Chapter 12: "The Girl Who Wasn't There"
The next day, Seris wasn't in class.
Yui noticed immediately. She had left no trace—no dorm assignment, no student record, not even a name on the sparring registry. It was as if she had never existed.
He checked the roster twice. Then again.
Nothing.
Lucen watched him from across the courtyard. When Yui approached, the mentor didn't speak—just handed him a folded parchment.
"She's not new," Lucen said. "She's planted."
Yui unfolded the parchment. It was a sketch—rushed, faint lines—of a seal. A strange rune, like a sun turned sideways. His eyes narrowed. It was on her glove, just beneath the lace.
"What is it?"
Lucen looked grim. "The Mark of the Mirror Garden. It belongs to a faction that exists outside the academy's law. They don't follow ranks. They follow directives."
"Whose?" Yui asked.
Lucen said nothing.
---
That evening, Yui returned to the training hall. It was empty. Moonlight filtered in through the cracked glass roof. The place felt colder, quieter, like it was remembering what happened the day before.
He stood at the center, closed his eyes, and let the white flame rise.
"Come out," he said aloud. "You didn't vanish. You're waiting."
A whisper answered him—not from the flame this time, but from behind.
"I wanted to see how far you'd go before breaking."
Seris stepped from the shadows, not smiling now. Her eyes were colder. Sharper.
"You're not supposed to be curious, Yui," she said. "You're supposed to be scared."
Yui didn't flinch. "Why me?"
"Because you're the last uncontaminated vessel," she replied. "They thought it wouldn't awaken. But it did."
She stepped closer. "So now I'm here to see how deep your control goes."
He summoned the flame to his hand, not unleashing it—just holding it.
"I won't be your test subject."
"You already are," she said softly.
And then—she was gone. No smoke. No sound. Just gone.
But the flame in his hand didn't die. Instead, it spoke—but not in the voice he knew.
It was hers.
"We see you, Yui. Every step. Every doubt."
He stared at his own flame, horrified. The voice faded.
He clenched his hand and forced the fire to vanish.
---
Hours later, in a dark tower far from the dorms, Kael stood before a massive mirror. It rippled as Seris appeared within its glass.
"He resisted again," she said.
Kael folded his hands behind his back. "Of course he did. That's what makes him interesting."
"He's more stable than we projected."
"Then we'll push harder."
Kael turned to a sealed case on the wall. He opened it, revealing a dagger forged of obsidian and bone, with a single white crystal embedded in the hilt.
"Prepare the Binding Trial," he said.
Seris bowed her head in the mirror.
"And the girl?" she asked.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"She's almost ready. The 'janitor' won't be the only one with a past he doesn't remember."
---
Back in his room, Yui stood before the mirror. The flame had gone silent again.
But not dead.
He now knew two things for certain:
Someone had planted Seris to monitor or manipulate him.
And worse—
She had spoken through his flame.
His power wasn't just watching him anymore.
It was being watched.
---
End of Chapter 12