Chapter 12: Whispers Beneath the Surface

The academy's halls were quieter at night, but Kael never found peace in the silence anymore. He sat in the back of the library, the old restricted wing where dusty tomes about ancient Wills and corrupted relics sat untouched.

He flipped through a cracked volume—Legacies of the Lost Era—but the words blurred. His mind was elsewhere. On the old man. On the words The Last Will does not belong in the light.

What did it mean?

Across the table, Tetsu pretended to read while watching the door. "You know, if anyone catches us here, we're done."

Kael didn't look up. "You don't have to stay."

"You're the idiot messing with cursed shadow power," Tetsu said. "I'm just the best friend with no sense of self-preservation."

Kael allowed a small smirk.

Footsteps echoed outside. Tetsu tensed.

But it was just Ryuu.

He entered like he owned the place, lightning crackling faintly across his knuckles. He eyed Kael, then the book.

"Still chasing ghosts, Renji?"

Kael closed the tome. "What do you want, Takashi?"

Ryuu leaned against a pillar, arms crossed. "I don't trust you."

Kael stood. "Noted."

Ryuu's gaze didn't leave his face. "You didn't just get lucky against that beast. I've seen lucky. You moved like someone who'd done it before. Like a Wielder."

Kael felt the shadows stir beneath his skin, but forced them still.

"I had a friend bleeding out in front of me," he said quietly. "That was all the motivation I needed."

Ryuu stepped closer. "If you're hiding something, and it puts this academy at risk… I'll expose you."

Before Kael could answer, a voice rang through the library.

"Enough."

Kaede Mizuno stood in the doorway, arms folded. His gaze flicked from Ryuu to Kael, unreadable. "Both of you, out."

"But—" Ryuu started.

"Now."

Kaede's tone left no room for argument.

Ryuu scowled but obeyed, the air crackling behind him.

Kaede watched until Ryuu disappeared, then turned to Kael. "Walk with me."

Kael followed him into the moonlit courtyard. The statues of past heroes stood in silent vigil.

"You're holding back," Kaede said. "I've seen it."

Kael didn't answer.

Kaede continued. "There are Wills that whisper. Some are gifts. Others… curses. Which one do you think you've inherited?"

Kael looked up at the storm clouds gathering above the academy towers.

"I don't know," he said.

Kaede stared at him for a long moment. "Then it's time you find out. Because secrets rot. And you're running out of places to bury yours."

As Kael returned to his dorm that night, he glanced at his reflection in the glass.

For just a second—his eyes weren't his own.

They were violet.