly at first — orange, then red — and from deep within its depths, something stirred.

  A pulse.

  The glow thickened, shifting to violet and then a deep, pulsing crimson. The colors swirled together like a heartbeat trapped inside the crystal’s core.

  Steve’s eyes widened. His expression twisted — relief and mania mingling into something unreadable.

  “It’s… responding,” he breathed.

  “Is that… a good thing?” Rin asked, clutching her wand tighter.

  Steve’s grin deepened, his voice trembling with delight. “It’s very good…”

  #

  Chippy and Eddie climbed up the hill, hands clasped for balance until the silhouette below finally came into view.

  It really was a car — black, sleek, and completely out of place in the forest clearing.

  Eddie rushed ahead, crouching beside it and tracing a hand along the scratched door panels. “Whoa… why’s there some random car parked out here?”

  Chippy poked the side mirror. “Creepy… looks expensive too.”

  “I don’t know,” Eddie muttered, tugging on the handle. It didn’t budge. The headlights flashed once, and he flinched back instantly.

  “It’s got a security activated on it. Best not mess with it, or it’ll probably start screaming for an hour,” he said, brushing off his hands.

  Chippy nodded, stepping up beside him. The forest around them was dead quiet. Only the faint hum of distant engines rolled through the air.

  “We’ll never find Rin at this rate,” she said. “Let’s just use the bangle—no one’s looking!”

  Eddie hesitated for only a second before nodding. “Right.”

  He knelt down, set the bracelet on the forest floor, and aimed his wand.

  A spark of light burst from the wand’s tip. The bangle spun from the impact, then began to hover slightly, rotating faster and faster as the air hummed. Cyan lines shot outward in a grid-like projection, spacing wider than before — clearer, stronger.

  Then a red dot blinked into existence. It pulsed steadily over the holographic outline of a massive rectangle.

  Eddie’s breath caught. He slowly turned his head toward the horizon — toward the enormous warehouse below.

  Chippy followed his gaze, eyes widening.

  “I think we found Rin,” she whispered.

  #

  Steve muttered under his breath as he moved back and forth across the crystal chamber. Pages flipped, shards clattered. He swapped out crystals from the altar, realigned sigil plates, even kicked the base once in frustration. He had been here for an hour, and achieved nothing.

  Rin had never seen this side of him before — the sharp, irritable tone, the way his jaw clenched each time he spoke to himself.

  But she quickly forgot about it, distracted by the pack of cookies he’d handed her earlier — her favorite kind, of course. He knew exactly how to keep her calm. He always did.

  “Why isn’t this working?” Steve hissed through his teeth, slamming a book closed. “It should be responding!”

  He tore through another page, muttering faster, angrier, his voice echoing off the shattered crystal walls. Chase still hadn’t answered his calls. The communicator stayed dead no matter how many times he tried.

  Rin stood and wiped the crumbs from her lips. “Is there anything I can help with, Dad?”

  “No. Just sit tight for me.”

  She nodded — but this time, she didn’t sit.

  Her gaze wandered toward the altar. The books Steve had scattered across it looked out of place. That altar was supposed to be , wasn’t it?

  She climbed up onto it, letting out a soft little grunt, then sat on her knees to get a closer look. The symbols were foreign, but she traced them with curiosity, whispering them under her breath.

  Steve barely noticed. His hands were trembling now as he adjusted another set of crystals, the veins in his temple pulsing.

  “Rin?” he said suddenly, without looking at her. “Can you chant… ?”

  Rin blinked, chewing the last cookie crumb between her teeth. “Foroza Nipto!” she repeated cheerfully, waving her wand in broad, clumsy circles.

  Nothing happened.

  Steve dragged a hand down his face, groaning into his palm.

  Rin tilted her head, then quietly held out a cookie.

  He stared at it for a beat — then snatched it, biting into it furiously. “I don’t get it…” he muttered between chews. “We did everything by the books. The altar to her emissive magic. It acknowledged her dragon blood. So why—why can’t the ceremony begin?”

  His voice echoed, sharp and ragged. For a moment, he just stood there breathing hard, then he shook his head — refusing to be defeated.

  He climbed up onto the altar beside her and waved his hand for her to join him. “Come on, Rin. Stand with me.”

  She nodded, slipping her small hand into his. He guided her to her feet, his grip just a little too tight.

  “Point your wand down at the altar again,” he said, forcing calm into his voice.

  Rin obeyed, her smile returning as she raised her wand.

  The crystals beneath them flared to life — first orange, then red. A surge of heat rippled through the air, and the light swallowed the altar whole.

