The silence after the collective hug was dense - a silence that didn't require words, because every tear shed, every tremor in the arms that wrapped around him, said it all.
Kael kept his eyes closed, feeling the weight and warmth of the three bodies against his. The natural aura around them enveloped them like an invisible do, drowning out the outside world. There was no ti, mission or guilt. Only reunion.
Sylphie was the first to move, slowly, her fingers still entwined in the fabric of Kael's clothes. Her face was still damp, her eyes red, but now... there was sothing different. A faint glow. Hope.
She looked at Alia, then at Irelia, and the three exchanged a silent glance that said, "He's here. For real. We're not alone anymore."
Kael broke the silence, his voice hoarse and low:
"I'm sorry I went off like that. It wasn't supposed to be like that. But if I'd told you what I was going to do... you would have tried to stop ."
Alia sniffled, looking at him with an expression of pure disbelief and disguised anger: "OF COURSE WE WOULD HAVE TRIED, YOU IMBECILE!" she exploded, punching him lightly in the chest with her closed fist - not as an attack, but as if she needed to hit sothing real to believe he was there. "Because we thought you'd sacrificed yourself for us."
Irelia sighed, her face buried in his shoulder, tears still flowing. "You had no right to carry everything yourself..." she murmured. "If you're so strong, it's only because we believed in you. So why did you think you could leave us behind?"
Sylphie, her voice still fragile but firm, added: "And yet... we kept waiting for you."
Kael squeezed the three of them again, the weight of his guilt still inside him, but being diluted, drop by drop, in the warmth of those arms.
"...I've co back," he repeated, this ti with more conviction. "And I'm not leaving you anymore. Or hide anything."
Alia pulled away a little, wiping her eyes angrily. "Do you have any idea what we've been through?" she said, looking at Sylphie and Irelia. "Don't do that again!" She shouted, then looked straight at him. "I'd like to destroy the world if it ant finding you... so don't make destroy the world."
Irelia nodded with a bitter smile. "And now that you're here... don't think it's over. You still have to prove to us that you're really alive. That you're the sa Kael we followed. Or a better one."
Sylphie rested her head against his chest once more "...Just don't do it anymore."
He let out a weak but genuine laugh for the first ti in a long ti. "You're scaring more than any creature I've ever faced."
Alia crossed her arms, with a mischievous smile. "And that's just the beginning, you idiot."
[So... a day passed...]
Azalith Academy was famous for many things: its ancient architecture, its spectacular duels, and of course, its prodigious students. But on that particular day, all of that had been eclipsed by just one subject.
"Did you see that? They changed shifts. All three of them!"
"Worse... they changed courses. Who does that for a guy?"
"That? That's pure fanaticism. He must have seductive dragon blood, I don't know."
"Or he's an entity disguised as a teenager with ssy hair..."
"Will he take a fourth?"
The corridors were buzzing. With every room Kael Scarlet entered, a collective murmur arose. He walked calmly - or at least tried to - with his expression always centered, but what followed him was... anything but calm.
Behind him, like synchronized shadows, ca Alia, Irelia and Sylphie.
No, they weren't coming. They were parading.
Each with a different style, but with the sa goal: not to let go of Kael for a second.
Kael pushed open the classroom door with a neutral expression, as if he were entering enemy territory. The teacher, a centuries-old witch with hair that levitated like ethereal serpents, raised one eyebrow, visibly puzzled.
"Mr. Scarlet, I thought you weren't enrolled in this course..."
Kael stopped by the door, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.
"I'm not, teacher."
The witch crossed her arms, her eyes squinting.
"Then why are you here?"
Kael sighed, glancing back over her shoulder.
"Because... they are."
The response was imdiate - as if evoked by a dramatic invocation. Alia then entered as if she were parading down her own private catwalk, her steps decisive, her posture confident. She didn't even look like a student; she looked like the owner of the room.
"I enrolled yesterday. I changed everything. Magic combat classes are more fun with him here."
Before the teacher could react, Irelia appeared like an elegant shadow next to Kael, her eyes too attentive for soone who was feigning casualness.
"Where he goes, I go. I need to make sure he's not hiding any injuries... or flirting with other students."
The tension rose slightly, but was imdiately drowned out by Sylphie's calm arrival. She didn't say a word - she didn't need to. A delicate breeze enveloped the room, and small vines spread subtly where she stepped, almost as if nature itself was making sure that no one got too close to Kael. She sat down next to him with the fluidity of soone who had already decided on that place long before anyone entered.
The teacher massaged her temples with two fingers.
"This is a classroom, not a reality love show."
Kael let out a grumble.
"That's what I told them yesterday..."
Alia laughed, leaning casually on Kael's desk as if it were a natural accessory for him.
"And he said it while he was hugging us."
Irelia nodded, already pulling up a chair to sit on the other side.
"Firm, snug and without resistance. A real hug of implied consent."
Sylphie smiled slightly, her eyes squinting as if she were watching an argunt that had already been won. She reached out one of her hands and placed it gently over Kael's, like soone marking territory with silent gentleness.
The teacher looked at the trio and then at Kael. After a long pause, she just sighed.
"Very well. Sit down. But if a petal floats, a spark flashes or one of the three of you tries to bully another student with jealousy... I swear I'll summon a chaos elental."
Alia raised her hands in surrender.
"I promise to behave. As far as I can."
Irelia shrugged.
"No guarantees. It depends if any pupils look too hard."
Sylphie tilted her head gently.
"Don't worry, they've already understood that Kael isn't on the nu."
