The transition from the Beast District to the Central District wasn't gradual; it was a violent assault on the senses.

  ?One moment, we were navigating a labyrinth of wet brick, steam pipes, and the heavy, musk-like scent of wet fur and unwashed bodies. The next, we stepped through a massive archway of white stone, and the world exploded into color.

  ?I stopped dead in my tracks, shielding my eyes against the glare.

  ?"My retinas," I groaned, blinking rapidly. "Who designed this city? The Sun God himself?"

  ?Beside me, Roc-ta didn't blink. She inhaled. Deeply. Her entire body seemed to expand with the breath, her nostrils flaring wide as she took in the new atmosphere.

  ?"Smell that?" she chirped, her tail beginning a rhythmic thump-thump-thump against her thigh. "Roasted cinnamon. Mana-crystals. Expensive perfume. And... is that grilled Wyvern tail?"

  ?She grabbed my sleeve with a hand that felt surprisingly strong, her claws retracting just enough to not shred the fabric of my travel coat.

  ?"Come on, Val! The ceremony starts in an hour, but the food carts open now!"

  ?"Don't pull!" I swatted at her hand, adjusting my bag. "I am not a chew toy. And I am not running for food unless it’s chicken!"

  ?Roc-ta laughed. It was a barking, infectious sound that made a passing group of High Elves wrinkle their perfect noses in disdain.

  ?"You're funny," Roc-ta declared, falling into step beside me. "You talk like the old owls in the library, but you smell like... adrenaline and soap. Expensive soap."

  ?She leaned in closer, invading my personal space with zero hesitation. Her nose twitched near my neck.

  ?"Lavender?" she guessed. "No... White Rose. Very fancy. Why does a human girl wandering the slums smell like the Royal Gardens?"

  ?I stiffened. She’s sharp, I thought. For someone who looks like a punk-rock werewolf, her instincts are terrifyingly accurate.

  ?"I like hygiene," I lied smoothly, keeping my face neutral. "It’s a rare hobby, I know. You should try it sometime."

  ?Roc-ta wasn't offended. She just grinned, revealing those slightly too-sharp canines. "I prefer smelling like the pack. Or... well, I would. If I had one."

  ?The playfulness dropped from her voice for a split second, replaced by that same flash of loneliness I had seen in the alley. But before I could probe, she bounced back, her attention span snapping to something shiny.

  ?"Look! The Floating Fountains!"

  ?We were walking down the Boulevard of Stars. It was a wide avenue paved with polished marble that reflected the sky. Above us, defying gravity and logic, islands of rock drifted lazily. Waterfalls cascaded from them, but instead of hitting the ground and soaking us, the water was caught in shimmering, transparent magical channels that wound through the air like liquid snakes, cooling the street below.

  ?"Inefficient," I muttered, my engineering brain taking over. "The mana upkeep on gravity-reversal runes is astronomical. They could power a City with the energy they waste on making water fly sideways."

  ?Roc-ta stopped and stared at me. Her ears one grey, one white-tipped swiveled forward.

  ?"Do you always do that?"

  ?"Do what?"

  ?"Take the magic out of magic," she said, tilting her head. "It’s pretty. Why can't it just be pretty?"

  ?" Gues I cant help it hehe.. ."

  ?"You must be fun at parties," she teased, nudging my shoulder. "Come on. I see the cart."

  ?We found a bench near a vendor selling "Stark-Nuts" glowing blue nuts that apparently buzzed in your mouth. The area was crowded with students from every corner of the world.

  ?"Shotgun!" Roc-ta yelled, diving for the empty bench.

  ?I sat down more sedately, placing my battered suitcase between my feet. My legs were aching from the walk, and the adrenaline from blinding the Tiger was fading into a dull thrum of exhaustion.

  ?Roc-ta sat cross-legged on the bench, ripping open a bag of the glowing nuts. She offered me one.

  ?"No thanks," I said, eyeing the blue sparks. "I prefer my food not to electrocute me."

  ?"Suit yourself." She popped one in her mouth. Crackle. "Mmm. Spicy."

  ?She chewed thoughtfully for a moment, her yellow eyes scanning the crowd. She wasn't just looking; she was assessing. Every student that walked by was tracked. Predator instincts, I realized. She’s constantly checking for threats.

  ?"So," Roc-ta said, swallowing. "Valerie. No last name?"

