Chapter 20 – Accord
As Fiora drifted deeper into her own thoughts, barely aware of her surroundings, Zane remained still, entirely focused on the strange energy swirling within his body.
'Hm, it listens to me,' he mused, lifting his hand and watching the thick purple mist immediately gather there. The energy obeyed his will, moving at the speed of thought. There were no commands spoken, no movements needed—just intent. It responded like a limb he never knew he had.
The sensation was eerie. It wasn't like moving a hand or a foot, not even like flexing a muscle. It felt… more abstract. Like controlling smoke with nothing but desire. 'It's like I've grown something new inside me—something alive.' He narrowed his eyes, fingers twitching slightly as he concentrated. 'This will take some getting used to. I need practice—lots of it.'
After letting the mist swirl lazily around his hand for a moment, Zane lowered it again and tried something else. He took a slow breath, closed his eyes, and imagined the energy retreating, sinking back into his flesh.
Almost immediately, the mist obeyed.
It thinned, condensed, then vanished into his skin like water soaking into dry earth. As it disappeared, the heavy pressure that had been blanketing the room—cold, crushing, and suffocating—lifted like a weight pulled off everyone's shoulders.
Zane opened his eyes and scanned the room.
Fiora was still staring at him in a daze, unmoving.
'She's been like that for over a minute,' he thought. 'Is this really that strange?'
The lack of an assessment was unnerving. He'd never imagined awakening would be easy, but this... This wasn't anything like he expected. Why had his core taken so long to respond? Why had it exploded with so much power? And why couldn't the doctor assess his talent?
His mind swirled with unanswered questions. But before he could spiral too deep into them, he realized he needed to handle the immediate situation first. He glanced toward the others in the room—the doctor nursing his burned hand, the knights still clutching their weapons with barely restrained alarm.
"Can I ask something?" Zane said aloud, breaking the silence.
All eyes turned toward him.
"Am I in trouble?"
Fiora blinked, startled. "What?"
"Well…" Zane gave a slight shrug and pointed toward the armed knights and the shaken doctor. "They're looking at me like I just crawled out of the deepest pit of Hell. That usually means I've done something wrong."
The air grew heavier again, though not from his energy. The knights looked at one another, uncertain.
"Put your weapons down," Fiora said calmly.
"But, Miss—"
"I said put them down," she repeated, this time with steel in her voice.
One by one, the knights relented, relaxing their hands from their hilts, though their posture remained tense.
Fiora exhaled slowly. "Zane, I don't know what you are. Everything about you has been one anomaly after another. Your injection process was unlike anything I've seen. Your awakening is even more so. And now, I can't assess your talent. That's not just strange—it's unprecedented."
"And that's a problem for you?" Zane raised an eyebrow.
"A very big one," she admitted. "I have to submit a report on every awakening. If I can't assign a ranking, I can't complete the paperwork. If I don't complete the paperwork, I'll be questioned. Possibly fired."
"Right. So what's your plan then?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you going to report me anyway?"
Fiora stepped forward, glass crunching under her boots. "Common sense says I should."
Zane's jaw tensed. That wasn't good. If she reported this—if the higher-ups knew about what happened here—his life would never be the same again. He could feel it in his bones.
'I would get too many eyes on me.' He frowned. He had seen today what awakening to a unique talent could do to a person, and he didn't want anything to do with it. That attention would murder any plan he could ever have in the future, especially when his goals are far from what the public eye should see.
"But…" Fiora added softly, "I've been thinking of an alternative."
Zane blinked, uncertain. "Alternative?"
She stepped in close, closer than he expected, and grabbed the collar of his shirt. With surprising force, she yanked him down slightly, just enough to lean in and whisper in his ear.
Zane stiffened. The entire room went silent, the tension snapping taut. The doctor stared, baffled, and the knights looked ready to intervene—yet none dared move. Fiora's authority over them was absolute, so they could not do anything when she was moving.
Zane listened. At first, his expression was unreadable. Then his brows lifted slightly in surprise. When she pulled away and looked into his eyes, a small smile played on her lips.
"Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"
Zane blinked once. 'This woman… She's smarter than I thought.'
What she'd whispered left him momentarily stunned—but not because it was absurd. In fact, it was brilliant. Risky, yes. Bold, absolutely. But it was a way out. A loophole in a system built on strict procedure.
"You sure you won't get in trouble for this?" he asked in a hushed voice.
"I have my ways. And I'm not doing it for free." She winked at him. "You owe me now, Zane. I'll come collecting someday."
Zane stared at her for a moment before nodding once. "Alright. I agree."
"Good." She stepped back and turned to the room. "You can leave now. I'll handle the rest."
Zane offered her a final glance, a flicker of gratitude—or perhaps mutual understanding—in his gaze, and walked toward the exit.
"Get someone to clean up this mess and send in the next candidate," Fiora ordered.
"Y-Yes, Miss!" one of the knights responded, dashing out.
As the door shut behind Zane, the doctor hesitated before walking up to her, clearly still shaken.
"Miss Fiora, what was that? What did you just—"
"Hm?" She raised a brow, pretending confusion. "Oh, that? I found a solution to our little dilemma. You don't need to worry about it. Focus on the next student."
The man frowned, clearly unconvinced, but said nothing more. He returned to his seat with a tired sigh.
Meanwhile, Fiora leaned back, propping her elbows on the armrest of her chair, her fingers laced together as her chin rested atop them.
'This is a huge gamble,' she admitted to herself. 'If anyone finds out, I could lose everything—or worse.'
But a part of her—maybe the same part that had once dreamed of bigger things—was excited.
There was something about Zane Darkborn. A potential she had never seen in anyone else. If she could protect him, nurture that potential… Then maybe—just maybe—he could help her reclaim something she had long buried.
Hope.
"Zane Darkborn…" she whispered under her breath, a smirk curling at the edge of her lips. "You might just make my future worth betting on."