[Primordial Power: Limit Reached]
[Recovery time: Unknown]
Then a voice reached him, muffled and distant, as though he were submerged underwater.
"Excuse my defect, First One. I'm not what I used to be..."
The last thing he remembered hearing before everything went dark.
---
His body would not move.
Through the haze of unconsciousness, his mind still hadn't stopped working. Or maybe it couldn't. A problem he could not recall the details of. A solution he could not reach. His mind looped back before the conclusion came, and went again, and again, not letting him settle, not letting him have the satisfaction of solving.
Until...
A soft pressure registered in his right hand.
Warm.
He forced his eyes open.
He knew this ceiling. He recognized the smell. Linen. And the lingering aroma of... potions.
He turned his head. His eyes confirmed what he had been feeling.
Hileya sat in a chair pulled close to the bed. Her head was bowed, silver hair falling over her face, breath slow and even. Sleeping.
He didn't move. Didn't pull away. Just watched her chest rise and fall for a moment.
Then he turned his head the other way.
The bed beside his was empty.
No sheets. No pillow. No drape. Just the bare mattress on the frame.
He kept looking at it. As though if he looked long enough, his eyes might be wrong. That Celia might come back into the corner of his vision, leaning on the wall, complaining about the uniform again. Complaining about how she would want to get out as soon as she could walk.
The bed stayed empty.
So it was real.
Not a nightmare he could wake from.
The bed beyond that one still had Tomas's belongings neatly folded in the corner, his uniform placed on top.
But no Tomas.
Vel closed his eyes and exhaled shakily.
Hileya stirred.
Her fingers twitched against his. Then she lifted her head, blinked twice, and saw him watching her.
She pulled her hand back quickly. Then hesitated, not sure where to put it. Caught between her servant's posture and the urge to hide it away.
"Welcome back, Master."
Her voice was rough from sleep, but finally settled.
"How long have I been out?"
"Just one night." She straightened in the chair, glancing out the window. "Though the Academy has not rested since."
He let that sit. One night. It felt longer.
"Celia..."
The name came out before he could decide whether he wanted the answer.
Hileya's gaze returned to Vel.
"They've moved her to a different room. They still don't know what to do with her... but I've told them what happened."
Vel closed his eyes.
"And Tomas?"
"He woke up a while ago. Said he needed to go somewhere." Hileya's gaze dropped for a moment. "He didn't look like he wanted company."
Vel dropped his head back against the pillow and let out a long, tired exhale.
"Has anyone asked anything? Did they give you any trouble?"
"No, Master." She shook her head.
Her fingers tightened against her thigh.
"Though... everyone assumed it would take longer for you to wake. Even the healers and the nurses said something like that to me."
That explained the room. The empty beds. The quiet corridor. No one was here. Except Hileya.
His eyes stuck on the ceiling when he spoke.
"I need to see Celia."
He tried to sit up, but his body still felt like lead.
"Can you ask them for me?"
Hileya took in his words, looked at him for a moment, then nodded. She stood up slowly, smoothing out her uniform. Before leaving, she paused and looked at him one more time, as if making sure he wouldn't disappear while she was gone.
Something shifted on her back before she disappeared from view.
A dagger. The leather and the handle looked the same, but the blade was longer than the one he had given her. It looked like it had been reforged.
Normally he would have asked about it. Right now, he didn't have the energy for that conversation.
He just needed to make sure there was nothing wrong with Celia... or with the preservation he had desperately cast on her.
Vel stared at the empty bed beside him again and tried not to think about how close it was to where Celia should have been sitting.
Minutes passed.
The birds outside called back and forth. The wind caught the curtain, swaying it gently, letting light shift across the floor in slow waves. He watched the fabric move. Then stopped watching. Then watched again.
Nothing registered but that.
Eventually, he pushed himself up.
He made it to the balcony in slow steps.
What am I even wearing? He looked down at the plain dark grey tunic he had somehow ended up in.
Mild sunlight spilled through scattered clouds. Below, trees shuffled in the breeze, leaves catching the light in flickers of green and gold.
The Academy must have closed today.
Students were almost absent. A handful in uniform hurried between buildings, heads down. No groups lingering. No laughter drifting up from the training yards.