  ?I froze. "Just Valerie."

  ?"Okay, Just Valerie. You enter the city, blind Big Tig, the meanest heavy-hitter in the lower district, and you talk like you own the place, but you carry your own bags. You're a puzzle."

  ?She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees.

  ?"What are you? Battlemage? Alchemist?"

  ?"I don't have a classification yet," I said, picking at a loose thread on my coat. "I have never cast a spell in my life."

  ?Roc-ta blinked. "Zero? Like... none?"

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  ?"I can't cast fire. I can't heal. I can't summon." I shrugged, masking the bitterness that always rose when I said it. "I just understand how things work. I see the math behind the magic."

  ?I expected her to laugh. Or to look at me with pity, like everyone at the Palace did. Poor Princess Broken-Toy.

  ?But Roc-ta just nodded slowly.

  ?"That's cool," she said earnestly.

  ?I looked up, surprised. "Cool? It's useless."

  ?"No way," she argued, gesturing with a nut. "In the wild, it doesn't matter if you can breathe fire. If you can figure out where the prey is going to be before it gets there, you eat. If you can figure out how the trap works, you survive. Brains are a weapon, Val."

  ?She tapped her temple.

  ?"My brother... he was strong. Super strong. But he stepped in a Hunter's snare because he didn't look." She paused, her voice dropping. "He didn't have the brain to survive."

  ?A heavy silence settled between us. It was the first time I realized that underneath the leather jacket and the manic energy, Roc-ta had scars that went deeper than the street.

  ?"I'm sorry," I said softly.

  ?"It's fine!" She shook her head violently, her ears flapping. "Ancient history! Anyway, what about you? Why are you here? Humans usually stay behind their walls."

  ?"I was... invited to leave," I said carefully. "My father thought the climate here would be better for my health."

  ?"Ah," Roc-ta nodded wisely. "Banished. Got it."

  ?I choked on air. "I didn't say that!"

  ?"You didn't have to. You have the 'Exile Look'." She pointed a claw at my eyes. "It's in the eyes. You look at everything like you're trying to figure out if it's going to hurt you. Same look I have."

  ?She smiled, but it was a soft, sad smile.

  ?"We Beastkin... if we have magic, we are 'Wrong'. Wolves aren't supposed to cast spells. We are supposed to bite and scratch. So, when I started floating pebbles when I was six... my pack didn't know what to do with me."

  ?She looked down at her hands.

  ?"I scared them. Now I'm here. I’m trying to get a license so I can... I don't know. Prove I'm not a monster?"

  ?I felt a strange tightness in my chest. A kinship.

  ?I reached out and bumped my shoulder against hers.

  ?"Well," I said, my voice firm. "We can be 'Wrong' together. Squad of Misfits."

  ?Roc-ta beamed, her tail thumping the bench again. "Squad of Misfits! I like it!"

  ?"Hey! Mutt! Move it!"

  ?The moment was shattered by a high, nasal voice.

  ?We looked up. Standing in front of our bench were three Elves. They were tall, painfully beautiful, and dressed in robes of shimmering silver silk that probably cost more than my entire education.

  ?The leader, a guy with hair so blonde it was almost white, was looking at Roc-ta with an expression one might reserve for a pile of manure.

  ?"This bench is reserved for Highborn," he sneered. "Go sit on the ground where your kind belongs."

  ?Roc-ta shrank. Physically. Her ears went flat against her head, her shoulders hunched, and she looked down. The vibrant, tough girl from the alley vanished, replaced by a submissive animal facing an alpha.

  ?"S-sorry," she mumbled, reaching for her bag. "I didn't know..."

  ?My blood boiled.

  ?It was a sudden, white-hot heat that started in my toes and shot up to my brain. I knew this tone. I knew this look. It was the same look the bishop gave me. The same look the nobles at court gave the servants.

  ?Inferior being.

  ?Roc-ta started to stand up.

  ?I put a hand on her knee. "Sit down, Roc-ta."

  ?She looked at me, eyes wide with panic. "Val, it's fine. They are High Elves. We shouldn’t”

  ?"Sit. Down."

  ?I stood up.

  ?I might have been shorter than the Elf. I might have been wearing travel-stained clothes. But I had spent twelve years being trained by the most ruthless etiquette tutors in the human realms. I knew how to weaponize politeness.

