Lyra's POV
"No."
The word ripped from my throat as I stumbled away from the seal, my hand burning where I'd touched it. Nova's magical signature still pulsed through my senses—familiar, undeniable, devastating.
"Lyra, what's wrong?" Kael caught me before I fell.
"Nova," I choked out. "She's been breaking the seal. My roommate. My friend. She—"
"Is standing right behind you," a cheerful voice said.
I spun around so fast I nearly fell again.
Nova stood in the chamber doorway, her wild curly hair tied back, her glasses slightly crooked. She looked exactly like she always did—bright, bubbly, harmless. Except now she held a strange device that hummed with power, and her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Surprise!" She wiggled her fingers in a wave. "Bet you didn't see this plot twist coming."
My heart shattered into a million pieces. "How could you? You said you believed me. You said you'd always be on my side."
"And I meant it! Mostly." Nova tilted her head. "Look, it's complicated. But hey, you found the Second Seal for us, so thanks for that. Really saved us a lot of time."
Kael moved in front of me, void magic crackling around his fists. "You've been using Lyra this whole time."
"Using is such an ugly word." Nova's device beeped, and she pressed a button. Immediately, the air in the chamber grew thick and heavy. Moving felt like pushing through mud. "I prefer to think of it as strategic friendship. Though honestly, Lyra, you made it super easy. You were so desperate for someone to care about you."
The words hit harder than any spell. Because they were true. After Cassia's betrayal, I'd clung to Nova like a drowning person grabbing a rope. I'd trusted her completely.
I'd been an idiot. Again.
"The device," Kael said through gritted teeth, struggling against the heavy air. "It's a gravity amplifier. Military grade."
"Built it myself!" Nova beamed with pride. "I'm really good at making things, you know. That's why the Eclipse Covenant recruited me. They saw potential in me that my family never did."
Professor Winters stepped into the chamber behind Nova, followed by her robed followers. "Excellent work, Miss Brightspark. I see you've immobilized our troublemakers."
"They're not going anywhere," Nova confirmed. Then she looked at me, and for just a second, something real flickered in her expression. "For what it's worth, Lyra? I actually did like being your friend. You're sweet and genuine and way too trusting. In another life, we could have been real friends."
"We were real friends!" I shouted, tears streaming down my face. "I told you everything! I trusted you with my pain!"
"I know. That's what made it work." Nova shrugged. "My job was to keep you isolated after Cassia destroyed your reputation. Make sure you stayed vulnerable and alone. Well, alone except for me. That way, when you finally activated the Codex, you'd be easy to control."
The Codex burned in my mind, furious. She's been blocking your distress signals. Every time you felt unsafe, I tried to warn you. She had a dampener in your dorm room that muted my voice.
That's why the Codex had been so quiet until tonight. Nova had been silencing it.
"You're a monster," I said.
"No, I'm practical." Nova adjusted her glasses. "The old magical order is broken, Lyra. People like you and me—we're considered weak because we don't have flashy combat magic. The Eclipse Covenant is going to change that. When we release the Primordial Magic, we'll rebuild everything. Make a world where everyone has power, not just the lucky ones born into the right families."
"By killing thousands of people?" Kael snarled.
"Sacrifices have to be made for revolution." Nova said it like she was discussing the weather. "Sorry, Voidstrider. I know your sister's one of the soul fragments caught in the dimensional breaks. That's rough. But hey, maybe we can put her back together after we reshape reality!"
Kael lunged forward despite the gravity pressing down on him. Dark energy exploded around his body, fighting against Nova's device. "I'm going to destroy you."
"Oooh, scary." Nova pressed another button. The gravity doubled. Kael crashed to his knees with a grunt of pain.
I tried to move toward him, but I couldn't. My legs wouldn't work. The weight was crushing me into the floor.
Professor Winters approached us, her hands glowing with binding magic. "Now then. Let's collect our Cipher and get started on breaking that seal."
Lyra, the Codex urged. You must go deeper. Access the ancient protocols. It's the only way.
It'll kill me, I thought back.
Perhaps. But staying captured will definitely kill you. And Kael. And thousands more. Choose.
I closed my eyes, feeling the power of the Codex thrumming through my marks. Going deeper meant accepting more than I was ready for. Meant becoming something other than fully human. The Codex had warned me earlier—each level of bonding changed you permanently.
