Spirit Academy – One Week Later
Things hadn't gone back to normal.
Not really.
Students avoided the eastern halls after dark. Glass shattered on its own. Candles flickered in still air. And the whispers…
> "He's already changing…"
"It's watching through him…"
Christian lay in bed, half-awake.
His dreams were fire—and not his own.
---
Dream Sequence – The Mirror Flame
He stood before a mirror, but the reflection didn't match.
Its eyes glowed deeper.
Its Ember Mark crawled with black flame.
> "We are the same," the reflection said. "But only one of us can hold the Flame when it wakes."
Christian tried to speak.
The mirror cracked.
He woke up gasping.
Kien was already by his side.
"You heard it too?"
Christian nodded. "It's getting stronger."
---
Garran's Classroom – Warning Signs
Spirit combat drills halted when the walls began to bleed flame.
Not burn. Bleed.
Garran dismissed class early. His brow furrowed, voice low to Christian:
"You brought something back. Something the Flame didn't want touched."
"It followed the Ember Mark," Christian said. "I think… it's looking for a body."
---
Liora's Faction – Regret and Fear
Liora slammed a hand into a stone wall.
"That wasn't what we summoned."
Nyra's voice echoed faintly from her spirit sigil:
> "No… it was more. You opened a door that doesn't close. Let's see how long your academy lasts with it breathing inside."
Jun paced the room.
"It hasn't attacked. Yet."
"It's not here to destroy," Liora whispered. "It's here to choose."
---
Kien's Vision – Flame Garden
Kien meditated in the greenhouse, surrounded by spirit flora.
The plants wilted.
A flower turned to ash in her palm.
Then she heard it:
> "He burns brighter when she's near."
She stood sharply.
It wasn't her own thought.
---
Christian's Journal – Final Entry of the Chapter
> The Mark is changing. So am I.
It watches me sleep. Moves when I bleed.
I felt it behind me in the mirror. I looked. Nothing.
But the reflection… smiled.
I think I'm not the only one living in this body anymore.
---
Final Scene – The Library's Deepest Level
A first-year student got curious and wandered where he shouldn't.
He found a hallway that didn't exist on any map.
At the end: a door with flame-blackened wood and no handle.
He reached out.
It opened on its own.
And behind it, something exhaled.
---
To Be Continued…