The sky had only just begun to pale when Mila woke up screaming.

  Eris was the first to reach her, wind swirling around her palms to restrain any burst of unstable magic.

  "Mila—Mila! Breathe—focus on my voice—"

  Cael grabbed Mila's shoulders, steady but gentle.

  Ren rolled out of her bed and hit the floor with a thud.

  "WHAT IS HAPPENING WHY IS EVERYONE SCREAMING—"

  Lami bolted upright, tangled in a blanket cocoon, squeaking,

  "A-Ayla, she's glowing—"

  Alya was already beside Mila.

  Mila clawed at her chest as if something inside her was burning.

  The glow under her skin pulsed violently.

  "It's calling—"

  Her voice cracked.

  "It's calling me—it's calling you—"

  Alya held Mila's hands tightly.

  "Mila, look at me.

  Did the Seal speak again?"

  Mila nodded through tears.

  "It—it didn't speak. It showed me."

  Alya's chest tightened.

  "What did it show you?"

  Mila's breath hitched.

  "A forest of light.

  A river made of fire.

  A storm with your voice.

  A path that burns.

  A hand reaching for you—"

  Alya went still.

  "A hand?" she repeated softly.

  Mila nodded.

  "A man's hand.

  He was calling your name."

  Ren paled.

  "Rian."

  Eris's eyes hardened.

  "Where in the forest?"

  Mila shuddered, shaking her head.

  "Not the academy forest...

  another place...

  like a reflection..."

  Alya froze.

  "The resonance realm."

  Mila nodded weakly.

  Ren grabbed Ayla's sleeve.

  "Nope. NOPE. Absolutely not. We are NOT going into that realm again. The last time, the sky cracked and I cried."

  Lami whispered timidly,

  "M-Maybe you cried because a block of concrete fell on your head..."

  Ren snapped,

  "THAT TOO."

  Alya strode to the window.

  The dawn light crept across the academy grounds—

  too quiet, too dim, too tense.

  She could feel it.

  A prickling under her skin.

  A pull beneath her ribs.

  The Seal was waiting.

  And Rian wasn't hiding.

  Alya turned to her friends.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "I'm going to the forest."

  Cael stepped forward in an instant.

  "We're going with you."

  Alya shook her head.

  "No.

  I need to go alone."

  Ren exploded immediately.

  "NO YOU DON'T. YOU ARE LEGALLY AND EMOTIONALLY AND SPIRITUALLY REQUIRED TO HAVE SUPERVISION."

  Eris crossed her arms.

  "Last night you saw your cosmic doppelg?nger. You're not going anywhere alone."

  Lami nodded vigorously.

  "Safety in groups...!"

  Cael's voice was low.

  "Ayla. You don't have to do this by yourself."

  Alya's throat tightened as she looked at them—

  her team, her people, her anchors.

  She wanted to say yes.

  She wanted to let them come.

  But—

  Alya swallowed.

  "The Seal wants to confuse me.

  And it knows you're my weakness."

  Ren blinked.

  "That is the NICEST and WORST compliment I've ever gotten."

  Alya continued slowly.

  "If the Seal shows me visions again,

  and you're there...

  I might choose to protect you instead of making the right move."

  Eris whispered,

  "The right move...?"

  Alya looked out the window.

  "I can't let it use you against me.

  Not when I don't even know what I'll see."

  Cael stepped closer, eyes searching hers.

  "Ayla..."

  She looked up at him.

  His gaze was fierce—

  but also quietly terrified.

  "You don't have to be alone," he said again. Softer.

  Alya whispered,

  "I know."

  And that was the problem.

  Ren sniffed dramatically.

  "Fine.

  But if you die, I'm killing you."

  Lami whispered,

  "That... doesn't make sense..."

  Eris sighed.

  "Let her go. It's what the Seal expects."

  Alya shook her head.

  "No."

  They all looked at her.

  Alya exhaled.

  "I'm not going because the Seal expects it.

  I'm going because I want to."

  Ren froze.

  "...Wait.

  Did she just make a conscious choice?

  On purpose??

  I'm scared. I'm actually scared."

  Cael stepped back, letting her pass—

  but his voice followed her.

  "Ayla."

  She paused at the doorway.

  His expression was unreadable.

  A storm behind calm eyes.

  "Don't let him take you."

  Alya nodded.

  "I won't."

  Alya Enters the Forest

  The trees whispered with dawn wind.

  Leaves glowed faintly—

  as if lit from inside.

  And the deeper Ayla walked,

  the more the world felt like it was shifting.

  Like the forest wasn't entirely real anymore.

  Like the resonance realm was leaking into the waking world.

  Shadows bent around her ankles.

  Light pooled where it shouldn't.

  Every step hummed with energy.

  Then—

  A flicker.

  A blue ember drifting through the trees.

  Then red.

  Then gold.

  Then white.

  Like the Seals were glittering in the air around her.

  "Is this a message...?" Ayla murmured.

  Then she heard it.

  A voice.

  A whisper.

  "Ayla."

  She froze.

  The forest blurred—

  the trees stretching upward into pillars of light.

  "Who's there?"

  The voice drifted again.

  "Come find me."

  A chill ran down her spine.

  This wasn't the Seal.

  It was—

  "Rian."

  Alya turned sharply.

  His silhouette sat on a tree branch high above,

  legs swinging,

  glowing faintly with fractured light.

  He grinned.

  "You came."

  She clenched her fists.

  "You called."

  Rian tilted his head.

  "You always were predictable."

  Alya glared.

  "You don't know me."

  "Oh, but I do," Rian murmured.

  "I know what you're afraid of.

  I know what keeps you awake.

  I know the thing you refuse to admit."

  Alya felt her pulse spike.

  "And what's that?"

  Rian dropped from the tree—

  landing silently, gracefully—

  and stood face-to-face with her.

  He leaned in.

  "You're not afraid of becoming powerful."

  His eyes gleamed.

  "You're afraid of choosing someone."

  Alya's blood froze.

  Rian smiled wider.

  "You think if you care for someone too much—

  you'll break the world trying to save them."

  Alya stepped back.

  "That's not true."

  Rian's expression softened.

  "Oh, Ayla.

  It's exactly true.

  You don't fear destiny."

  He traced a glowing finger through the air, fire sparking behind it.

  "You fear loss."

  The forest pulsed with his words.

  Alya whispered:

  "What do you want from me?"

  Rian's voice softened—almost gentle.

  "To help you."

  Alya stared.

  "...Why?"

  Rian reached out—

  but didn't touch her.

  His voice cracked.

  "Because you're the only person

  who was ever like me."

  Alya's breath caught.

  "What happened to you?"

  Rian smiled—

  broken, bitter, heartbreaking in a way that made Ayla's chest ache.

  "I was born with everything.

  And no one to protect me from it."

  Alya felt something shift under her ribs.

  Rian leaned closer.

  "You have three days.

  Three days to decide what kind of Convergence you'll be."

  Alya whispered,

  "What if I don't want to be one?"

  Rian laughed softly.

  "That's why you were born to be one."

  He stepped back into the strange glowing forest.

  "And because I like you, Ayla—

  I'll give you your first lesson."

  He spread his arms.

  "Power isn't the danger."

  Alya stared.

  "Then what is?"

  Rian smiled—

  and the forest flickered into brilliant, shimmering light.

  "You are."

  ??