Tower VI was sealed that morning.
No announcement.
No lights.
Just three instructors who disappeared through its doors—and never came back out.
Whispers passed through the Academy like smoke.
"Restricted access."
"Internal disciplinary review."
"Probably about the rift."
But those were lies.
Because everyone knew why Tower VI was quiet.
That was where the Academy kept him.
> The Retainer.
> The one who doesn't ask questions.
The one they only call when whispers turn into disobedience.
And Lyle Greenbottle's name had finally made it onto his list.
---
Instructor Veil stood in the inner sanctum.
Her hand trembled only slightly as she held the Codex shard.
The room was lit with static glyphs—warding against truth, deception, and emotion.
All for him.
From the shadows behind the glyph curtain, a voice spoke.
"Target."
Veil swallowed.
"Greenbottle, Lyle. Class: undefined. Threat level: escalating. Associated: Juno Ravyn."
"Parameters?"
"Observe first. Confirm synchronization breach. Neutralize if necessary."
"Retrieve?"
"Only the Codex. Not the body."
The shadows moved.
Just slightly.
Veil stepped back instinctively.
"You're authorized," she said.
Then—softer—
"Do you even remember what it means to be one of us?"
A pause.
Then the voice answered.
"I remember what it means to clean up your mistakes."
---
That night, the gates opened.
Not to the public.
Not to cadets.
Just once.
Silently.
And the figure stepped out.
No badge.
No escort.
No glyphs.
Only the black ring etched into the back of his neck—a burned sigil that pulsed once before vanishing.
> A mark older than the Academy.
A rank that no longer officially exists.
And now… he was hunting.
---
In the dorm halls, some of the younger cadets whispered.
"He's not real."
"It's a story to scare first-years."
"No one's ever seen him."
But others knew.
Older students.
Ones with scars.
Ones who remembered the names that disappeared quietly in the night.
One girl said it best:
> "You don't see the Retainer. You just see what's left behind."
---
Far from the walls, deep in the old-world canyons, Juno stirred.
Lyle sat nearby, watching her sleep.
And though the Codex had gone still…
Something inside him twitched.
Like a string had been plucked.
A pressure.
Distant.
Cold.
> Someone was following.
And they weren't following to catch up.
They were following to end something.