The night sky above Astraeus Academy shimmered like an ocean of living light. Stars pulsed in strange rhythm—as if answering a distant song. For days, the academy had been restless. Magic storms, flickering rifts, whispers of something ancient stirring beyond their dimension.
Aiden stood alone on the balcony of the Observatory Tower, the cold wind brushing through his dark hair. Below him, students hurried to their dorms, unaware of the shadow creeping closer to their world. He couldn't sleep. Every night since the Starborn Trials, he had felt it—an unseen presence watching, waiting.
A soft voice broke his thoughts.
"You're awake again."
Seraphina, his older sister, stepped out from the shadows. She wore her night robe, the silver fabric glinting like moonlight. Her usual confident smile was gone, replaced by something quieter—concern.
"You felt it too, didn't you?" Aiden asked.
She nodded. "The Headmaster's trying to contain the dimensional instability, but it's getting worse. The barrier between worlds is… thinning."
Aiden clenched his fists. "Is it because of me? The Starborn mark?"
Seraphina hesitated, then stepped closer. "You're not the cause, Aiden. But you might be the key to stopping it."
Before he could reply, the sky above them cracked. Literally cracked—like glass shattering in slow motion. From the rift spilled threads of black energy, twisting and pulsing like veins of darkness.
Seraphina's eyes widened. "No… not now."
A bell tolled across the campus. Emergency summons.
---
Minutes later, the academy's courtyard was filled with chaos. Students and professors gathered under the glowing barrier domes as the Headmaster—a towering figure robed in starlight—raised his staff.
"Dimensional Rift, Northwest Quadrant!" he commanded. "All combat-ready students, to formation! Everyone else, evacuate!"
Professor Elira appeared beside Aiden's group, her coat flaring with energy. "Team Orion, you're with me."
That meant Aiden, Kael, Lyra, and Seraphina.
The ground trembled as they raced across the academy grounds. Overhead, the rift expanded, revealing glimpses of another realm—a red-sky world filled with floating ruins and winged shadows.
Aiden's pulse pounded. "What is that place?"
"The Void Realm," Seraphina answered grimly. "A forgotten dimension… sealed for centuries."
They reached the edge of the western training grounds, where the rift hung low, pulsing with light and shadow. Out of it emerged creatures—twisted beasts of mist and metal, their eyes glowing crimson.
"Here they come!" Lyra shouted, summoning her healing aura as Kael's sword gleamed silver.
Aiden stepped forward, raising his hand. "Starlight Dominion—activate!"
Energy flared from his palm, forming a glowing sigil. A beam of celestial light sliced through the first wave of monsters. But for each one destroyed, two more appeared.
"They're endless!" Kael gritted his teeth, slashing through the air.
Professor Elira spun her staff, summoning pillars of fire that burned through the swarm. "Focus on the core! The rift has a stabilizer shard—find it!"
Aiden closed his eyes, feeling for the pulse of power. There—beneath the storm. "Found it!"
He leapt forward, Seraphina covering him with lightning-fast strikes. But just as he reached the shard, a new presence stepped from the rift.
A figure in dark armor, his aura colder than death itself.
Aiden froze. "Who… are you?"
The figure's voice was like breaking glass. "You bear the mark of the Starborn. The one who defied the cosmic order."
Seraphina's eyes widened. "Aiden, back away!"
But it was too late—the enemy moved faster than sight, striking Aiden across the chest with a surge of dark energy. Pain exploded through him as he hit the ground.
"Aiden!" Lyra screamed.
The world blurred. He saw Seraphina clash blades with the stranger, her movements a dance of fury and light. Sparks flew. The ground split. For a moment, Aiden could only hear the pounding of his heart and the echo of that voice:
> "The Starborn must return to the Rift."
Aiden's hand glowed faintly. The mark on his wrist—the one shaped like a fractured star—blazed to life.
Power surged outward, raw and uncontrollable. The air around him bent, the rift pulsing violently.
Seraphina turned. "Aiden, stop! You'll tear the realm apart!"
But he couldn't. The energy inside him was no longer obeying. It was calling—to something beyond.
---
When Aiden opened his eyes again, he was no longer at Astraeus. He stood in a barren wasteland under a violet sky. Broken towers floated in the air like forgotten memories.
A whisper drifted through the wind.
> "Welcome, Starborn… to the place between worlds."
A figure approached—tall, cloaked in pale light. Not the enemy. Something older.
"Who are you?" Aiden asked, his voice trembling.
The figure smiled faintly. "I am Eryndor, Keeper of the Lost Dimension. And you, child of two worlds, have awakened the balance that all feared."
"The balance?"
Eryndor extended a hand. "The connection between creation and void. Your sister protects the light. But you… carry both."
Aiden felt his heart pound. "What does that mean?"
"It means your story has only just begun."
The world rippled—and then everything went dark.
---
Back at the academy, Seraphina dropped to her knees, staring at the empty space where her brother had stood.
Lyra sobbed quietly, clutching her staff. Kael gritted his teeth, punching the ground.
Professor Elira placed a trembling hand on Seraphina's shoulder. "He's gone… but the energy signature is still active. He's not dead."
Seraphina's eyes blazed with determination through her tears. "Then I'll find him."
She stood, her hair whipping in the storm, her voice steady and fierce.
"I'll tear through every world if I have to. Aiden is my brother—and no dimension will keep him from me."
As lightning split the sky and the rift pulsed once more, a new era began. The Rift Arc had started—and the fate of both realms now hung by a single thread of starlight.