Aerin skipped dinner.
Not by choice—his body simply refused to move. After three classes, combat training, and Master Thorne's nightmare lesson, he'd collapsed on his bed fully clothed and passed out until moonrise.
When he woke, the dining hall was closed. His stomach growled in protest but he ignored it. He'd gone hungry before or atleast this body did.
What he needed was information , an answer to everything happening right now.
Aerin cleaned himself up as best he could, changed into fresh clothes, and headed out. The Crown Dorms were quiet this late. Most students were either in their rooms or gathered in common areas.
He slipped out into the night.
The academy looked different under moonlight. The white stone towers seemed to glow. Shadows stretched long and dark across empty courtyards. Somewhere in the distance, he heard laughter from one of the other dorms.
Aerin pulled his cloak tighter and walked toward the library.
The main library building stood near the center of campus—a massive structure with stained glass windows and carved columns. During the day it was packed with students. At night, it was supposed to be closed.
But the original Aerin's memories remembered a side entrance that was never locked properly.
Aerin found it easily. A small wooden door half-hidden behind overgrown vines. The lock was broken—had been for years, apparently. He slipped inside.
The library interior was dark except for moonlight streaming through the high windows. Thousands of books lined the shelves, stretching up three stories. The air smelled like old paper and dust.
Aerin made his way toward the back section. History. Specifically, histories of noble families and ancient bloodlines.
He needed to know more about the Arclight family. About Valefor. About what actually happened seventy years ago.
The official story said Valefor went mad and tried to destroy the world. But that vision Aerin had seen—the crying man whispering about truth—didn't match the story of a mindless tyrant.
What were you trying to show them? He wispered to himself and the blade.
He found the history section and started searching. Most books about the Crimson Emperor had been removed from the main shelves—probably locked in a restricted section somewhere. But there were older texts. Chronicles from before Valefor's war. Family records.
Aerin pulled one down and started reading.
The Arclight family had been scholars originally. Researchers of ancient magic. They'd discovered something—the text was vague about what—that had made them powerful but feared.
Then came Valefor's generation. The text called him a genius. A prodigy. Someone who mastered blood magic faster than anyone in recorded history.
And then. nothing. The next entry was about the war. The destruction. The hero who stopped him.
What happened?Why did he cause destruction? He murmered.
"You won't find answers there."
Aerin spun around.
A girl stood at the end of the aisle. Silver-white hair catching the moonlight streaming through a nearby window. Sapphire blue eyes watching him with that same calculating intensity from the dining hall.
Seren Moonveil.
She wore a simple nightgown beneath a dark cloak. No uniform. No formality. Just her, standing in moonlight like she belonged to it.
Aerin's hand went instinctively to his grimoire. "How long have you been there?"
"Since you walked past the east wing." She stepped closer. Her footsteps made no sound. "You're not very subtle. And you left the side door open."
"Are you going to report me?"
"For being in the library after hours?" Something that might have been amusement flickered across her face. "No. I'm breaking the same rule."
She stopped a few feet away. Up close, Aerin noticed things he'd missed in the dining hall. The way she held herself—perfect posture, but tense, like she was ready to fight at any moment. The faint dark circles under her eyes, barely visible. The calluses on her hands that spoke of weapon training.
And her eyes. Cold, yes. But not empty. There was something beneath the surface. Something watching. Calculating.
"Why are you really here?" Aerin asked.
"I could ask you the same question."
"I asked first."
Seren studied him for a long moment. Then she moved past him to the shelf and pulled down a different book. Older. The leather binding was cracked with age.
"Looking for information about your family, I assume." She opened the book to a specific page—like she'd read it before. "The official histories are useless. They were rewritten after the war. Propaganda, mostly."
She held the book out. Aerin took it carefully.
The page showed a family tree. The Arclight lineage going back five generations. And at the bottom, in faded ink: Valefor Arclight - Status Unknown.
Not dead. Unknown.
"Why show this to me?" Aerin asked.
"Because you clearly don't know your own family's history. And ignorance is dangerous." Seren pulled down another book. "The Arclight family wasn't evil. They were researchers. They studied the fundamental nature of magic itself."
She opened the second book. This one had diagrams—complex magical circles and symbols Aerin didn't recognize.
"Valefor discovered something," Seren continued. Her voice was quiet now. Almost gentle. "Something about how magic actually works. About where it comes from. The records say he tried to tell the other noble families. They didn't listen."
"So he declared war?
"So they declared war on him first." Seren met his eyes. "The official story is backwards. Valefor didn't attack—he defended himself. And when he realized he couldn't stop them all, he tried to destroy magic itself."
