Alden strolled through the bustling market of the Artificial Island, his steps slow as he returned toward his allocated accommodation.
He could hear laughter, bartering, and the clink of enchanted trinkets changing hands.
Kyun sat perched on his shoulder, invisible to all but him. She was quiet, likely still exhausted from her flying spree.
He had only just co back from her impromptu "class." Apparently, Flight had a theory now.
The streets were fuller than before. Students from other academies had started arriving, their uniforms visible through the crowd.
So were here to compete. Others just wanted front-row seats to the drama.
His gaze shifted across the colors of uniforms until a familiar academy logo caught his eye.
Lunara Academy.
An elven academy situated on the Sylvaran Continent.
Hm.
I wonder if she’s here too.
The elven princess. Once a central piece in the story. A love interest of Lucien and a future powerhouse.
Not that it mattered anymore.
The story had already diverged too much.
Lucien wasn’t who he was supposed to be.
Seles was a bitch.
So what weight would her arrival even hold anymore?
Probably none.
Alden turned away from the crowd, uninterested.
Kyun yawned.
’Mortal. When are we going back ho? I am sleepy.’ Her voice echoed in his mind.
’You can sleep... I will wake you up when we arrive.’ Alden replied.
Kyun narrowed her eyes.
’Don’t you dare wander anywhere without .’
With a sharp warning, she entered his shadow.
After the whole trial incident, she had grown a bit doubtful of Alden.
She didn’t want him to go anywhere without her.
Alden sighed. ’Yeah, yeah, I’m not going anywhere soon.’
His eyes passed through the crowd as his steps carried him toward the dorm assigned to him.
Co to think of it... Where was that bastard Lucien?
I haven’t seen him entering with us.
Did he enter already?
Well, who cares?
With a shrug Alden focused back on his peaceful walk... maybe the last one he would have for a while.
Just then, he felt a strange shift in the air.
This feeling again.
It was the sa feeling he had been getting, really, as if sothing he couldn’t quite point to was happening.
The feeling had started to grow ever since he t his failed possibility.
Previously he had dismissed it as re overthinking, but the more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seed.
It was as if sothing was pulling him towards sothing... sothing that he couldn’t quite point to.
Before he could dwell more on the feeling, a familiar presence entered his sensory radius.
A presence he never expected to see anyti soon.
A presence he once hated more than anyone.
He raised his head to look in the direction he felt it from.
There, a blonde boy stood silently, his crimson eyes focused on Alden. Nervousness was clearly visible on his face.
He wore a Lunara Academy uniform with their emblem on his chest.
His face looked as punchable as always.
"Hey... Alden." The boy waved, his voice unsure and hesitant.
Alden didn’t bother replying and just kept walking.
He had no intention to speak to his half-brother, the sa one who caused the death of the previous Alden.
No matter how much character developnt he had... no matter how much change of heart he had, Alden didn’t care...
... Just the fact he didn’t kill him on sight was a rcy on Cedric.
To Alden nothing was more disgusting than soone who hated him... soone who once made him resent life trying to care about him.
’Mortal, are you okay?’ Kyun’s concerned voice echoed in his mind from the shadows.
She probably felt a shift in his emotions.
’It’s nothing...’ Alden replied. ’I just saw sothing disgusting.’
With those words, he walked away without any hesitation.
—
Cedric looked at the receding back of Alden.
His eyes were regretful.
His hand was still mid-air as a small smile ford on his face.
It’s good that you are doing well, Alden.
He didn’t even feel a slight annoyance at ignorance.
He deserved it.
He knew his cris didn’t deserve forgiveness.
If anything, he was soone who should have been punished for what he did to Alden.
He regretted his past more than anyone.
Regretted bullying and beating Alden just because of the insecurity he felt...
Just for the acknowledgent from his cold father and mother.
He never hated Alden.
He just wanted attention.
And in that process, he made the life of Alden a living hell... sothing nobody deserved.
He wouldn’t have said a word if Alden decided to curse him, punish him... or even kill him.
Yet... that fool.
That fool never did anything.
And that rcy haunted him more than any wound ever could.
Cedric could feel Alden’s strength.
His rank was higher than his, and more than that, the aura around him could crush him instantly.
He felt it.
And yet... he showed almost no emotion to Cedric.
The bond between them was far too torn to be stitched back with a few smiles and words...
...and yet Cedric hoped to soday act like a normal sibling with his brother—even if it could never beco reality.
He knew better than anyone—no matter how you stick a broken pot, the cracks still remain. And Alden had every right to leave the pieces behind.
Just then, a voice echoed from behind him.
"Hey, big guy, what are you thinking so hard about?" The voice sounded mischievous. "And who was that guy?"
Cedric turned slightly, glancing at his shoulder—
where a small green spirit hovered with the air of soone who belonged everywhere and nowhere.
She had delicate pointed ears, a fluttering leaf-like dress, and a constant breeze twirling lazily around her like a personal wind.
Sylvie.
His contracted spirit.
The one he’d bonded with not long ago.
The one who wouldn’t stop teasing him until he smiled—no matter how much of a ss he felt like inside.
He hadn’t even known he had a spiritual affinity, not until Lunara Academy.
Not until the Elven teachers saw what no one back ho had ever bothered to look for.
Only after entering that place did he begin to understand sothing he never had the words for.
That he had been broken. Long before he ever touched Alden. Long before he ever raised a fist.
And for the first ti... sothing inside him had begun to heal.
A smile appeared on his face as he looked at Sylvie.
"He is my family, Sylv."
His voice held no bitterness.
No resentnt.
Just sothing simple... and painfully rare for soone like him.
Hope.
It wasn’t the voice of Cedric Draven, the bruised, bitter boy he had been just a few months ago.
It was the voice of soone trying, genuinely trying to beco sothing better.
Soone who still believed... even if the door had already closed.
—
Author’s Note:
Hey guys, yeah, I know.
This Chapter was mostly build-up for the Inter-Academy arc.
Trust , I wanted to throw in so chaos, but groundwork is important too.
Can’t just skip to the explosions... yet. 😌
Thanks for sticking around.
The storm’s coming.
***
For those who forgot—> Cedric Draven is twin of Seles...
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