  Steve squinted, the glow reflecting in his eyes like fire. He reached out, gently grasping her wrist and twisting it slightly. The colors shifted, the swirling hues following the tip of her wand.

  “Good… good…” he whispered. “Now—forward.”

  She tilted her wrist as he guided her. The room ignited — the walls bleeding with streaks of dark purple and deep crimson, the glow bending to Rin’s movement as if obeying her will.

  Steve’s heart raced. “Rin… chant .”

  “Soma,” she repeated softly.

  The air trembled. The altar pulsed — once, twice — a low, thunderous like a heartbeat echoing through the crystal chamber.

  Steve stepped back, smiling wide. “That’s the ticket.”

  He leapt off the altar, boots crunching against shattered glassy dust. After nearly an hour of failure, it was finally working. Finally .

  And this time, he wouldn’t let anything stop him.

  “Good, Rin,” Steve said, pacing slowly around the altar, the glow painting his face in shifting reds and violets. “Keep your focus on the crystal beneath you. Don’t think—just feel.”

  The chamber hummed like a living thing. Light pulsed from the altar in steady waves, washing over her shoes, her legs, her hands. The air was warm—comforting, like sunlight through silk.

  “Now,” Steve continued, his tone low, guiding, almost reverent. “Say ”

  “Venra Soma,” Rin repeated, her voice steady but soft.

  The response was immediate. The altar shuddered and the crystals embedded in the walls began to sing—each one a faint ringing note, harmonizing into an unearthly choir. The colors brightened, streaks of amber and violet twisting together like ribbons of breath.

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Keep going. Again.”

  “Venra Soma…”

  The sound deepened, and a pulse of light spread outward—through the floor, through the air, through

  It felt like a heartbeat, only not her own.

  Rin gasped quietly. Her wand hand trembled, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Something inside her chest loosened. Like a knot untying after years of being wound too tight.

  “Dad… it feels… nice,” she whispered. “Warm. Lighter, somehow.”

  Steve grinned, eyes gleaming in the glow. “That’s the feeling. Don’t fight it. Let it flow.”

  “Venra Soma,” she whispered again, almost dreamily.

  The light turned white-hot. Her hair fluttered as though caught in a storm. The crystals above her began to crack, fine fractures spreading across the chamber walls.

  The warmth grew stronger—but so did the pull. It wasn’t just warmth anymore. It was her. The weight that had lifted from her heart was now tearing away at it, piece by piece.

  Her breathing hitched. “Dad… it’s… heavy again…”

  “Focus, Rin! Stay with me!”

  She tried, but her wand hand jerked. The light no longer followed her—it her, dragging her arm against her will as the pulse quickened. Her chest constricted; her knees wobbled.

  “Dad!” she cried, her voice cracking as the magic around her reached a fever pitch.

  The walls blazed with light. The once-beautiful harmony of sound now screamed—a thousand crystalline voices breaking apart.

  “Soma!” Steve shouted over the deafening roar.

  A beam of light erupted from the altar — thick, molten white, tearing through the ceiling like a spear of divine fire.

  Rin’s eyes widened, tears streaming down her face as her body convulsed against the force. “Dad—it hurts!” she cried.

  “Rin! Just stay in it! You can do it!”

  But she couldn’t. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, the sound swallowed by the roar as the beam detonated in a flash of blinding light.

  When the radiance faded, she collapsed onto the altar — trembling, gasping, her wand slipping from her hand.

  “Rin!” Steve rushed to her, dropping to his knees. He lifted her in his arms, pulling her tight to his chest. “Rin, what happened? Talk to me!”

  She clung to him, shaking uncontrollably, her breaths sharp and uneven. “I-I don’t know! It hurt so much! What was going on?!”

  “Rin…” Steve’s tone softened again, that comforting lilt she’d always trusted returning to his voice. He brushed her hair from her face, thumb tracing the edge of her cheek. “You were becoming something extraordinary. Something far greater than yourself.”

  Her eyes searched his, glassy and unsure.

  “I know it hurt,” he continued, the warmth in his voice eerily steady. “But it was for the best. You were doing so good, baby. You have to try again.”

  He caressed her back, gentle, reassuring. But as she breathed against his shoulder, something inside her shifted — a flicker of instinct deep in her chest.

  For the first time since she’d met him, his embrace didn’t feel like safety.

  It felt like a cage.

  #

  Eddie and Chippy stopped at the elevator.

  He pressed the button, and after a low hum and a heavy , the doors creaked open. A cold gust burst out, carrying a hollow, ghostly howl that whipped their hair and sent a chill crawling up their necks.

  “…Well that looks inviting,” Chippy muttered, squinting into the dark interior.