But what choice did I have?
I reached inside myself and grabbed hold of the burning power.
"I accept," I whispered.
The Codex ROARED to life.
Light exploded from my body, so bright it burned. The marks on my skin spread and multiplied, covering me completely. My eyes blazed silver-white. And suddenly, I could see EVERYTHING—every magical thread in the room, every weakness in Nova's device, every spell Professor Winters was preparing.
The gravity pressing me down became nothing.
I stood up smoothly, and Nova's eyes went wide with fear. "That's not possible. You just bonded last night. You shouldn't be able to access Level Two powers yet."
"Surprise," I said, echoing her words back to her. "Bet you didn't see this plot twist coming."
I raised my hand, and without understanding how I knew what to do, I rewrote the magical structure of Nova's device. The gravity field collapsed. Kael gasped as the pressure released.
"Stop her!" Professor Winters shrieked.
The robed figures fired spells at me—fire, ice, lightning, dark magic. I saw each one coming like they were moving in slow motion. With a gesture, I unraveled the spells in midair, turning them into harmless sparkles.
This was what Cipher magic could do. This was what I was.
Nova backed toward the door, her confidence crumbling. "This isn't fair. You're just some charity case. You're nobody special!"
"Wrong." I walked toward her, and power radiated off me in waves. "I'm the Cipher. I'm the Keeper. And I'm done letting people like you make me feel small."
But before I could reach her, Kael shouted, "Lyra, the seal!"
I turned. Professor Winters had abandoned attacking me and focused all her power on the ancient doorway. Dark magic poured from her hands, slamming into the already-cracked seal.
"If I can't have you," she snarled, "I'll finish breaking this seal right now. Let's see you stop a dimensional collapse!"
The seal cracked wider. I felt it like a wound in my own body. Behind the doorway, something enormous stirred—a presence so vast and hungry it made my new powers feel like a candle against a hurricane.
The dimension is waking up, the Codex warned. If it fully breaches, nothing can stop it.
I had seconds to choose: chase Nova and stop her from escaping, or save the seal and let my traitor ex-friend go free.
"Kael!" I made my decision instantly. "Stop Nova! Don't let her leave!"
"What about you?"
"I've got this!"
I ran toward Professor Winters and the crumbling seal, gathering every ounce of power the Codex had given me. I could repair it. I had to repair it.
But as I reached the doorway, Professor Winters smiled—a horrible, triumphant smile.
"Too late, child."
The seal shattered completely.
The door blew open, and from the darkness beyond came a sound that froze my blood—a roar that contained thousands of voices screaming in agony and rage.
Something massive pushed through the doorway. Something with too many eyes and teeth made of shadow and claws that dripped with void.
It was a Primordial Beast. A creature of pure chaos from before the world had rules.
And it was hungry.
The beast lunged straight at me with impossible speed.
I threw up a shield, but the creature smashed through it like paper. Its claws raked across my chest, tearing through my uniform and into flesh. Pain exploded through my body.
I fell backward, blood pouring from the wounds. The Codex screamed warnings in my mind, but they sounded far away now, muffled by pain and shock.
Through dimming vision, I saw Kael fighting desperately to reach me. Saw Professor Winters laughing. Saw Nova's face—was that regret in her expression?
The beast raised its claw for a killing blow.
This was it. I'd survived betrayal, awakened ancient powers, and learned terrible truths. And I was going to die anyway, torn apart by a monster in a basement chamber, having saved no one.
The claw came down.
And someone stepped between me and death.
The person moved so fast I couldn't see clearly through my fading vision. But I heard the impact—the wet, terrible sound of claws meeting flesh.
Heard someone gasp in pain.
Heard them fall to the ground beside me.
I turned my head, and my heart stopped.
Nova lay next to me, her chest torn open by the beast's claws. Her glasses had fallen off, and her eyes—those brown eyes that had looked at me with fake friendship for months—now stared up at the ceiling, wide with shock.
"Why?" I choked out. "Why would you save me?"
Nova's hand found mine, slick with blood. "Because..." she coughed, and blood bubbled at her lips. "Because even though I lied about everything else... I meant it when I said you were my friend."
Her hand went limp in mine.
And Nova Brightspark—traitor, liar, and the only person who'd stood by me after Cassia—stopped breathing.