Celeste stood in the clearing, the air heavy with energy, her hands clenched as her heartbeat pounded with frustration. For hours, she had tried to tap into the power she felt just beneath the surface, but it slipped through her fingers like smoke every time she thought she had it.
Across from her, Jase watched with an unreadable expression, arms crossed as he leaned against a tree, golden eyes sharp with quiet amusement. The way he studied her made her feel like she was being dissected, broken down layer by layer, as if he could see something inside her that she couldn't.
"You're trying too hard," he finally said, his voice as casual as if they were discussing the weather. "Your power doesn't work like a Luminary's. It's tied to your emotions, Celeste. You have to feel it."
Celeste exhaled sharply, trying to rein in her frustration. "I am feeling it! I'm frustrated as hell right now!"
Jase smirked, his lips curving slightly. "Clearly, not enough."
Celeste's glare sharpened, and she crossed her arms, her nails digging into her sleeves. "Oh, so what? You want me to break down crying? Want me to relive some traumatic moment to trigger my powers like some tragic heroine? Because I don't think—"
"That's not what I meant."
His voice was softer now. Lower.
Jase stepped forward, closing the distance between them effortlessly. The air shifted.
Celeste's breath caught as the space between them closed. His golden gaze stayed locked on hers, intense and unwavering, as if she were something rare and his.
A slow, involuntary shiver crept up her spine.
Jase tilted his head slightly, his smirk deepening. "See? You're feeling something now."
Celeste stiffened. "You're insufferable."
"And yet… your heartbeat just picked up."
Her breath hitched. Because he was right.
Before she could snap back at him, Jase lifted a hand, his fingers brushing lightly down her arm.
It was barely a touch but Celeste felt it everywhere.
Heat. Electricity. A silent pull that made her want to step closer instead of pulling away.
"Let's test something," Jase murmured, his voice so close, so low, that it sent another shiver down her spine.
Celeste swallowed hard. "Jase—"
"Close your eyes."
Her brows furrowed in suspicion. "Why?"
His smirk stayed, but something in his expression made her chest tighten and tempted her to listen, even as instinct told her to keep her guard up.
"Just trust me."
Celeste hesitated, searching his gaze, before exhaling shakily and slowly closing her eyes.
The world around her blurred, fading into nothing.
And then his warm breath ghosted over her ear.
"Focus on me."
Celeste's entire body tensed. Heat spread through her like wildfire, something inside her unraveling and tightening all at once.
His fingers traced down her wrist, slow, deliberate, his touch like a spark against her skin.
"Feel."
Celeste's pulse pounded so loudly in her ears that she was sure he could hear it. She was losing herself in him, her senses drowning in the warmth of his touch, the steady cadence of his voice, the electric charge in the air—
And suddenly—
A surge of energy exploded inside her, raw and uncontained, like a dam finally breaking.
Her eyes snapped open, and the moment she did, the world reacted.
The wind howled through the clearing, fierce and violent. The ground trembled, growing stronger, as if the earth itself was answering her call. Leaves twisted and swirled in a chaotic dance, the air around them crackling with something alive.
And just as she realized what was happening—
A burst of golden white energy shot from her chest, a force she hadn't called but couldn't control. It slammed into Jase like a hurricane, sending him flying backward.
"JASE!"
Celeste gasped, lunging forward as he hit the ground, the impact drowning out everything else. Panic twisted in her chest, her pulse hammering so hard she thought it might burst her ribs.
Oh gods, oh gods, what did I just do—
Her hands trembled, her breath ragged as she ran toward him, the world around her still buzzing with the remnants of power she hadn't meant to use.
But when she reached him—
Jase was laughing.
Celeste skidded to a stop, her brain unable to process what she was seeing, what she was hearing.
"…Are you seriously laughing right now? I just threw you across the field!"
Jase pushed himself up onto his elbows, grinning like a complete idiot, his golden eyes gleaming with something between pure disbelief and absolute excitement.
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head in genuine amusement, his lips curving into a smirk. "And it was hot as hell."
Celeste blinked.
Her face burned.
"WHAT?!"
Jase smirked harder as he got to his feet, rolling his shoulders, shaking off the impact like it had been nothing, like she hadn't just blasted him across an entire field with raw power she hadn't even known she had.
"Celeste, you just tapped into your power for the first time."
She froze.
