Chapter 17: Veil Trails and Silent Blades
Cassandra stood by the cracked open window of the training hall, her silver eyes reflecting the moonlight that bathed Soul Academy in a pale glow. Her arms were folded, expression unreadable. The others were resting, recovering from another demanding day. Karen sat nearby, cradling the Abyss in its dormant form—a blade of elegant shadow resting across her lap.
"I can track them," Cassandra said suddenly.
Karen looked up. "The Veil?"
Cassandra nodded. "They're subtle. Their presence feels like an echo that doesn't belong, always one step behind. But I have access—resources most students don't."
"You mean…" Jim said, narrowing his eyes, "you're going to use your family."
Cassandra smirked faintly. "My aunt Sonia works with Mmuotech. She's obsessed with integrating Soul Energy with surveillance and tech. I can request access to her experimental scanners under the pretense of studying Veil interference patterns in Soul fluctuations."
"Won't that draw attention?" Leslie asked, frowning.
"It would," Cassandra replied, "if I didn't already have security clearance. Sonia never really cared what I do, so long as I don't cause political damage. She'd hand me the keys to her entire lab if it got me out of her hair."
Karen stood. "Are you sure about this? They came after me—but if you get involved deeper…"
"I'm already involved," Cassandra said quietly. "The moment Voth showed up in Hollowreach, we were all in the crosshairs. I won't sit around while my friends are hunted."
There was a moment of silence—then Marie stepped forward and nodded. "Then let's hunt them before they hunt us."
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Later that night, in the depths of Soul Island's inner arcology—hidden beneath layers of sigils and technology—Cassandra entered her aunt's restricted lab. Her bloodline clearance pulsed green on the scanners, and the sealed gates hissed open like whispering metal lips.
The lab was a fusion of Soul Energy-infused tech: floating crystals flickering with spectral data, screens etched with flowing script of both code and ancient rune. Cassandra moved with practiced grace to a console near the core.
She activated SEER Protocol Alpha, a scanner originally designed to detect Soulborne anomalies in enemy territory.
"I'm not using this for defense, Aunt Sonia," she muttered. "I'm using it to expose ghosts."
Data poured in—anomalous soul signatures, erratic pulses in the ambient field, disturbances masked beneath the resonance of the academy itself.
And there, faint but chilling… a soul signature like hollow steel and silent void. Voth's imprint.
She extracted the sequence to a portable core, her hands steady. The Veil thought they moved unseen.
Now they were marked.
And Karen wasn't going to face them blind anymore.
....