  ?I straightened my back, tilted my chin up exactly fifteen degrees the 'Royal Disdain' angle and looked the Elf dead in the eye.

  ?"I beg your pardon?" I spoke. My voice was calm, icy, and projected perfectly.

  ?The Elf blinked, surprised that the human was speaking. "I said move, human. You are polluting our air."

  ?"Polluting?" I let out a short, dry laugh. "How fascinating. I was just thinking the same thing about your cologne. Is that 'Eau de Desperation'? Or just cheap sandalwood masking a lack of personality?"

  ?The Elf’s jaw dropped. His friends gasped.

  ?"How dare you!”

  ?"Furthermore," I interrupted, taking a step forward. I didn't back down. I invaded his space. "According to Article 4, Section 2 of the Aeridor Campus Code of Conduct, all public seating in the Central District is 'Common Ground'. There are no reserved seats based on lineage."

  ?I looked him up and down, putting on my best Appraisal Mode face.

  ?"Unless, of course, you require special seating due to medical a condition? Weak knees, perhaps? Or a fragile ego that can't handle standing?"

  ?The Elf flushed a deep, violent purple. "Do you know who my father is?!"

  ?"No," I smiled sweetly. "Do you? You seem very confused."

  ?"You... you..." He sputtered, reaching for his wand.

  ?"I wouldn't," a deep voice rumbled from behind us.

  ?A passing Orc security guard huge, green, and holding a club had stopped to watch. He grinned at me.

  ?The Elf looked at the Orc, looked at me, and scoffed.

  ?"Not worth my time," he sneered, spinning around with a flourish of his robe. "Come. The air here is stagnant."

  ?They marched away, heads held high, but walking a little too fast to be dignified.

  ?I sat back down. My heart was pounding, but I kept my face cool.

  ?Roc-ta was staring at me. Her mouth was hanging open.

  ?"Val..." she whispered. "You just... barked at a High Elf. And he ran away."

  ?"Bullies are all the same," I said, grabbing a Stark-Nut and popping it in my mouth. ZAP. It stung my tongue, but I didn't care. "They only bite if you run."

  ?Roc-ta looked at me with a new expression. It wasn't just friendship anymore. It was awe.

  ?"You," she declared, "are the Alpha."

  ?"I'm not an Alpha, Roc-ta. I'm just tired of people."

  ?"Psst, Val. Seriously though."

  ?Roc-ta leaned in again, her mood shifting from impressed back to nervousness. The incident with the Elves seemed to have reminded her of the dangers of this place.

  ?"The rumors," she whispered. "About the Gate."

  ?I rolled my eyes. "We're back to this? Roc-ta, the gate is mechanical. It opens on schedule."

  ?"No, listen!" She looked around conspiratorially. "My nose... earlier, when the wind shifted from the Southwest... I smelled it."

  ?"Smelled what?"

  ?"Ash," she said. "And brimstone. And... something old. Like blood that's been dried for a thousand years."

  ?She shuddered, hugging her leather jacket tighter around herself.

  ?"They say the Nox delegation is different this time. They say the prince isn't coming to study. They say he's coming to scout."

  ?"Scout for what? A vacation home?"

  ?"For war," Roc-ta hissed. "My grandmother told me stories. The Demons don't make friends. They make subjects. They have this power... They don't cast spells like us. They just command reality. If he's here... it means the peace treaty is failing."

  ?I looked at her. She was genuinely terrified. Her tail was tucked between her legs.

  ?"Roc-ta," I said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Think about it logically. If they wanted war, they wouldn't send a demonPrince to a school full of Archmages and security trolls. They would send an army. This is politics. It's a show."

  ?"Maybe," she mumbled, not convinced. "But my instincts are screaming Run."

  ?"Well, tell your instincts to take a nap," I said, standing up and brushing crumbs off my lap.

  " The welcome Ceremony is about to start. Let’s find a spot..."

  ?I picked up my suitcase.

  ?"Come on. Let's go see this big, bad demon."

  ?Roc-ta stood up slowly. She sniffed the air one last time, her expression grim.

  ?"I hope you're right, Val," she whispered. "I really hope you're right."

  ?We merged into the crowd flowing toward the arena. I walked with my head high, confident in my logic.

  ?I had no idea how wrong I was.