Slowly and hesitantly, she looked down at her hands.
A faint golden glow shimmered across her fingertips, flickering softly, delicately, like the light of an eclipse, pulsing with the remnants of something she hadn't fully grasped yet.
She had done it.
She had awakened.
Jase took a step closer, his presence wrapping around her like an unseen force, his voice smooth, effortless, dangerous in a way she was only beginning to understand. "Told you I'd help you."
Celeste glared at him, frustration bubbling over as the memory of what had just happened slammed back into her. "You nearly died!"
Jase merely shrugged, completely unfazed, like throwing himself into reckless situations was just another part of his daily routine. "You're overreacting." He dismissed it so easily, as if his own mortality was nothing more than an afterthought. But before she could fire back with another rightful scolding, he moved, his fingers reaching out—
And tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Celeste's breath caught, her entire body going still, the warmth of his touch sending a slow, electric shiver through her veins. His golden eyes softened, something shifting in them, something different, something that made her pulse stumble in its rhythm. His thumb grazed the edge of her cheek, his touch lingering just for a second too long, long enough to make her forget how to breathe properly.
"You're amazing, Celeste," he murmured, his voice lower, softer, almost reverent.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Something deep, something dangerous, something undeniably real settled between them, stretching, tightening, until it felt like the very air around them was charged with something they weren't ready to name yet.
Jase had never looked at her like this before.
Or maybe he always had and she was only just realizing it now.
Before she could stop herself, before she could talk herself out of it, Celeste lifted a hand, her fingers tracing lightly along his jawline, her touch exploratory, hesitant, studying him in the same way he always studied her like she was trying to memorize him, like she was seeing him differently for the first time.
The shift was instant.
Jase's golden eyes darkened, the teasing amusement in them melting away, replaced with something heavier, something undeniable, something lethal.
"…Yeah?" His voice had dropped, turning rougher, lower, something strained lurking beneath it, something restrained as if he was holding himself back from crossing a line they weren't sure they were supposed to cross yet. "Then let's see how much more I can bring out of you."
Celeste flushed, her entire body heating at the implication, a mix of anticipation and nerves swirling together inside her, tangling her thoughts, making her head spin.
But instead of shying away, instead of retreating, instead of letting fear win, she smiled.
"Try me."
*****
As they walked back toward Velkan, the weight of what had happened pressed around them, an unspoken truth neither dared to voice. The world was too quiet, the wind through the trees carrying a new tension. Celeste felt it in her skin, in the sharper edge of her senses, as if something inside her had changed. But it wasn't just her.
Jase tensed beside her, his entire body going rigid like a predator sensing an unseen threat.
Celeste noticed immediately. "Jase?"
His golden eyes scanned the horizon, his expression hardening into something serious, something lethal, something that made every instinct in her body scream that something was coming.
"We don't have much time, Celeste."
Her stomach twisted, an uneasy feeling creeping through her like a warning she couldn't yet understand. "You think the Abyssals will come soon?"
Jase's jaw tightened, his usual smirk nowhere in sight. The playful arrogance, the teasing remarks, the casual confidence, all of it was gone. What remained was the warrior, the protector, the Luminary who had spent his entire life preparing for battles like this.
"They were waiting to see if you awakened." He exhaled slowly, controlled, his voice edged with something dangerously calm, the kind of calm that meant something was coming. "Now that you have… they won't hesitate."
Celeste inhaled deeply, pushing back against the fear that crawled up her spine, against the uncertainty that whispered in the back of her mind. The Abyssals had been waiting for her. Hunting her. And now they would come for her.
But she wasn't going to let them take her.
"Then we won't hesitate either."
Jase's gaze snapped to hers, golden eyes burning as he searched her expression, looking for any trace of doubt.
But there was none.
Celeste wasn't afraid, not anymore. For the first time, she understood.
She understood why she had always felt different. Why the Abyssals wanted her. Why she had been running from something she hadn't even known existed. But she wasn't running anymore. She was done being afraid.
And then, unexpectedly—
Jase smiled.
Not a smirk. Not his usual teasing amusement. But something real, something slow, something proud.
"That's my girl."
Celeste blushed, heat creeping up her neck, but she didn't look away. Instead, she squeezed his hand, firmly, deliberately, grounding both of them in what was coming.
Because she wasn't just learning to fight. She was learning to stand beside him.