Kael crossed his arms and sank into his chair, muttering to himself.
"I just wanted to learn magic in peace."
Three different hands landed on his arm at the sa ti.
Alia spoke first, with a playful smile.
"Magic is much more interesting with emotion."
Irelia added, her feline gaze sharp.
"With vigilance, discipline... and a little possessiveness."
Sylphie finished, whispering like the breeze in an enchanted forest.
"With love. Unconditional and slightly suffocating."
Kael stared at the teacher, searching for help with his eyes.
"Professor... can you transfer to the Infernal Summoning course?" She laughed briefly.
She gave a short laugh.
"Son, you're already living in it."
Cafeteria - 12:00
Kael tried to eat his lunch in peace. He tried.
He barely lifted his fork, and three pairs of eyes analyzed everything.
"Kael, do you always chew on this side?" asked Sylphie, jotting it down on a piece of paper.
"Why?"
"Just... biological studies."
Irelia tore off a piece of his bread with her hands.
"Testing poisons. Not that anyone would dare poison you. But if you dare... you die."
Alia moved his tray half a centiter to the side.
"Food feng shui balance. It's good luck."
Kael stared at the three of them. Longingly.
"You're... watching , aren't you?"
"We prefer to call it monitoring for love," said Alia.
"Protective observation," corrected Sylphie.
"Personal guard," snapped Irelia.
"I..."
"Quiet, right? Just sit still and take it," whispered Alia, with a mischievous, almost demonic smile.
[Library - 15:30]
Kael tried to run away. He really tried. He went to the Forbidden Grimoires section, where no one ever went because... well, the last guy who went in there was abducted by a talking book.
But as he opened the page of the to "Ritual of the Seven Seals of Destruction", he heard: "I found you!"
Alia appeared, jumping between the shelves like a happy ninja. Behind her, Irelia and Sylphie were floating. Literally. Sylphie had summoned roots like a natural elevator to avoid stairs.
"Kael, you can't hide," said Irelia, looking serious. "We've trained for years to track prey. And in this case... you in particular."
"Do you track with your heart, Irelia?" he sneered, closing the book.
"With my heart, my nose, and two tracking spells I stole from Eva's room."
Sylphie sat down next to him, crossing her legs slowly. "Did you know that, statistically, couples who study together are 74% more likely to thrive?"
"Are you studying... ?"
"Hard," all three said at the sa ti.
...
"Ah... finally..." Kael let out an exhausted sigh, sliding down to sit on the toilet as if it were the last sanctuary on earth.
It was safe there.
There they wouldn't get in.
There he could breathe.
The toilet seat had barely touched the plastic when his body went into full alert mode. His shoulders were tense, his heart still racing, as if he were escaping from a life-or-death battle - but it was only a desperate escape from three girls completely determined to live stuck to him like obsessive magic seals.
"What did I do wrong?" he muttered to himself, his hands resting on his face. "They love ... I think? Maybe? Or do they just want to keep in emotional captivity until the end of ti?"
He banged his head lightly against the wall of the shower room.
"I know... I'll use shadow manipulation to get around without them finding ... Yes! That's right!" he said, like a genius who had just discovered fire.
For a brief mont, hope shone in his eyes.
But it faded as quickly as it appeared.
"...No. Damn it. Sylphie can sense through the blessing of the World Tree... She can find even if I'm on the other side of the continent with a French fry in my hand."
The silence in the bathroom was broken by the sound of the door opening. Two boys ca in, laughing and chatting as they washed their hands.
"- Dude, I'm telling you, the effect is insane. It triples your magical ability for about ten minutes. Your body vibrates."
"- Really? But isn't it illegal?"
"Yeah. That's why people call it 'Draco Dust'. But no one will take it if you know where to buy it."
Kael remained completely still, eyes squinted, absorbing every word. He had no idea who the two of them were, but the ntion of a substance capable of altering magical power? that was worrying. Very worrying.
He raised his face slowly, his gaze now cold, concentrated. The echoes of the conversation still floated in the air as the aura around him began to darken.
"So we have magic traffic at the academy now... Interesting."
His shadow began to stretch slowly, alive, pulsating. For a mont, he hesitated. He had never used this technique before. Shadow manipulation was sothing he used for attacks, camouflage... not infiltration.
But all it took was one chance.
Kael took a deep breath, his eyes glowing with dark energy.
"Let's test it out..."
And then, with a muffled whisper, he disappeared.
His shadow dripped like liquid paint under the shower door, sliding across the floor until it reached the two boys who were still laughing, now fiddling with their hair in the mirror. Kael's shadow rged with theirs, sneaking across their silhouettes like discreet snakes.
They didn't even notice.
Kael was there, hidden in their shadows, his body now nothing more than a specter fused with the absence of light.
His consciousness was divided between the two - listening, observing, absorbing.
"- Let's leave soon. The guy who sells will be at the D Training Arena this afternoon. You know... the one with the white hair who never says anything."
"- Ah, the strange orphan? I thought he was the recluse type."
"- Reclusive, but rich in magic dust, apparently."
Kael morizes the details. D. Tarde Training Arena. Dealer. Magic drug.
His eyes - or what was left of them in their shadowy form - twinkled slightly.
Target confird.
As the two boys left the bathroom, Kael's shadow stuck to them like a silent curse. He slipped out of the building with them, a hidden passenger, invisible to even the most trained eye.
And for the first ti since arriving at the academy, Kael wasn't being followed by Sylphie, or watched by Irelia, or dragged by Alia.
He was hunting.
Alone.
Silent.
Dark.
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