Morning light spilled across the balcony of Saphine's infirmary chamber, painting the stone a soft gold.The air smelled of dew, lilacs, and something new — something gentle.
Eris leaned on the balcony railing beside her, hair tousled by the breeze, eyes half-lidded and relaxed in a way she had never seen.
Saphine sipped her tea, pretending not to stare at him.He pretended not to notice.
"You're staring again," Eris said without looking her way.
"I am not."
He turned, grinning.
"Your Echo flares whenever you lie."
Saphine choked on her tea."Wh— It does NOT!"
"It does."His grin deepened."Very adorable."
Her face burned red. "Stop reading me!"
"I'm not reading you," he said softly. "I'm… seeing you."
Her breath hitched.Akasha glowed faintly behind his pupils — not overwhelming, not divine, but warm.Human.
For a moment, she forgot the world outside, forgot elders, trials, echoes — everything but him.
"Does it hurt?" she whispered suddenly.
Eris blinked. "Hurt?"
"Knowing so much. Seeing so much."
He hesitated.A rare, fragile silence.
Then —
"Not anymore."
His voice was too genuine, too honest.It made her heart hurt in a different way.
She opened her mouth to ask more — but the door of the infirmary slammed open.
The Summons
A sharp crack of a staff against marble echoed through the room.High Matron Ka'tarel, Saphine's grandmother, entered with all the softness of a blade.Behind her were two elders of House Ka'tarel and a representative from the Council.
Saphine stiffened.Eris straightened — his smile fading, his expression sharpening instantly.
The elder in front stepped forward, unrolling a scroll sealed in red wax.
"Lady Saphine Vale. Shadow Eris Vale.By decree of the Great Houses and the Central Echo Council,you are hereby summoned to attend a Hearing of Inquiryregarding:— The collapse of the Resonant Hollow— The awakening of the Saintess's daughter— The evolution of the Echo 'Grand Gaze'— The assault on a Ka'tarel elder— And the forbidden activation of Resonance within academy grounds."
Saphine's blood ran cold."That… that's practically a trial."
The elder's gaze hardened. "It is."
Saphine felt her pulse spike. "But everything that happened was—"
Eris raised a hand gently.
"Saphine."
His voice was calm.Almost too calm.
He stepped forward, taking the scroll from the elder.His eyes glowed faintly.
"We'll attend."
The elder swallowed — visibly relieved that Eris hadn't crushed him with a glance.
High Matron Ka'tarel voice cut the air.
"Saphine, you will come home immediately after the hearing."
Saphine stiffened. "But—"
"No arguments."
Her grandmother's cold gaze shifted toward Eris.
"And you. You will not step foot within the Vale estate unless summoned."
Eris smiled politely, almost sweetly.
"Of course, High Matron. I'd hate to track mud onto your carpets."
Saphine choked.The High Matron's eye twitched.
"Be ready," she snapped. "The hearing begins in two hours."Then the elders left in a swirl of robes and cold aether.
The door clicked shut.
Silence.
Then—
"Eris," Saphine whispered, "this is serious. They're scared of you."
He shrugged lightly.
"Fear is a convenient language."
"Eris!"
He turned to her — really turned — and the teasing faded.
"I know," he said softly. "I know exactly what this hearing means. For me. For you. For her."
His gaze shifted to the small bed beside them —where Alia, the Saintess's daughter, still slept peacefully under protective wards.
"They want control," Eris continued. "Of her. Of you. Of everything the Hollow revealed."
"And of you," Saphine whispered.
Eris smiled faintly. "They can't control me."
"That's the problem," she said quietly.
A Moment Before the Storm
He stepped closer — close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from him.
"Saphine."His voice was gentle."Are you afraid of what I've become?"
Her breath caught.She remembered the hall — the crushing aura, the golden eyes, the divine pressure that bent reality.
She looked up into those same eyes now — calm, soft, human.
"No," she whispered."I'm afraid… of what they'll try to do to you."
Eris blinked — slowly, as if surprised.Then he smiled, softer than she had ever seen.
"Then I will stand with you," he said quietly."Not as a shadow. Not as Akasha."He touched her hand lightly."But as Eris."
Her throat tightened.
"Stay with me," she whispered.
He didn't hesitate.
"Always."
The World Outside Awakens
As they left the infirmary together, a crowd gathered — students, shadows, instructors, even lower elders who had heard the rumors.
Whispers filled the air.
"That's him…""The Shadow who awakened Akasha…""Did you see the elder who attacked Saphine? He hasn't spoken in days.""I heard Eris rewrote his memories—""Or erased them entirely—""Terrifying…"
Saphine tried not to shrink under their stares.
Eris, however, simply lifted a hand in a friendly wave.
"Morning, everyone."
Half the crowd flinched.A student dropped a stack of scrolls.
Saphine elbowed him. "Stop terrifying people!"
"I'm not doing anything," he whispered back. "I'm literally greeting them."
"You're smiling like a lunatic!"
"A handsome lunatic?"
"Eris—!"
He laughed — and the entire academy nearly collapsed from shock at the sight.
The Hearing Begins
As they reached the grand staircase leading to the Council Hall, Eris's expression shifted — from warm, playful, and bright…
…to stillness.
Not cold.Not cruel.But the quiet gravity of someone who has seen the rise and fall of worlds.
He squeezed Saphine's hand once.
"Whatever happens inside," he murmured,"I choose my own ending. Not them."
She swallowed, gripping his hand tightly back.
"And I choose mine."
They stepped forward together.
And the doors of the Council Hall opened like a beast's jaws waiting to swallow them whole.