Aerin's chest felt tight. "How do you know all this?"
"Because my family was there." Seren's expression didn't change, but something flickered in her eyes. Pain, maybe. Or guilt. "My ancestor—the one who wielded Eclipsa—was the one who killed Valefor. Or tried to. His body was never found."
She closed the book carefully. "The Moonveil family has records the public never saw. Journals from my ancestor. She wrote about the battle. About what Valefor said before they fought."
"What did he say?"
Seren was quiet for a moment. Then: Valefor said "I'm sorry. But you'll understand when it's too late. When the thing feeding on all of you finally wakes up hungry.'"
The words hung in the air between them.
"No one knew what he meant," Seren continued. "They thought he'd gone mad. But my ancestor wrote that he seemed perfectly sane. Just. desperate. Like he'd seen something no one else could see."
Aerin thought about the vision. The battlefield. Valefor crying as he killed and saying -'You need to see what's feeding on you.'
"Why are you telling me this?" Aerin asked.
Seren looked at him. Really looked at him. And for the first time, her mask cracked just slightly.
"Because when I saw your sword yesterday, I felt Eclipsa react. It recognized Sangreal. And I need to know." She hesitated. "Are you like him? Like Valefor?"
"I don't know," Aerin said honestly. "I don't know what I am."
"That's a dangerous answer."
"It's the only honest one I have."
They stood in silence for a moment. Moonlight streaming through the windows. Thousands of books surrounding them. Two people from enemy bloodlines, standing in a library after hours, sharing secrets they probably shouldn't.
"Why do you keep watching me?" Aerin asked softly.
Seren's mask snapped back into place. Her expression went cold again. "Because you're dangerous. Because you wield a weapon that nearly destroyed the world. Because I need to know if history is going to repeat itself."
"And if it does?
"Then I'll do what my ancestor did." Her hand moved to her side, where Aerin realized she'd probably hidden Eclipsa beneath her cloak. "I'll stop you."
"Fair enough."
Seren blinked. "Fair enough? That's all you have to say?"
"If I become a monster, someone should stop me." Aerin meant it. "I'd rather it be someone strong enough to actually do it."
She stared at him like she couldn't figure him out. Like he'd answered completely wrong but somehow also exactly right.
"You're weird," she finally said.
"You are the third person to tell me that."
"Who were the first two?"
"Myself and a fire mage who decided we're best friends after knowing me for one day."
That almost got a smile. Almost. Seren's lips twitched slightly before she controlled it.
"Kael Verin," she said. "He's loud."
"Very loud."
"But loyal. You could do worse for an ally."
The way she said it—like she knew what loyalty looked like but hadn't experienced it herself—made Aerin wonder about her. This cold, calculating girl standing in moonlight, surrounded by books, completely alone.
"Do you have friends?" asked Aerin.
Seren's expression shuttered completely. "That's not relevant."
"It is simple enough.
"It's a personal question."
"You just threatened to kill me if I go evil. I think we're past formal boundaries, maybe even friends already."
Seren was quiet. Then, so quietly he almost missed it: "No. I don't think so."
"Why not?" asked Aerin.
"Because friendships are liabilities. Because people I care about can be used against me. Because my family's mission is more important than personal connections." She said it like reciting from a textbook. Like she'd told herself this so many times she almost believed it.
"That sounds lonely."
"It's practical."
"It's still lonely."
Seren's jaw tightened. "You know nothing about me."
"I know you're in a library alone at midnight reading about my dead ancestor. I know you're watching me constantly but won't talk to anyone else. I know—"
"Halt."
Aerin stopped.
Seren took a breath. When she spoke again, her voice was carefully controlled. "I'm here because I have a mission. That's all. Don't mistake information sharing for friendship."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
But even as he said it, Aerin wondered if she was trying to convince him or herself.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere in the library. Both of them went still.
"Warden making rounds," Seren said quietly. "We need to leave. Now."
She moved toward the nearest window—a tall thing with a ledge outside. She opened it smoothly, like she'd done this before.
"Coming?" she asked.
Aerin snatched up the books she'd shown him. "I'm taking these."
"That's stealing."
"I'll return them. Someday."
Something that might have been approval flickered in her eyes. She climbed out the window onto the ledge.
Aerin followed. They were two stories up. The ledge was narrow. One wrong step and they'd fall into the bushes below.
Seren moved along it like she was walking on flat ground. Aerin followed more carefully, pressing his back against the stone.
The footsteps inside grew closer. Torchlight flickered through the windows.
