POV Dex:
Dex's eyes automatically fixed on the stage, searching for the origin of the provocative voice.
Sitting casually in the central chair of the Disciplinary Council was a woman who seemed to exist half a second outside of time. Light pink hair fell to her hips in a slightly disheveled cascade—the kind that seemed sensual rather than careless, as if she had just woken up but didn't care at all about others' opinions.
Her skin was pale with a pearlescent glow, almost translucent under the stained-glass light, resembling alabaster covered by a veil of mist. But it was her eyes that captured Dex's attention—multicolored like a liquefied garden, irises containing dozens of impossible tones that danced between violet, sky-blue, magenta-pink, and emerald-green. As if she saw all possible futures reflected in her own pupils.
Her thick lips, the color of faded wine, curved into a lazy, lopsided smile—one corner of her mouth raised more than the other, as if the entire world amused her only partially.
Her uniform was completely different from the standard student attire: black with red details, tight against her harmonious curves but clearly functional. Athletic shorts revealed toned legs that ended in high-calf boots with tips glowing with magical steel. And on her right hand, a black glove with a purple crystal pulsing temporal energy on its back.
"Erica," Dex asked without looking away from the woman on stage, "who is she?"
Erica then sighed and said, "We could say an old friend."
But then with a smile, she extended her hand toward him. "Let's show that my appearance wasn't the only thing that changed."
Dex looked at Erica's extended hand, pale skin marked by black tattoos that serpentined like living vines, marks of her existence in the young woman's life. "Fair enough," he said while thinking about how Erica would show their relationship.
Her touch was warm; this heat seemed to pulse from her to him as if symbolizing her affection.
But to his surprise, he felt contact on his arm with two mountains. "You know, if you leave me out I might become a bit insatiable for attention."
Hearing this, Erica laughed. "What a shame, I also want attention, so I think I'll have to follow your lead." She then hugged and brought his arm to her body.
'Not that I mind, but they could have some shame,' he thought seeing them on each side of his body as they walked down the corridor to their destination.
And during their walk to the stage, murmurs began:
"Millennial talent?"
"Is that Erica?"
"What has that embrace become?"
"Who are those two beside her?"
"Twins? Identical white hair..."
"Never saw them before. Freshmen?"
The stage steps approached. Made of polished black marble, they reflected their figures like distorted mirrors.
"Ready?" Erica whispered, voice low enough for only them to hear.
"For what exactly?" Dex responded, feeling the weight of hundreds of eyes fixed on them.
"To show the entire world that you are the center, Vice President," she said simply, squeezing his arm tighter.
Echidna on the other side laughed softly. "Finally she admits it."
"Shut up, even though I'm the President doesn't change that he is my king and that I am his," Erica murmured, but there was no venom in her words. Just... acceptance.
They climbed the steps in perfect synchrony. Three steps. Three heartbeats. One unit.
The stage was even more impressive up close. Giant stained-glass windows behind the Disciplinary Council projected a mosaic of colors onto the marble floor. And sitting casually in the central chair, as if the entire world bored her, was she.
She didn't stand. She just observed with those multicolored eyes as they approached—lazy but calculated analysis.
Dex stopped exactly three meters in front of her. Deliberate position—far enough for respect, close enough for confrontation.
And Erica and Echidna remained embracing him.
Not behind. Not at his side in military formation.
Embracing.
Erica to the right, white wings partially open, arm intertwined with his in a firmness that spoke of conscious choice, not necessity. Echidna to the left, body pressed against his arm, free hand resting lightly on Dex's chest in a possessive but not dominant gesture. Everything intentional with the purpose of showing three things to the public and especially to the woman in front of them. Dex is the center of our love. We belong to him. And we have no problem with that.
"Chronara," Erica spoke first, with a controlled voice but one that undeniably carried a tone of happiness. "I appreciate the compliment you made at OUR entrance; I thought you wouldn't notice, but unfortunately I was wrong. Anyway, were the holidays good? How many millennia did you sleep without any bit of training?"