The rest of the figures down there were guards, and the white and gold trimmed coats of the military, chains across the chest, latches running down the front.
Vel gripped the stone railing and leaned forward, letting the breeze hit his face.
A few of them wore something different. Longer white coats, capes down their backs, slim wands held loose. They moved at the front of the patrols. One raised his wand to a pillar, slow, the way a man would hold a lamp into a dark room. Another did the same to a wall.
Cleaning.
"Up already?"
A voice from the door pulled him around.
Miss Saphie. Head of the infirmary ward. Mid-thirties, round build, the kind of presence that filled a room without trying.
"You're the first to ever wake up this fast after an overcasting incident."
"Did I?"
She didn't elaborate.
Behind her, the door opened wider. Hileya slipped in, quiet, her eyes moving between Vel and the healer, hands clasped in front of her.
"Come here." Saphie gestured with her hand.
Vel walked back to the bed.
She looked into his eyes for a long moment. Then, without warning, flicked his forehead with two fingers.
"Ow."
"Good." Saphie leaned back. "Reflex is intact. Pupils are normal. You'll live."
The system would agree.
"I know."
"Do you?" She raised an eyebrow. "Most people who overcast to the point of collapse don't walk to the balcony after one night."
She studied him a moment longer, then turned to Hileya.
"Keep him from doing anything stupid for the rest of the day. That includes spellcasting, sword practice, and climbing out windows."
Hileya dipped her head. "Yes, Miss Saphie."
Saphie walked toward the door, then paused with her hand on the frame. She did not turn back.
"Sorry about your friend. The girl." She shifted her head. "She's beyond my ability. And my field."
"Archmagister wants you the moment you're up. So get going."
---
The corridor to the Elyssia's office was quiet.
No voices carried in through the tall windows, no murmur of students drifting up from the halls below. The only sound left was their footsteps. His own, and Hileya's, a step behind.
Vel's head still hadn't steadied. Like a weight had been put inside his skull. Slight movement and he could feel it shift. He kept his pace slow because of it. Measured.
Vel stopped at the door.
This was the second time he had come here.
The first time, Celia had been at his side. Tomas and Lyvenna had been waiting ahead, and together they had stepped through this door without a second thought.
Now...
The door stood slightly open. Pale light spilled through the gap.
He glanced back over his shoulder. Hileya had stopped a few paces behind, holding the distance a servant was meant to hold.
"Come inside with me, Hileya."
She hesitated. "Are you sure, Master?"
"Everything I know, you should know too." A pause. "Especially if it's about Celia..."
Hileya didn't answer right away.
Then she nodded, and closed the distance between them.
Vel turned back to the door and pushed it open.
Behind the desk, a wide wall of glass let the morning in. After the dim corridor it was enough to blind him. He blinked until the room settled back into place.
It was empty. The desk stood bare, the chair behind it pushed in. None of the stacks of paper that had covered it the last time he was here.
Vel crossed to the chair on the near side, the one he had taken before, and lowered himself into it.
Is she not here?
"Maybe something came up," Hileya said quietly.
He hadn't said it aloud. She'd answered him anyway.
She can read my thoughts now. Or she's just gotten too good at reading me.
Either way, he was past being surprised.
He let his head rest back against the chair and looked up.
The dipyramid crystal floated beneath the dome, the same as before, its elaborate gold framework hanging motionless around it. The last time he had sat here, the frame had been turning, the crystal rotating slow within it. Now both hung still.
Why had it stopped—
It lit before he could finish. A glow rose from the core, and the gold framework drew back into its slow orbit around it.
A pillar of translucent energy shot from the crystal. Light bent around it, warping everything behind into a distorted haze. Within the distortion, a silhouette began to form.
Elyssia stepped out a moment later.
One hand pressed flat to her side. The other found the edge of the desk and stayed there, taking her weight.
"Phew." She exhaled slowly. "That's..." A pause. "...'tickled.'"
She clearly meant hurt.
Vel studied her.
Then his manners caught up with him, and he pushed to his feet.
The weight in his head pitched with the sudden motion and slammed against the front of his skull.
He dropped back into the chair. "Ow."
Elyssia caught it. The way his hand went to his head, the wince he tried to swallow.