Seren reached a drain pipe and started climbing down. Aerin waited until she was halfway down, then followed.
They dropped into the bushes and crouched low. The warden passed by the window above, torch held high, then moved on.
They waited in silence, until the footsteps faded.
Then Seren stood and brushed leaves off her cloak. "Don't get caught coming back this late. The night patrols are stricter than you'd think."
"Noted."
She started to walk away, then paused, looked back.
"Aerin."
"Yeah?"
"That answer you gave. About wanting someone to stop you if you become a monster." Her eyes were unreadable in the darkness. "Don't assume I'll hesitate."
"I wouldn't."
She nodded once. Then disappeared into the shadows as though she had never existed.
Aerin stood alone in the bushes, holding stolen library books, his heart beating faster than it should.
Beneath his shirt, Sangreal's heartbeat quickened. Rapid. Excited.
The sword had recognized her. And she'd recognized it.
Two weapons that once tried to kill one another, two bloodlines sworn as enemies.
And here they were, standing bathed in moonlight, sharing secrets.
This is going to get complicated,thought Aerin.
Sangreal pulsed twice. He took that as assent.
-
Aerin made it back to his room without getting caught. He hid the books under his mattress and collapsed onto his bed.
He should have slept well. He was tired.
But all he could think about was Seren. The way she'd looked in the moonlight. The brief moment when her mask had cracked and he'd seen the loneliness underneath.
Don't confuse camaraderie with information-sharing.
But it had felt like more than that.
It had felt like two people trapped by their bloodlines, finding someone who might actually understand.
Dangerous thought..
She'd made it clear she would kill him if necessary. And he believed her. That wasn't posturing or bravado. That was simple fact.
So why had that made him want to talk to her more, not less?
'Because you're an idiot', he told himself.
Sangreal pulsed once. He took that for agreement also.
Across campus, in her room in the Crown Dorms, Seren sat by her window and stared at the moon.
Her roommate Lyssa was asleep already. Sweet, gentle Lyssa who smiled at everyone and seemed to genuinely care about people. Lyssa who had no idea what Seren was really doing at this academy.
Seren touched her moon-shaped earrings. They were still warm. Still warning her of danger.
But the danger wasn't what she'd expected.
She'd expected a monster. A tyrant in training. Someone obviously following in Valefor's footsteps.
Instead, she'd found. him.
A boy who held back in fights so he wouldn't hurt classmates. Who admitted he didn't know what he was becoming. Who looked at her like she was a person, not a threat.
Who'd asked if she had friends.
And that was somehow worse.
Because they were easy to kill.
"What am I supposed to do?" she whispered out loud to the moon.
The moon was mute and could not respond.
Under her bed, wrapped up in cloth, Eclipsa pulsed faintly.
The spear wanted her to act. To complete the mission. To end the threat before it grew.
But Seren couldn't stop thinking about the way Aerin had looked when he'd said I'd rather it be someone strong enough to actually do it.
Like he'd already accepted the fact that he could die.
As if giving her permission.
And that made everything so much harder.
She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But all she could see was silver moonlight and a boy holding stolen books, looking at her like she was something more than the weapon she'd been raised to be.
"I don't have time for this,she told herself firmly. I have a mission. That's all that matters."
Yet when she at last dozed off, her final thought was:
"He asked if I had friends. And I said no. But maybe i might have one in the near future."
She didn't finish the thought.
Some things were too dangerous to hope for.
---
In the headmaster's tower, Arvell stood by his window and watched two students sneak back to their dorms from opposite directions.
He knew who they were. Had known the moment they'd both entered the library after hours.
"History repeats," he murmured to himself. "The Arclight and the Moonveil. Just like before."
His ancient eyes—older than he looked, older than the academy itself—held something like sadness.
"But will it end the same way? Or will these two find a different path?"
He turned from the window and walked to his desk. On it lay reports. Observations from various professors. Notes about the new students.
And one report that made him pause.
Assassins sighted near campus. Ashen Hand suspected. Target unknown.
Arvell's face hardened. "So it begins," he said quietly. "The same forces that pushed Valefor to war are moving again. And these children are caught in the middle." He looked back toward the window. Toward the Crown Dorms where two young people from enemy bloodlines had just spent talking in a library. "Choose wisely, young Arclight," Arvell whispered. "The world will not forgive a second Crimson Emperor. But perhaps. perhaps it doesn't need to fear one either." He returned to his desk and began writing letters. Some to allies. Some to old friends. Some to people who owed him favors from decades past. Because if war was coming—and Arvell suspected it was—these students would need protection. Whether they knew it or not.