Beatrix woke to the sound of a bell she couldn't see.
Cassia was already up, brushing her copper hair in front of the mirror. She looked flawless, of course, already dressed in the Academy uniform which was black slacks, white shirt, charcoal vest, and a deep blue ribbon tied neatly around her collar.
"You'll be late if you don't hurry," she said without looking.
Beatrix sat up slowly, still wrapped in a blanket of half sleep. "What time is it?"
"Time doesn't matter here," Cassia replied, which was both unhelpful and weirdly fitting.
Beatrix quickly had her bath, got dressed and pulled her unruly hair into a low ponytail. The uniform fit better than she expected even though no one had measured her.
"Where's the class?" she asked.
"West Wing. Follow the smell of burnt paper and questions that don't have answers."
Beatrix gave her a look.
Cassia smirked. "Third floor, turn left, you'll find it."
***********************
The hallway outside their room was crowded now, students dressed in the same muted colors, all moving quietly as if the building itself demanded silence. Beatrix caught whispers in different languages.
Some students looked normal. Others looked like they belonged in a museum. One girl had silver rings lining both ears and eyes the color of melted gold. A boy with ink stained fingers stared too long at her, as if he was trying to place her face in a dream he'd already had.
She kept her head down and walked fast.
"Why is everyone so strange? God please help me."
She found the door to her first class by accident.
"Lux et Umbre, meaning Light and Shadow" was boldly written on the door.
Students were already seated. Beatrix picked a spot in the middle and tried not to fidget.
The professor entered without warning.
He was tall, thin, with sharp features and dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in a year. He wore a long coat that brushed the floor and moved like smoke when he walked.
"Good morning," he said, though it didn't sound like one. "I am Professor Thorne. This is Introduction to Hidden Histories, you are not here to memorize, you are here to remember."
That made the new intakes murmur among themselves.
He continued. "History, as the world knows it, is a lie made polite. At Eclipsed, we teach what came before memory. What lived before language."
A student raised her hand. "Is this mythology or something?"
"No," Thorne said flatly. "Myths are what remains when the truth is too dangerous. We will study what your minds already know but have forgotten. Every one of you was chosen because you carry fragments, some of you will awaken them. Others…" He let the word dangle. "Will burn."
Beatrix felt a chill crawl up her arms.
Professor Thorne turned to the board and drew a strange symbol, three interlocking circles with a triangle in the center.
"Tell me," he said, tapping the symbol, "what is this?"
No one answered at first, some students tried raising their hands but were a little afraid.
But Beatrix's hand went up before she could stop it.
Thorne turned to her. "Yes, Miss…? Tell us your name and the answer."
"Vale," she said. "Beatrix Vale."
He nodded. "Speak Trix."
She stared at the symbol for another second.
"It's called the Veilmark," she said quietly. "It's a seal used to divide memory from power."
Professor Thorne blinked once. "Correct."
He moved on, but students kept looking at her.
A boy seated across the room, raised a single eyebrow and smiled at her.
After class, Beatrix went to a hallway quietly trying to remember where she has seen or heard anything like Veilmark.
She saw flashes in her mind. A staircase spiraling downward, a girl crying in a circle of salt and a boy screaming her name through a keyhole.
Beatrix grabbed the wall to steady herself.
A blonde haired boy appeared at her side like a ghost. "Hey, what's up?"
She turned. "Excuse me?"
"I've been looking for you." The boy replied.
"What? Did I do something?"
"I'm Lucian." He extended his hand in greeting.
"Beatrix…..just call me Trixie, do you have a problem with me?" She asked curiously.
Lucian smiled. "Not at all..I'm in my third year here."
"I know, I can tell from the badge."
"I was asked to look for you by professor Thorne."
"Why…"
Lucian tapped Beatrix playfully. "Don't be nervous, he just wants you to be under me, like keep my eyes on you and stuff like that."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, you are smart…..come with me, he wants to see you."
Beatrix walked behind him nervously.
In less than five minutes, they were already at the door of Thorne's office. Lucian opened the door, inside it looked like forgotten rooms in ancient ruins.
Inside, Professor Thorne stood in front of a long obsidian table, leafing through a book bound in dark green velvet. He didn't look up at first.
"You found her already ," he said.
Lucian nodded and stepped aside.
Beatrix cleared her throat. "Professor?"
He finally looked at her, his gaze piercing. "You remembered the Veilmark."
She nodded cautiously
Thorne closed the book. "Sit."
She obeyed, hands in her lap.
"Do you know how long it's been since a first year recognized that sign?" he asked.
"No…"
"Four hundred years."
Beatrix swallowed. "I don't understand. I guess I learned about it back in high school."
"You didn't," Thorne said. "You remembered it, which is the point."
He walked slowly, as if circling her. "Some students carry knowledge in the mind. Others carry it in the blood."
Beatrix frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means you've been here before."
She blinked. "That's impossible, I just got admitted."
"Not here as in this building," Thorne clarified. "But you've passed through the Veil. You've seen what exists beyond forgetting."
Lucian leaned against the wall, he didn't look surprised.
Professor Thorne stopped in front of her. "There's a door somewhere in this Academy. It only opens for those who remember their first life. I believe you're going to open it."
Beatrix felt lightheaded. "Huh? What's behind it?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he walked to a shelf and retrieved a small box made of blackened wood.
He placed it in front of her.
"Open it," he said.
Her fingers hesitated at the latch. "Will it… do something to me?"
Thorne tilted his head. "Everything does something. But you're ready. Or you're not. That's how this works."
Beatrix took a breath and opened the box.
Inside was a mirror.
Small, round, and cracked in three places.
The reflection it gave didn't belong to her. A dark haired girl was staring at her from the mirror and behind the reflection, just over her shoulder, there was someone else.
Beatrix screamed
The mirror fell from her hands and shattered on the floor.
A sharp, ringing crack filled the room like thunder trapped in stone.
Lucian moved fast. "Trixie..."
But Thorne raised a hand to stop him.
Beatrix backed away, shaking.
"I saw a girl " her voice broke. "There was someone behind me In the mirror, It wasn't me…..It wasn't just me."
Thorne crouched beside the broken glass. The pieces were still humming faintly, like they didn't want to stop existing.
"You saw you?," he said.
Beatrix blinked fast. "What does that mean? I saw a girl, not me."
"It means your memory isn't just waking up. It's bleeding through."
Lucian stepped beside her, gentler than before. "You're okay. Breathe, It's part of it. The first time's always bad."
"I didn't ask for this," she whispered.
"No one does," Thorne said. "But something in you survived the forgetting. That puts you in danger, and makes you useful."
Beatrix looked at the broken glass again. Her own face looked normal now. Just a reflection in jagged pieces.
"What happens now?" she asked.
Thorne stood. "Now, you stop asking the wrong questions."
He walked back to his book without looking at her.
"Class is over. You may go."
Lucian touched her elbow. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."