The morning air hung damp with mist as sunlight spilled over the marble courtyards of the Star Academy. Bells tolled across the spires—low, reverent chimes that echoed like memory. The students of the inner ring gathered beneath the high arc of the forum, their uniforms pressed, weapons at their backs, and eyes drawn toward the raised platform where the Headmaster stood.
Orion stood to the side of the crowd, shoulders stiff beneath his uniform. The weight of last night still clung to him—the memory of the Cradle, the flickering warmth inside him, the Hollow's gnawing presence just beneath his skin. Selene had returned, but faintly. Her voice was quieter now. And though the warmth still lingered, it had not spoken.
But today wasn't about him.
It was about them.
A deep blue banner unfurled from the arch behind the Headmaster—slow, deliberate, as if the heavens themselves had exhaled. Gasps rose from the crowd, a collective murmur rolling through the students.
Orion turned toward it—and for a breath, everything fell still.
The banner of House Selira.
Midnight blue silk, trimmed with silver thread. At its center, a pale crescent moon cradled a shard of glowing starmetal, the very core of the Warden of Ash they had slain in the Forgewarren. From it radiated subtle streaks of starlight, like brushstrokes of dawn against shadow. Beneath the crescent, a sword of silver and black was etched into the cloth—Lunaris, stylized and gleaming, its point anchored in a bed of embers.
A house born not from legacy, but from trial.
The crowd was silent as the Headmaster stepped forward, his voice crisp and unwavering.
"House Selira," he declared, "formed by fire and sealed by unity. Few in the Academy's history have forged a crest from victory so raw, so hard-won. Fewer still have stood against what you faced in the Forgewarren and returned with something greater than survival—identity."
He turned his gaze toward Orion, then toward Serah, Azrael, and Iris who stood beside him. "You brought down the Warden, not as scattered sparks, but as a singular flame."
A ripple passed through the students gathered around the forum. Not all were clapping.
From the far side of the marble steps, a small party approached—navy and ivory uniforms glinting with embroidery too rich to be practical. House Caelion.
At the front was Lucien himself—tall, golden-haired, and smiling like the banner was a joke told at his expense.
"Well, well," he said, clapping slowly as he approached. "Look what the ruins dragged in."
Serah muttered under her breath, "Here we go."
Lucien bowed with mock elegance. "Congratulations, Orion. Truly. A new house was forged in fire. Sounds impressive. Even poetic."
Orion didn't respond. His eyes flicked once to Lucien, then back to the banner.
Lucien's grin sharpened. "Though I must ask—does your banner always tremble like that, or is it just reacting to your presence?"
The silk rippled faintly in the breeze. Orion didn't move.
"No?" Lucien continued. "Ah, well. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's because ash doesn't make the most stable foundation." He leaned slightly closer. "Tell me, how long do you think your little house will stand before it burns too?"
"Back off, Lucien," Serah said. Her tone was sweet, her eyes weren't.
Lucien raised his hands in mock surrender. "Just giving the newly risen their moment. I mean, honestly—this whole scene? It's cute." He turned to his friends, who chuckled on cue. "A banner made from a shard of your enemy. And a house built from the charity of the Headmaster."
That struck a chord. Several nearby students turned.
Lucien's smile widened. "You're already fraying, Orion. Everyone sees it. The way you move. You don't fight with that little moonlight grace anymore." He tilted his head. "It's like something's eating you. Is it doubt? Or something else?"
That did it.
Orion's gaze snapped to Lucien, and for a moment—just a breath—something flickered behind his eyes. Not Selene's calm. Not even rage.
Just cold. Hollow.
His hand twitched at his side.
The Hollow coiled.
Lucien blinked, just once, as if the temperature had shifted.
Then Orion turned away.
"Come on," he said to the others. "Let's go."
As he passed Lucien, the air shimmered faintly around his shoulder—barely visible, like moonlight clashing with something unseen. It faded a second later, but Lucien's smile faltered.
He watched them go, eyes narrowing.
"Definitely fraying," he muttered.
The Headmaster's voice cut through again. "To celebrate the formation of House Selira, and in honor of the trials they endured, the Academy will open this season's Tournament of Strength two moons early."
That got a reaction—gasps, scattered exclamations. Even Serah blinked in surprise.
"The winning House," he continued, "will receive priority access to the Star Vault for one week—unrestricted. That includes relics, archives, and celestial forges."
Murmurs turned to frenzy.
That kind of reward was rare. Dangerous. Everyone would be gunning for it.
"You realize," Azrael said quietly, "he just painted a target on us."
Serah smiled. "Good. Let them come."
But Orion remained still, eyes fixed on the banner.
The crescent. The blade. The starlight and the ash.
For a moment, he imagined it burning—dark threads curling, consumed by shadow. His hand twitched toward his chest, where the Hollow lay coiled like a whisper. Not gone. Never gone.
Selene had not spoken since the Cradle.
And the warmth, though present, had receded again.
There was only the pressure. The growing dissonance in his steps. The way his sword felt heavier. And when he'd drawn it that morning to practice—
He'd struck too fast. Too hard. Not with grace.
With violence.
Serah caught his expression, her smile dimming. "You alright?"
"Fine," he said, too quickly.
She didn't press.
The assembly was over and the houses returned back to their dorms.
"I hate Lucien, that guy is such a prick." Iris said irritatedly.
"I hope we get placed against his smug house." Azrael said calmly, "I still have a debt to pay to him."
Orion listened but he wasn't fully there.
Serah watched him "Moonboy are you there?"
Orion looked directly at her, "Yeah just thinking."
Serah looked at him frustratingly. "About?"
Orion lied, "Nothing important."
He was thinking about the Hollow Star, 'Am I broken?' he thought to himself, 'What if the Hollow Star isn't lying?'
Serah said scoffing, "Sure."
—-
Later that night Orion arrived.
He recognized this place, It's where it all began.
The Astralum.
He saw the shattered sky where the Hollow escaped from.
"Selene?"
She didn't answer, instead what answered was the Hollow.
It wasn't a physical manifestation, it was the shattered sky that spoke to him.
"Even here your mind grows wary." A corrupted voice resounded throughout the Astralum.
"The stars can't save you, they only offer elegance and power, I can give you so much more, I can give you what you've wanted the most."
Orion shifted looking up and he felt the pull getting stronger.
"And what is that?" Orion asked hesitantly.
"What else, Freedom and Salvation" The sky resounded with certainty.
"I can give you the power to surpass the stars, the power to destroy them." the sky felt louder, closer, "The stars give you power to control you, I can give you power to control them."
Orion's gaze deepened as if he was considering it.
"It seems our time is fading, Hollow child. Remember this, The stars give you grace, but I give you truth."
Orion awoke in a shock, cold sweat dripping all over his body.
'Are the stars the reason the world is unraveling?'
"Selene… was he right?"