The palace slept.
Not a single torch burned.
Not a whisper stirred the halls.
Except for one.
Livar stood alone in the garden courtyard, sword in hand.
Training under moonlight like he was chasing something.
Or trying to escape it.
Then—light.
Soft. Cold.
A shimmer of blue drifted into the night air in front of him.
Livar froze. Not from fear—
But recognition.
A shape stepped from the glow.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
"Who are you?" Livar demanded, sword raised.
The figure didn't flinch.
He had the same face.
Same height.
Same scar above the brow.
But calmer.
Still.
Older.
"I'm you," the hologram said.
"The version that doesn't lose control."
Livar lowered the sword—just slightly.
"Why are you here?"
"To train you. To help you control what's inside."
Livar's jaw tensed.
"Him."
"Yes," the hologram said quietly.
Then another voice echoed in his mind—
"Hey, I can hear you."
Livar blinked.
"What—"
"Yeah, that's me."
"Don't act like I'm not still in here."
The hologram sighed.
"Of course you're listening."
"I live here, genius."
Livar stepped back.
"You mean… we're all connected?"
"Not just connected," the hologram replied.
"We are the same. Just different echoes. You're the present. I'm the restraint. He's… the storm."
"I like that," the other Livar chuckled darkly.
Livar exhaled slowly.
"So what now?"
The hologram raised a hand.
"Now? You train. You learn. You survive."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then one day, you'll lose everything."
Livar stared at him.
Then sheathed his sword.
"Fine. But if I wake up glowing like you, I'm blaming you."
"Deal."
That night, the training began.
Livar moved through silence.
Every strike guided.
Every motion corrected.
And all around him—
Two minds watched.
One calm.
One grinning.
By day, he laughed with Liora.
"You look tired," she said.
"Must be your voice in my dreams, little girl."
"You're impossible."
"And you're still shorter than me."
But by night—
The garden lit in blue again.
And inside his mind,
The storm and the stillness waited.
End of Chapter 29 – Midnight Lessons