The rest of the day passed in a blur of quiet anxiety. After his brief tour of the academy with Kaelen, Henry returned to the solitude of the Solstice Tower. He sat on the floor, the sunstone pendant a small, warm weight against his chest, and tried to meditate.
He thought about the duel demonstration. Ganriki was a mountain of muscle, and his classmates, while not on Lyra's level, were all competent magic users. And what did he have? Some hand-to-hand combat moves Joseph had taught him and the newfound ability to create a small, stable ball of light. It felt like bringing a pebble to a sword fight. How was he supposed to fight? How was he supposed to win? The only way he could see a victory was if he failed so spectacularly that the fight dragged on until sunset. The thought was both terrifying and darkly appealing.
Just before the sky began its slow descent into twilight, the door to the quarters slid open. Helia entered, her expression unreadable. She didn't say a word about where she had been or what she had done. She simply walked to her side of the room, her presence a silent, heavy weight.
The last rays of sunlight vanished. The change came.
Night-Henry awoke, not with a jolt, but with a smooth, seamless transition of consciousness. He stood, stretching the powerful limbs that were his to command for the next several hours. He looked over at Helia, who had already settled on her bed, a thick tome in her hands.
"Occupied much?" he asked, his voice a low, mocking purr. "Letting your dear, weak boy all alone for the entire day? He might have gotten into trouble."
Helia turned a page, her eyes not leaving the book. "I don't want to speak with you."
"But you already did," he said, taking a step closer. "And don't forget what I said to you the other day. I meant every word."
A faint blush touched Helia's cheeks. "Shut up," she snapped, her gaze still fixed on the text. "Go and say that to your night mother."
A musical laugh echoed through the room. "Oh, look at her, all flushed! Oh my, oh my," Tsukuyomi chirped, materializing on Henry's bed, looking utterly delighted. She smirked mischievously at Helia. "My little sister has a thing for the dark, it seems."
Helia shot her a glare that could have frozen fire, a silent, furious 'shut up', before rigidly returning her attention to her book.
"Oh, I was so bored," Tsukuyomi sighed, turning her attention to Night-Henry. With a burst of playful energy, she hugged him tightly from behind and then jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, landing squarely in his lap. "Maybe you can help me have some fun~" she whispered, her face red with a mixture of excitement and her own brand of affection.
Night-Henry looked down at the goddess clinging to him, his expression one of complete disinterest. "I don't have time for you."
He unhooked her arms and legs with an indifferent strength and simply placed her on the bed beside him.
"Ah," she said, pouting like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away.
Henry ignored her. He began to pace the room, his mind already on the coming battle. The boy's pathetic light-ball was useless. His martial arts were a pittance against real power. But the night... the night was his domain. He just needed the opportunity. If the duel took place indoors, away from the direct sun... or if it simply lasted long enough... A slow, predatory smirk touched his lips. He was aching for it. The chance to show this entire school what real power looked like.
Tsukuyomi lay on the bed, watching him pace, her chin propped in her hands. The fun she had anticipated had never come. Her perfect monster was plotting, and for once, she was not the focus of his attention. It was terribly, terribly boring.