CHAPTER TWELVE: The Star Awakens

The sky above the academy wasn't blue anymore.

It was burning.

Not with fire.

But with light from a dying star.

The source?

Nyra.

She stood in the center of the arena, her eyes wide with silence.

Her body was surrounded by gravitational rings.

Her blood — now shimmering silver — drifted around her like stardust.

Lucifer paced outside the viewing chamber.

"She's not stable," he said.

Caelia was there too, heart racing.

"She doesn't feel real anymore."

Lucifer nodded grimly.

"Because she isn't. Not fully."

Inside, Nyra began floating.

Her body burned with celestial pressure.

Every heartbeat triggered tremors across campus.

Her soul was syncing with the remains of the Star Core — a fragment of a dead sun buried beneath the academy.

No one had ever awakened it.

Not until Nyra bled on it during a spar.

Now, the core was hers.

Her voice echoed through the minds of everyone in the academy:

"Stop watching."

"Kneel."

It wasn't a request.

All students dropped to their knees, unable to breathe.

Instructors screamed.

Reality peeled around her like paper soaked in acid.

Then Nyra opened her hand… and created a star.

A miniature sun spun in her palm — bright, pure, newborn.

She closed her fist — and crushed it.

Just like that.

Lucifer smirked.

"She's ready."

Later that night, Nyra sat on the highest rooftop, alone.

Except for Caelia.

She landed beside her, gently.

Didn't say a word at first.

Then…

"You're still Nyra, right?"

Nyra looked at her. The silver in her eyes flickered.

"I'm trying to be."

Caelia leaned in. Kissed her softly.

And for one breathless moment, the star inside Nyra calmed.

But far beyond the stars…

A Council of Twelve Divine Eyes turned toward her existence.

And one whispered:

"The Starbreaker has awakened. Begin contingency Alpha-Zero."