Underground Temple Ruins – Chamber of the Third Seal

  The crimson glow of the shattered seal hadn’t faded. If anything, it had deepened—becoming richer, denser, like coagulated light bleeding into reality.

  Zelphira Dyvra stood at the edge of the glyph-ring, sweat beading down her brow. Myris Velstra’s hands trembled over the sigil of perception, the glowing white of her eyes dimming slowly.

  And then… the wall groaned.

  Stone didn't crack—it folded, peeled open like a flower.

  Behind it, darkness breathed.

  A single orb of light flickered into being.

  It was not flame.

  It was not mana.

  It was the Eye—unchained, watching.

  “It sees him,” Myris whispered.

  “It remembers.”

  Astraedus Academy – North Practice Courtyard (Dawn)

  The sky churned with unnatural clouds. Not storm clouds—but quiet, pulsing ones, like breath drawn too long.

  Aeon stood alone in the courtyard, facing a motionless training automaton. But he wasn’t focused on it. His eyes were distant—fixed on something no one else could see.

  Lysira leaned against a wall nearby, pretending to read from a mana-journal. She wasn’t fooling anyone.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “You’re hearing it again, aren’t you?” she finally asked.

  Aeon didn’t respond right away. Then softly:

  “The Eye is open.”

  Lysira tensed. “What eye?”

  “Not a who. A what,” Aeon said. “A memory wrapped in vision. A part of me that isn’t mine… and never was.”

  Before she could ask more, the sky above shifted.

  Thunder boomed—but there was no lightning.

  Central Observatory Tower – Faculty Restricted Level

  Professor Varnet Kaelos slammed a scroll onto the table.

  “It’s moving again!” he barked. “The temporal mirror recorded distortion traces across the Fourth Vein of Time. Something saw into the present from beyond the sealed path.”

  Madame Caltrae turned slowly, her blindfold fluttering in wind that wasn’t there.

  “And what did it see?”

  Varnet didn’t answer.

  He didn’t have to.

  Library of Eldrith Vaults – Section Ω-9

  A young girl with starfire in her hair flipped through a forbidden text.

  Naelia Virelios.

  She was humming softly—off-tune, but ancient. As if the melody had been stolen from the stars.

  “Found you,” she whispered, tapping the page with a single glowing finger. The glyph rippled.

  “Elysiar… not just a name.”

  She grinned.

  “A throne. A scar. A promise.”

  Aeon’s Dreamscape – The Between Realm

  In his sleep, Aeon walked. Not with feet—but with will.

  He moved through flame. Through snow. Through ruined stars and halls carved in screams.

  At the center stood a throne of eyes. Empty. Waiting.

  “Who am I?” he asked it.

  A voice answered.

  Not his.

  Not Vael’s.

  Older. Deeper.

  “You are the mirror that walked away.”

  Back in the Real World – Academy Bell Tower (Midnight)

  Vael Virelios stood looking out over the academy.

  His eyes glowed briefly—not with power, but recognition.

  “So, the Eye found him,” he murmured.

  He didn’t sound surprised.

  He sounded amused.

  “And the fun begins.”

  Aeon’s path no longer winds in silence—it is marked now by gaze, memory, and the fear of what he may awaken next.

  As more begin to see him for what he truly is, the question remains:

  Will Aeon survive what he was… or what he’s becoming?