"You too, huh?"
She looked at him. He looked back.
The same dry breath left them both at once. Half a laugh, with nothing behind it. Their lips curved, just slightly.
Then both gathered themselves back into place. Elyssia drew herself up as straight as she could manage, hand still braced on the desk. Vel leaned back into his chair.
"Archmagister. What was that?"
She looked up at the dome, to the crystal turning beneath it.
"Just an experiment of mine." The corner of her mouth lifted. "I always wanted a treehouse when I was younger. Somewhere I can slip away to and... relax."
Vel opened his mouth.
"I know what you're asking." She beat him to it. "Time runs a little differently in there. It gave me the space to recover."
She looked out the window.
"The moment I open that gate, there's a great deal waiting out here."
She exhaled, and sank into the chair across from him.
"The world doesn't wait for us, Velarian."
Vel lowered his head a moment, then lifted it.
"Archmagister... can I ask you something?"
"How does it feel, being responsible for so many people?"
Elyssia was quiet for a moment. Not surprised by the question. Only considering it.
"Tiring," she said at last.
The crystal turned slowly above them.
"You spend years believing responsibility means protecting people." Her eyes stayed on the light overhead. "Eventually you realize competence only helps you make the decisions."
"Endurance is what lets you survive them."
"Students still need guidance. Kingdoms still move. Reports still pile up. Meetings still happen."
Her fingers traced the edge of the chair.
"People still expect you to know what to do next."
Only then did she look at him.
"So you stand back up before you're ready."
There was an irony in it he didn't have the strength to smile at. He had built this world. And now his own creation sat across from him, teaching him how to carry it.
Elyssia let the words settle, watching him take them in.
"Well... we should speak before someone decides I've hidden in here long enough."
"First, about your friend, Miss Celia..."
"We've moved her to the Artifex building. A secured chamber."
"After studying it, I understood your intention. What I couldn't figure out is..." Her brow drew faintly. "...how it holds. Perfectly. With nothing feeding it."
Should he tell her?
She had nearly died in that arena, holding the line for the rest of them. If anyone here had earned the truth, it was her. And if anyone needed to understand Celia's condition...
"Zephyr..."
Elyssia tilted her head, turning the word over.
"You mean... the primordial?"
Vel nodded. "The same thing that manifested the ice phoenix. Maybe it took hold because of where the arena was built."
She took it in faster than he expected.
"I see... and you somehow made a connection with it?"
He nodded.
"I knew the arena was built on something old. Something the founders never fully understood." Her gaze drifted as she spoke. "But if what you're saying is true, then..."
She stopped. Her eyes came back to him, and she let the rest go.
"...Regardless," she said at last, leaning back slightly. "The Academy will take responsibility for Miss Celia's preservation."
"I assume," she added, quieter, "you already intend to search for a solution yourself."
Vel lowered his eyes briefly.
"I'll find one."
Elyssia nodded.
"Onto the second matter."
"The Guild has confirmed it. One of the Demon Lord's generals was..."
"Clara Freznoria."
Vel's expression tightened.
"A Platinum-rank adventurer who vanished during the Oakhaven incident," Elyssia went on. "And, from what I understand... someone both you and Miss Celia knew personally."
The room went quiet for a moment.
"You were the only ones who fought her directly," she said. "What can you tell me?"
Vel lowered his eyes.
"She was cursed." He made himself say the rest. "The kind that eats away at a soul until there's nothing left."
"A curse." Elyssia considered that. "So it wasn't entirely her own will."
"Of course it wasn't." The response came sharper than Vel intended. "Clara would never—"
He stopped himself.
Elyssia studied him for a brief moment, but her expression remained calm.
"I know," she said quietly. "And that distinction matters more than you might think."
Vel frowned slightly.
"The Kingdom has already begun pressing for judgment." A trace of weariness entered her voice again. "But the Guild has been... resistant."
"You should look at her, when you find the time." Her voice gentled.
"Where is she?"
"A containment chamber. The same building as her sister." A pause. "Though security around her is... considerably heavier."
"She's resisting?"
"No."
Elyssia's expression shifted slightly at that.
"That is precisely the problem."
