The morning sun had barely crested the horizon when the academy gates came into view.
Tall, silverlike spires glimmered above a sea of green, banners unfurling in the soft wind, their colors deep and familiar. The scent of dew clung to the air, and the faint echo of distant chatter rippled across the cobblestone path.
Merlin paused a few paces before the gates. For a long moment, he just stood there, staring at the place that had become both haven and cage.
A week away had felt like a lifetime.
Invoke Tower. Kael's words. Damien's warning.
The city's rhythm still pulsed behind his eyes, numbers and ledgers dancing in half-memory. He could still hear the faint hum of the boardroom walls, still see the silver glint of the capsule tucked safely in his jacket pocket.
But here, none of that existed.
Here, he was just Merlin Everhart, a first-year turned second-year, another student in a world that never knew it was once a story.
He exhaled and stepped forward.
