Chapter 13: The Space Between
Lucien Drex had one rule in the morning:
> Never do anything before noon unless it involved food, a nap, or revenge.
This morning involved none of the three.
Which was unfortunate.
Because when he opened his eyes, his bed was floating two feet off the ground.
Not levitating — just floating. As in, unstuck from gravity and bobbing gently like a boat on a lake of disappointment.
Renn was panicking nearby.
"Lucien! Your bed is defying physics again!"
Lucien yawned. "Tell it to stop. I'm still dreaming."
Renn tossed a pillow at him. It curved sideways, flew backward, then exploded into confetti.
Lucien blinked. "Okay. That's new."
Then someone appeared.
---
Enter: Ira Moress
A small girl with sky-blue pigtails popped into the room out of thin air. She was upside-down. Also floating. Also holding a glowing cat.
"Oh," she said. "Wrong dimension."
She flipped midair, landed perfectly on Lucien's tea shelf, and began eating biscuits.
Lucien stared.
Renn screamed.
"I'm Ira," the girl said cheerfully, eyes wide. "Your room smells like paradox and regret. I love it here."
Lucien squinted. "Are you a hallucination?"
She smiled. "Nope! I'm ranked #5."
Lucien blinked. "Why?"
"I made four duelists disappear."
"Where to?"
"I don't know. They haven't complained yet."
Lucien slowly nodded. "Reasonable."
---
Lucien's New Problem
Ira Moress, the cheerful Year One prodigy, had decided she liked Lucien.
A lot.
"I think your sigils are weird," she said, poking his notes. "They bend space like mine. But wronger."
"Wronger?"
"Wronger!"
Renn hid behind a chair. "She's unstable."
Lucien tilted his head. "We might be soul twins."
She giggled. "Let's fold the cafeteria!"
"No."
"Half fold?"
"No folds."
---
Chaos at Lunch
Ira followed Lucien around like an excitable puppy with a black hole in her pocket.
She opened a dimensional rift to grab a sandwich tray.
Lucien applauded. "Efficient."
She handed him a cup of tea from last week.
Lucien sipped. "Still warm. I'm terrified."
Students whispered everywhere.
"Is that Ira Moress?"
"She's following him?"
"Does that mean he's stronger than her?"
"No. I think he's just... unkillable."
---
Sigil Lab Disaster
Ira begged Lucien to let her try one of his traps.
She mixed it with her spatial ink.
They blinked.
The entire classroom inverted.
Desks floated. The blackboard screamed. A professor aged five years in ten seconds.
Lucien calmly sipped tea.
"Ira, what did we learn?"
"Always add glitter."
"Correct."
They high-fived.
---
Caelum Intervenes
That evening, Caelum found Lucien on the library roof, half-asleep and petting a spatially duplicated cat.
"You're encouraging her," Caelum said.
"She encourages herself," Lucien replied. "I'm just along for the chaos."
"She's dangerous."
"So am I."
"No, Lucien. You're lazy. She's actively destructive."
Lucien nodded. "Exactly. That's why she's useful. Nobody suspects a giggling wormhole."
---
The Pale Sigil Watches
A robed figure stood before a magical monitor.
"Ira Moress now follows Lucien Drex," they reported.
Another scoffed. "He's building a clown circus."
"No," the first replied. "He's building legends. And they don't know they're part of it."
"Should we intervene?"
"Not yet. Let him gather his puzzle pieces. We'll steal the box later."
---
The Scroll Incident
That night, Ira handed Lucien a glowing scroll labeled "DO NOT UNFOLD."
"What's inside?" he asked.
"I forgot!" she chirped.
Lucien stared. "You forgot what you sealed in a forbidden spatial scroll?"
She nodded.
He slowly opened it.
Space laughed.
A cosmic eye blinked, smiled at Lucien, gave him a thumbs up, and vanished.
Ira blinked. "That was not what I expected."
Lucien said, "Same. I think it liked me."
Renn passed out.
---
Final Scene – Ira's Declaration
Ira stood atop the dorm roof, hair floating in static magic.
"I, Ira Moress, do solemnly swear to study Lucien Drex until I break time, space, or him!"
Lucien clapped slowly. "You're terrifying."
She grinned. "You're my favorite anomaly."
"Thanks," he said. "You're my second-favorite disaster."
"Who's first?"
"Me."
They laughed as reality glitched again.
The chapter ends.
Fade to chaotic black.