It had been three days since the Labyrinth was sealed. The frost-ringed stairwell, the shifting glyphs, and the sigil-covered floor were all gone now—locked behind reinforced stone by a dozen professors using layered temporal, spatial, and mental wards. The school denied everything.
To the students of Arcanum Academy, the event had become an urban myth overnight.
Lucien Drex, meanwhile, was lounging beneath the oldest sycamore tree on campus. A second-year passed by and muttered, "Isn't that the kid who vanished for two days during the chaos?"
Lucien cracked one eye open and yawned, a hand tucked behind his head. "Nope. I was trapped in the library. Worst horror imaginable."
He held up a book titled Advanced Broomstick Ethics for Non-Fliers. The student blinked and hurried off.
"You seriously expect anyone to believe that?" Renn said, dropping beside him with a lunchbox.
"Truth is optional," Lucien replied, taking a suspicious bite of something that might've been bread or regret.
Renn squinted. "You always act like everything's a joke."
Lucien tapped his temple. "It is. Until the punchline lands."
---
🔮 Seraphina Vale: Not Asking, Demanding
Later that day, Seraphina caught Lucien mid-slink around the dueling hall.
"Drex."
He stopped walking. "You're saying my name like I'm in trouble."
"You are in trouble. With me."
Lucien sighed. "Ah. Domestic threats. Let me get my emotional armor."
She didn't smile. "There are reports. You know that, right? Professors mentioning your name. Files being pulled. Your name is linked to the Pale Sigil in a half-dozen whispers."
Lucien gave a mock gasp. "Finally. Fame."
"Don't be stupid." She stepped closer. Her violet eyes burned. "Whatever you're planning, I want in."
Lucien tilted his head. "Seraphina, this isn't a team sport."
"Too bad," she said. "I'm already playing."
He narrowed his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitched. "Bold. Reckless. Dangerous. You really are Vale family material."
---
🔍 Caelum and the Silence Between
After their spell theory class, Lucien lingered by the outer corridor. Caelum appeared, as he always did—soundless, unreadable.
"Did you sleep well?" Lucien asked casually.
Caelum gave him a deadpan look. "Define well."
"Without nightmares. Or collapsing dungeons."
"Then yes. Perfectly."
They didn't speak again. But both of them knew the silence was loaded. There was no trust. Not fully. Not now.
---
🕵️ Pale Sigil Gathering
Somewhere deep below the east wing of the academy, masked students stood in a circle. Candles burned blue.
"The Labyrinth responded to one of them," a voice rasped.
"Was it Drex?"
"Unclear. But our trap was not triggered. That... thing opened willingly."
Another voice, this one younger, whispered: "We've been watching the wrong ghost."
---
📂 Lucien's New Plan
That night, Lucien sat alone on the rooftop of the Observation Spire.
He opened a folded piece of parchment. It was a letter, clearly old. The ink was smudged. The handwriting... familiar. His own. Younger.
He read the final line aloud.
> "If you're reading this, then the games have begun. Stay bored, stay forgotten. And for stars' sake, don't fall in love."
He snorted. "Past me was such a drama queen."
Then he whispered, almost gleefully:
"Tournament season. Two months. I'm going to break everything."
---
🤬 Bonus: Renn's Club of Conspiracies
Meanwhile, Renn accidentally founded the Lucien Drex Conspiracy Club. It started with three students asking why Lucien always survived disaster. By lunch, they had twelve members, a corkboard, and strings connecting Lucien to:
The fall of House Ignis
The price of lemon cake in the dining hall
A missing kitten from two years ago
Lucien walked by once, glanced at the board, and said: "Add "steals spoons" to the list. It'll spice up the mythos."
Renn stared at him. "...You did steal the spoons, didn't you?"
Lucien: "I plead the fifth dimension."
Outside the academy greenhouse — a hidden garden warped by old sigils.
Snowflakes fall slowly. Ira is sitting on an upside-down bench she folded into the wall. Caelum approaches, quiet as always
Caelum (stepping out of the frost):
"You bent the entire East Wing into a four-degree curve yesterday."
Ira (nibbling a candy shaped like a duck):
"Mmm, yeah. The hallway was stuffy. Had to give it some… breathability."
Caelum (neutral):
"That 'breath' nearly erased three doors and sent a student into an infinite loop of saying 'excuse me.'"
Ira (giggling):
"Well, at least he's polite forever now."
Caelum (watching her):
"Did you see it again? The sigil?"
Ira (tilting her head like a cat):
"Which one? The swirly one? The one that hums like it's underwater? Or the one that smiles back when you blink wrong?"
Caelum:
"…So more than one."
Ira (leaning forward):
"Do you ever get that feeling someone else is living behind your eyes? Watching you walk, talk, pick your cereal? Sometimes I dream of rooms that never existed. But when I wake up, they're still there."
Caelum (quiet):
"Lucien thinks you're connected to the Labyrinth. Maybe more than connected."
Ira (suddenly serious, but with a sweet smile):
"Maybe the Labyrinth is just lonely. Maybe it wanted a friend."
Beat. The snow freezes in the air for a second. Then resumes falling.
Caelum (cold breath visible):
"What do you remember before Arcanum?"
Ira (shrugging):
"A hallway with no ends. A voice that counted backwards. A woman who said I was a gift... or a weapon. Depends on how well I behave."
Caelum:
"Do you trust Lucien?"
Ira (giggling again):
"I trust he'd turn me into a trap if it suited him. But he'd make it funny."
Caelum stares. She grins. Licks her frozen candy.
Ira (softly):
"You think I'm a puzzle box with a crack. But what if I'm not the puzzle? What if I'm the key?"
Caelum:
"Then we'd better hope no one figures out what door you open."
> As Caelum walks away, the wall behind Ira slowly folds in on itself — a new glyph appearing.
It matches the one from Page Six.