Chronara regained her composure, fingers drumming on the chair's arm in a rhythm that seemed like she was calculating eternity with her fingers. "This time I must have managed to sleep about eight thousand years in these two and a half months, but as I've told you several times, the more I sleep, the stronger I become."
Dex was confused hearing the conversation about millennia of sleep and asked telepathically. 'Echidna, do you understand what they mean by these eight thousand years?'
'That woman is probably a time element mage, so she must be able to manipulate time around herself to sleep as many hours as she wants,' and she added at the end with some concern. 'But if she were someone normal, she would have already died of old age.'
"And I see you used that time well," she continued, voice dragging. "You acquired new company. Or should I say... found a new master? Honestly, I'm disappointed."
The insult was subtle but deliberate.
Erica didn't take the bait. Instead, she smiled.
"Master? Interesting choice of words, Chronara." She looked at Dex—not upward submissively, but laterally, as an equal. "I must correct you, Disciplinary President."
She released his arm only to take his hand and raise it to eye level for everyone in the auditorium—theatrical gesture, public declaration.
"This is Dex. My husband. Vice President of the Student Council. And the man I chose to belong to."
The crowd exploded in shocked murmurs.
"And this," she turned to Echidna, who also raised her free hand while keeping the other on Dex's chest, "is Echidna. My wife and Dex's. Representative of the Freshmen."
"Married," she murmured, processing. "You... married?"
Chronara's multicolored eyes slowly slid to Dex, then to Echidna, then returned to Erica. There was something different now in her lazy expression—genuine curiosity.
"With two..." she continued, finally rising from the chair with a movement that defied urgency. "Simultaneously. And you position yourself beside him instead of leading alone."
She walked and stopped just one meter from Dex, tilting her head while studying him with attention she hadn't shown before.
"Interesting," Chronara murmured, multicolored eyes fixed on Dex's eyes. "Red pupils that surpass the iris itself. Never seen this before. What race are you exactly?"
Dex maintained a neutral expression, but felt Erica squeeze his arm slightly—silent warning.
"The records say beastman," Erica responded for him, voice casual but eyes alert. "Specifically a hybrid of a human."
"Beastman?" Chronara repeated, clearly unconvinced. "With pupils that overflow the iris? And this aura he hides within himself?"
She turned to Echidna, observing her eyes—identical to Dex's, red pupils expanded beyond normal.
"And you too. First Soul, both. Newly arrived freshmen. Who should be taught to awaken their soul in the first week."
The temporal crystal pulsed in her glove. And she appeared just centimeters from Dex's face.
"So, Vice President Dex," Chronara said, voice dragging but with a slightly curious tone, "do you mind explaining this... anomaly?"
Before Dex could respond, Erica stepped forward, positioning herself slightly between him and Chronara.
"Anomaly?" Erica smiled, not with amusement, but with challenge. "I prefer to call it potential. Something that you, sleeping millennia, perhaps no longer recognize."
Chronara arched an eyebrow. "Oh? And what potential would that be, Millennial Talent?"
"The potential," Erica said calmly, "to change everything and transcend all limitations imposed by this world."
Tense silence.
Chronara studied Erica for long seconds. Then her eyes returned to Dex, specifically to his abnormal red pupils.
"Transcend limitations," she repeated slowly. "So you're saying these two... will change the world?"
"I'm saying," Erica responded, squeezing Dex's hand firmly, "that they changed me. And that's all you need to know to be certain they can change whatever they want."
Chronara smiled lazily—but there was something sharp in the expression now.
She started walking again, now slowly circling the trio like a predator evaluating prey. "But you didn't answer my original question, old friend."
She stopped directly in front of Erica, multicolored eyes shining with curiosity that transcended habitual boredom.
"You married. You, who always said relationships were weakness, until Emilia put that fanciful idea in you. You, who spent two years at this academy alone, focused only on power. You, who called me lazy for sleeping instead of training..."
Chronara tilted her head.
"...Now you appear married, transformed into something my celestial eyes can only barely fathom, and the little I can see seems completely different from your past."
The temporal crystal pulsed intensely.
"So let me ask directly, Erica, what happened during that summer vacation? What power did you obtain that allowed this transformation?"