"Since she woke, she hasn't moved on her own. She goes where she's led. She doesn't answer when she's spoken to. No struggle. Nothing." Her mouth thinned. "Like a construct."
"The security measures are precautionary," Elyssia added. "No one knows what state the curse has left her in."
Her eyes fell away from him.
"Though I can't say the same for Lyvenna."
"What about her?"
For the first time since the conversation began, Elyssia looked genuinely tired.
"A tribunal will be held," she said quietly. "For everyone involved."
"But that..." Her eyes drifted briefly toward the crystal overhead. "...is a discussion for another time."
"What were the casualties?"
Elyssia didn't answer at once.
"More names than I wanted to write."
Her fingers pressed briefly against her temple.
"It's been nearly a decade since I last had to send a condolence letter."
A bitter breath escaped her.
"Now I have several waiting for me."
A knock at the door.
It opened before either of them answered, and Instructor Moana's head came through ahead of the rest of him.
"Elyssia." The old man's eyes found her, and his brows went up. "You look terrible."
"Have you seen the other guy?" Elyssia replied flatly.
Moana snorted once under his breath as he stepped fully into the room. His gaze moved off her and around it. To Vel. To Hileya. Then back to Vel, and held there.
"Wait. I know you." A finger came up, leveled across the room. "The misfit who broke my artifact."
"You were supposed to come see me right after the tourna—"
He stopped. His eyes moved over the room again. The bandages. Elyssia's hand at her side. The bare exhaustion sitting over all of it.
"...ment."
The word fell off as the situation reached him.
That reminded Vel.
"What became of the tournament?"
"Officially, the outcome remains undetermined," Elyssia said. "But don't trouble yourself too much over it."
"Rest more, if you need it. And remember what I told you."
She turned to the old man.
"Moana. Could you take him to the containment chamber later?"
"Of course."
Moana turned for the door. Then stopped. Rocked back half a step as something plainly resurfaced in his head.
"Ah—right. The chamber." He looked back at Elyssia. "I meant to ask. Would it be better to..."
She waited.
"...move the girls closer together."
"Any reason?"
"I noticed some reaction when we moved the sarcophagus in." His face turned thoughtful. "Nothing dangerous. But since it was your order, we didn't run further tests."
"Tests?" Vel said.
"She is not a subject for experiment."
The tone dropped cold and low, and the room seemed to freeze over. Not literally. For once.
Hileya shifted closer without seeming to realize she had done it. A faint worry flashed across her face.
Moana, meanwhile, remained completely unfazed. He looked at Vel and calmly corrected him.
"Easy. We haven't done anything beyond moving them into the chamber per Archmagister orders."
He crossed his arms loosely.
"We're still waiting for further instruction."
He glanced back to Elyssia.
"What would you have us do?"
"Let the young man decide."
Silence held for a moment.
Then Vel lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Moana blinked once.
Vel let out a quiet breath.
"But please... don't do anything yet. Not until I've seen her myself."
Moana held his gaze a second. Then nodded once.
"Alright."
He jerked a thumb toward the corridor behind him.
"Come find me in the Artifex Hall when you're ready."
Then he turned and left the room.
Elyssia kept her eyes on Vel. She didn't look surprised by any of it.
"I didn't mean to..."
"Take your time." She let it go before he could finish. "Anything else you wanted to ask?"
"Nothing for now, Archmagister."
She nodded once.
Vel pushed himself up from the chair and turned toward the door.
"'Elly.'"
He paused and looked back.
"That's what people call me when I'm not their Archmagister."
For a moment Vel only looked at her.
Then, quieter than he meant it.
"...Vel."
The corner of Elyssia's mouth lifted, faint and brief.
"See you later, then."
"Thank you..." A breath. "Miss Elly."
Something shifted in her at that. Faint, quick, gone before it finished. He was already turning for the door, and didn't catch it.
The door clicked shut behind him, and the exhaustion came down all at once. The corridor tilted a half-step. He put a hand to the wall.
"Are you all right, Master?" Hileya was already there, a hand at his arm. "You should rest more."
"I don't think I can."
She didn't argue. When she spoke again it was softer.
"Where to? Master?"
Vel pushed off the wall and found his feet under him.
"Let's go."