  “Yeah, well, Rin isn’t up here. And the red dot was right over this building. So logically,” Eddie reasoned, already second-guessing himself, “she’s gotta be here. Just… below us.” His voice dipped, his confidence fading as he eyed the shadowy shaft.

  Chippy followed his gaze to the far corner of the room—where piles of bodies lay slumped in unnatural stillness.

  Chippy swallowed hard. “…We’ll be okay, right?”

  Eddie crossed her arms. “Only if your stupid skeleton man shows up.”

  He stepped inside. The elevator interior was lined with dented metal panels, faintly reflecting their faces under a dying overhead light. Rows of buttons stretched down the side—more than any warehouse should have.

  “Twenty-three floors…?” Chippy whispered. “Since when does a need twenty-three floors?”

  “Maybe they’re hiding some—”

  “—secret evil clown cult thing?” she interrupted.

  He stared at her. “…Please don’t say that.”

  Ignoring him, Chippy lifted her wand and chanted, “”

  A green orb glowed at the tip, and as she moved it across the control panel, each button remained dim—except one. Sixteen.

  Eddie blinked. “How did you—”

  Chippy stuck out her tongue. “Nnnm!”

  Before he could protest, she pressed the glowing .

  The doors closed with a heavy metallic

  For a second, there was silence. Then, the elevator jolted violently—and plunged downward, faster than either of them expected. The air rushed past them in a screaming wind, the only light coming from Chippy’s trembling wand.

  Eddie gripped the railing. “You—You sure about this?!”

  Chippy grinned nervously. “Yup!”

  The elevator kept descending into the dark.

  The elevator jolted to a stop with a metallic

  When the doors slid open, a blinding flood of light hit them square in the face. Both kids flinched, covering their eyes as a roaring wind rushed outward, whipping their hair and clothes.

  “What—what is this…?” Chippy shouted over the noise.

  Eddie squinted, lowering his arm. The air was thick with glittering motes of mana, swirling like fireflies in a storm. And there, at the center of the vast crystal room—

  “Rin…” he whispered.

  She was

  Her small frame floated several feet above the glowing altar, hair and skirt rippling violently in the magical currents. Her wand spun loosely in her hand, radiating threads of light that pulsed with her heartbeat.

  Beside her, Steve stood on the altar, both fists pressed to his chest, his face alight with feverish devotion.

  “That’s it!” he shouted, voice cracking over the roar. “You can do it!”

  The light around Rin intensified, flaring white-hot for an instant. The entire chamber trembled.

  Chippy grabbed Eddie’s arm. “That’s her , right? What the heck is he—”

  “Wait,” Eddie cut her off, eyes narrowing. “Look.”

  Behind Steve, one of the open books on the floor flickered with a faint, ominous glow—a shimmer Eddie recognized immediately. That color, that glyph pattern…

  The shimmering enchantment that marked every restricted text in the Kormadyne Atheneum.

  Eddie’s pulse spiked. He ducked down, moving slowly, silently, his heart pounding in his ears as he crept closer. Steve was too focused on Rin to notice.

  Chippy crouched behind him, clutching her wand tight as Eddie reached the book. He flipped it open—just enough to read a few lines, the runes dancing with heat under his breath.

  His eyes widened.

  “What… what is this guy trying to do…?” he whispered.

  Rin suddenly let out a sharp, strangled yelp as her body arched in midair.

  “It—it’s hurting again!” she cried, her voice cracking.

  “Try to ignore it!” Steve barked, clutching his wand tighter. “Just focus on the convergence sequence!”

  The words meant nothing to Eddie—until his eyes darted across the glowing text in the book. His lips moved silently, heart racing as he read faster, fingers trembling against the page.

  Eddie froze. His stomach dropped.

  He wasn’t her.

  He was her.

  “RINNN!!!” Eddie screamed, his voice raw and terrified.

  Rin’s eyes snapped open, the pain vanishing just long enough for her to turn her head. Through the haze of golden light, she saw them—Eddie and Chippy, standing behind her father with desperate, terrified faces.

  “E-Eddie…?” she whispered.

  Steve whipped around, his eyes wide in shock. “What are you—”

  “Stop!” Eddie shouted over him, voice breaking. “He’s trying to kill you!!!”

  Rin’s breath hitched. “Wh-what…?”

  Chippy took a step forward—but slammed face-first into an invisible wall. The air crackled as golden hues flashed to life, a translucent barrier humming between them and the altar. She stumbled back, clutching her nose.

  “Ow! What the—!”

  Steve slowly turned toward them, wand in hand. His eyes had lost their warmth entirely, replaced by cold, unflinching resolve.

  “That’s as far as you brats go,” he said sternly, his voice like steel.