Chapter 17: Sealed Orders**
The morning announcements at Arcanum Academy were usually short and unimportant: potion curfews, misfiring glyphs in the bathroom, and once, a stern reminder that animated furniture is *not* eligible for student council.
But today?
"Effective immediately," boomed a magically amplified voice, "the **Labyrinth Protocol** is now active. Students above Tier 4 with magical control clearance may be summoned."
Half the school thought it was a prank.
The other half had already packed snacks and draft wills.
---
**Dorm Room – Lucien's Side**
Lucien was asleep. Deeply.
In fact, he was sleeping on a floating mattress, suspended by five different sigils that hummed like annoyed cats.
Caelum burst in.
"You've been *selected.*"
Lucien didn't stir.
Caelum threw a book at his face.
Lucien caught it in his sleep.
"You *forged* a participation order," Caelum said, dropping a parchment. "It's got your own sigil."
Lucien cracked one eye open.
"I would never frame myself."
"You added a smiley face."- cealum
"…Okay, maybe I'd frame myself *ironically.*"
---
**Headmistress Elenora's Tower – Selection Ceremony**
The Headmistress stood in a velvet-trimmed coat, face calm as iron.
Behind her hovered a projection of a deep chasm twisting with enchantment.
"The Labyrinth," she said, "is not a place. It is a mistake."
Students murmured.
Seraphina narrowed her eyes.
Ira clapped excitedly.
Lucien raised his hand. "Is there a nap room?"
Everyone ignored him.
---
**Selected Entry Team:**
* **Seraphina Vale**, House Ignis — Combat Control Specialist
* **Caelum Virell**, House Umbra — Chrono-Mage and Temporal Anchor
* **Ira Moress**, House Umbra — Spatial Bender (Unstable Rating: Fun-Sized Catastrophe)
* **Lucien Drex**, House ??? — Enrolled by… (forged documentation)
Renn Yulden: **"Wait… how is he on the team?"**
Headmistress: "We did not select him." facing one of the professors
"Looks like the system's malfunctioning, but honestly, who needs another tedious screening process? The student body's already bursting at the seams. Besides, Lucien's been dodging duels like a pro – it's high time he steps into the arena and proves his mettle, moreover if anything goes wrong we have extraordinary students on that team that could protect him - facing the head mistress
Lucien, bowing: "Must've been fate." (said silently)
Seraphina hissed: "*You did this on purpose.*" ( said silently)
Lucien smiled. "I was bored." (said silently)
Whispers spread among the students like wildfire: 'Why do glitches keep occurring around him? Coincidence or something more sinister at play? Is he somehow magnetizing malfunctions or is it just an eerie string of bad luck?' The air was thick with suspicion and curiosity, as classmates exchanged nervous glances and hushed conversations."
---
**The Descent Begins**
The Labyrinth Gate stood beneath the Academy in a chamber sealed for decades.
The walls were covered in dead sigils — symbols that fizzled and reversed the closer you looked.
Caelum placed his hand on the seal. "This shouldn't even exist."
Lucien: "Most good things shouldn't."
Seraphina stepped forward. "We go in, collect data, retrieve the missing student, and leave."
Ira: "Unless it eats us! Wheee!"
The doors opened with a scream that wasn't quite sound.
They walked in.
---
**Inside the Labyrinth**
Gravity flickered. The air folded sideways. Hallways reformed behind them.
Lucien tied a string around Renn's wrist. Just in case.
Renn: "I wasn't invited!"
Lucien: "You followed us. That makes you bait."
They reached a large chamber. Floating in the center: a sigil orb, spinning slowly.
Seraphina scanned it.
"It's a memory beacon. From the Obsidian era."
Caelum looked at Lucien. "Your name's on it."
Lucien yawned. "That's weird. Could be a coincidence."
The orb whispered: **"Welcome back, Architect."**
Everyone froze.
Renn screamed again.
---
**Cutaway – Pale Sigil Observation**
A masked figure monitored glyph tremors.
"Subject Drex has entered Phase One," they said.
Another voice replied: "Deploy failsafe in case of memory recovery."
The masked figure hesitated.
"But what if he *wants* to remember?"
Silence.
Then: "Then we end him before he does."
---
**Back in the Labyrinth – Campfire Scene**
They camped inside a memory pocket that looked like a 5th-year dueling arena.
Seraphina sharpened her focus, Ira played with a pocket dimension, Caelum meditated.
Lucien roasted marshmallows using a sigil drawn in laziness and sarcasm.
"You don't seem afraid," Seraphina said.
Lucien replied, "Fear takes energy. I'm conserving mine."
"Why are you here?"
Lucien looked at the flame, smiling faintly.
"To find something I forgot."
Caelum opened one eye. "Or hide something you remember."
Lucien shrugged. "Same difference."
---
**Final Moment – Deeper Doorway**
The sigils shift. A new door appears, pulsing.
Etched in glowing ink:
> *OBSIDIAN SUBJECT CLASS – DREX.*
Everyone turned to Lucien.
Lucien sighed.
"I *swear*, if this is another experimental laundry closet, I'm going to scream."
*Fade to black.*