The sky above the Academy shifted — not with thunder, but with color.Clouds shimmered in faint violet hues that hadn't been seen for centuries, moving slowly, as if unsure of their own existence.Everywhere, whispers slid through crystal corridors like half-remembered dreams.
Something… was stirring.
Lyra stood in the open courtyard, the stone beneath her feet faintly warm.Lumi curled around her shoulder like a ribbon of living light, its glow softer than usual, almost cautious.Nearby, Frost hovered beside Vale, tracing tiny snow-patterns in the air — but even those patterns wavered, as if disturbed by an unseen rhythm.
It was meant to be a quiet morning.
Yet the ground beneath them throbbed — once, slow and deep — like a distant heartbeat.
Vale frowned. "Anyone else feel that?"
Draven's eyes flickered crimson for a split second. "That's not just wind," he said quietly."It feels like… something calling."
Before anyone could respond, the Academy bell rang.
Once.Twice.Three times.
An unusual signal.
Students emerged from halls and stairways, drawn toward the central dome, murmuring uneasily. Even the crystal lights overhead flickered out of sync, responding to something none of them could see.
At the top of the grand stairs, Headmistress Eira appeared.
Her silver hair flowed like liquid moonlight, her posture calm — but her eyes were alert, sharp.Behind her, suspended in the air, the Heart of Coloris pulsed faintly, its rhythm uneven, as though struggling to keep balance.
Eira's voice carried effortlessly through the dome.
"The balance has shifted."
The murmurs died instantly.
"A seventh resonance has been detected," she continued."Faint. Unstable. Incomplete — yet alive."
Her gaze moved slowly over the six students standing together.
"One of you," she said, "may already feel its pull."
Lyra's fingers twitched before she could stop them.
For a brief moment, she saw it again — that distant violet shimmer from her dreams. Watching. Waiting.
Draven noticed the movement. He leaned slightly closer."You felt it too, didn't you?"
Lyra hesitated, then nodded. "It wasn't a voice," she whispered."It was more like… a heartbeat. Calling from somewhere I couldn't reach."
Something unreadable passed through Eira's eyes.
"There was once a Seventh Light," the Headmistress said softly, almost to herself."But it vanished before the Great Collapse. No bond. No anchor."
Her gaze hardened."If that resonance is stirring again… we must be careful."
Later That Night
Storm clouds gathered silently above the Academy.No thunder followed — only a faint violet glow threading through the sky like cracks in glass.
Crystal lanterns flickered restlessly. None of the six could sleep.
They gathered in the observation tower, the air thick with unspoken tension.
Vale hugged her arms. "Feels like the world's holding its breath."
Seren stared out through the glass, eyes unfocused."Or like it's waiting for something to remember itself."
The air hummed.
Low. Steady.
Then —
Crack.
From the eastern cliffs, a thin beam of violet light tore upward into the clouds, vanishing as quickly as it appeared — leaving behind silence that felt too heavy.
Lumi hissed softly, pressing closer to Lyra.Frost's icy glow dimmed, its fur bristling with unease.
Draven swallowed. "That energy… it's not wild."
"It's aware."
They ran.
Through silent corridors.Down winding stairs.Out past the Academy's edge — toward the forest clearing where Lumi had first been found.
The trees trembled, leaves reflecting faint violet streaks as if remembering an old song.At the center of the clearing, half-buried in the earth, stood a massive crystal — cracked, ancient, veins of dim light pulsing slowly within.
Lyra stepped forward, her breath shallow.
"Wait," Draven warned.
Too late.
Her fingers brushed the crystal.
The world stopped.
No wind.No sound.No time.
Then —
A breath.
The crystal fractured with a soft, echoing sound, releasing a wave of violet energy that washed over them like a memory not their own.
When the light faded, there was no figure.
Only mist.
The air twisted, forming a vague echo of a shape — not a body, not a form — but a presence, as if the light itself was struggling to remember what it once was.
A voice drifted through the clearing, soft and layered, echoing from everywhere at once.
"You… finally heard me."
Lyra staggered back, heart racing."Who… who are you?"
The presence pulsed gently, violet light rippling like breath through fog.
"I am what remains," the voice replied,"of a color you were never meant to forget."
Draven took a cautious step forward. "The Seventh… resonance."
The air shivered.
"You remember the name," the voice said, touched with sorrow,"but the bond was lost."
The forest trembled. Energy rippled outward, racing through roots and stone.
In the distance, the Academy bells rang again — sharp, urgent.
Eira's voice echoed through the wind, amplified by magic:
"Students, return at once. The Awakening has begun."
The violet presence flickered, its light thinning, as if pulled away by unseen forces.
"I am… not free yet," it whispered.
Then it dissolved — not vanishing, but dispersing — sparks of violet drifting upward and fading into the night sky.
Silence returned.
Lumi's glow dimmed to a gentle gold.Lyra stared at the empty space, her voice barely a breath.
"It was calling us."
Draven clenched his fist."Then we'll find the truth — before something else answers first."
High above the Academy, the clouds parted.
A single drop of glowing violet rain fell, striking the earth.
The ground pulsed once.
Like a heartbeat.