Three days after his encounter with Blackwood, Aiden's condition had visibly worsened. Dark circles ringed his eyes, which now held flecks of silver that seemed to shift and move like living mercury. He'd taken to wearing tinted glasses, claiming eye strain from studying, but even that wasn't enough to completely hide the changes.
The voice in his head had grown stronger too, offering commentary on everything he saw with an ancient wisdom that was both helpful and deeply unsettling.
*The girl approaching has been crying recently,* it observed as Sarah walked toward his lunch table. *Her emotional state makes her more susceptible to influence.*
"Stop," Aiden whispered under his breath.
*Why? You could ease her pain with a few words. Make her forget whatever troubles her. Isn't that what friends do for each other?*
Sarah sat down across from him, and Aiden could see the divine voice was right. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her usual bright demeanor dimmed by whatever was bothering her.
"Everything okay?" he asked, fighting the urge to reach out with his power and simply fix whatever was wrong.
"Family stuff. My parents are... having problems." Sarah picked at her food without eating. "They're talking about divorce, and they want me to choose sides. It's awful."
The pressure behind Aiden's eyes pulsed with opportunity. He could help her - make her forget the family problems, implant memories of happiness and stability, rewrite her past to exclude the pain entirely. The Eye had shown him how to do exactly that in his dreams.
*One small mercy,* the voice urged. *What harm could it do?*
"I'm sorry," Aiden said instead, clenching his hands to keep from reaching across the table. "That sounds really difficult."
Sarah looked up at him with surprise and gratitude. "Thanks. I know it's not your problem, but... it means something to have someone who just listens without trying to fix everything."
If only she knew how much he wanted to fix it. How easy it would be.
Their conversation was interrupted by commotion from across the dining hall. Marcus Aldrich had cornered a younger student near the windows, his followers forming a loose circle to block outside view. The boy looked terrified as Marcus spoke to him in low, threatening tones.
"What's he doing?" Sarah asked, craning her neck to see.
"Being himself," Aiden replied, but his attention was focused on something else entirely. The Eye was showing him things he couldn't normally perceive - the fear radiating from the younger student, the cruel satisfaction emanating from Marcus, the way the other diners were unconsciously avoiding the confrontation.
*You could stop this,* the voice suggested. *Make Marcus feel the same terror he's inflicting. Show him what real fear looks like.*
The idea was tempting. More than tempting - it felt right. Marcus had been protected by his family's influence for too long, allowed to hurt others without consequence. But Aiden was on probation. Using his talent on another student would mean expulsion.
Unless no one realized what he'd done.
*Exactly,* the Eye purred. *Subtle influence. Plant a suggestion so deep that Marcus himself will believe it came from his own mind.*
Aiden found himself standing before he'd consciously decided to move. "I'll be right back," he told Sarah, walking toward the confrontation with purpose that felt both his own and utterly alien.
The younger student - a first-year named Tommy Chen - was pressed against the window while Marcus loomed over him. Aiden couldn't hear the words, but the body language told the story clearly enough. Intimidation, threats, probably demands for money or favors.
"Problem here?" Aiden asked casually, approaching the circle of Marcus's followers.
The noble students turned to face him, their expressions ranging from annoyed to amused. Marcus himself smiled coldly.
"Nothing that concerns you, Cross. Unless you want to join our conversation about respecting one's betters."
Aiden looked directly at Marcus, letting his tinted glasses slip down his nose just enough to make eye contact. The silver flecks in his pupils swirled like storm clouds.
"Respect," he said quietly, and his voice carried harmonics that seemed to bypass the ears entirely, "is earned through strength, not birthright."
The words hit Marcus like a physical blow. The duke's son staggered slightly, his confident expression flickering as something foreign invaded his thoughts.
*You are weak,* Aiden projected, the suggestion riding beneath his spoken words. *All your power comes from others. Without daddy's protection, you are nothing.*
Marcus's face went pale, then flushed red with anger. But underneath the rage, Aiden could see something else - a flicker of doubt, of fear that the planted thought might be true.
"You..." Marcus started, then stopped, confusion clouding his features. The suggestion was taking root, growing like a virus in his subconscious.
"I what?" Aiden asked innocently, sliding his glasses back up. To outside observers, they'd simply exchanged a few words. Nothing that could be construed as hypnotic influence.
Marcus opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. The planted doubt was spreading, making him question his own thoughts and motivations. He released Tommy and stepped back, his followers looking confused by the sudden change in his behavior.
"This isn't over," Marcus said, but his voice lacked its usual conviction.
"It never is," Aiden replied.
As the nobles retreated, Tommy looked up at Aiden with grateful eyes. "Thank you. I don't know what you said to him, but..."
"I just reminded him that bullies are usually cowards underneath," Aiden said, though part of him wondered if he was talking about Marcus or himself.
*Well done,* the Eye whispered approvingly. *You're beginning to understand the true scope of your power.*
Aiden returned to his table, where Sarah was watching him with a mixture of admiration and concern.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"Nothing dramatic. Just had a conversation."
"Marcus looked like he'd seen a ghost."
"Maybe he saw something that was actually there." Aiden picked up his fork, surprised to find his hand perfectly steady despite what he'd just done. "Sometimes people need to confront uncomfortable truths about themselves."
Sarah studied his face, and Aiden wondered if she could see the changes in his eyes despite the tinted glasses.
"You're different lately," she said finally. "Not just tired - harder somehow. Like you're becoming someone else."
*She sees too much,* the Eye observed. *It would be simple to adjust her perceptions. Make her see only what you want her to see.*
"People change," Aiden said instead. "Especially when they're forced to."
"That's what worries me."
That afternoon, Aiden had his first supervised training session since the probation began. Professor Vale oversaw the exercise in a private room, monitoring his talent use to ensure he didn't exceed the prescribed limits.
"Basic perception enhancement only," Vale instructed. "No direct mental influence on others, no reality manipulation, no advanced applications. We're testing whether you can control your abilities within acceptable parameters."
Aiden nodded and began the simple exercises - enhancing his own senses, improving his reflexes, basic self-hypnosis techniques that any competent practitioner could manage. But underneath the surface compliance, the Eye was learning.
It studied the monitoring equipment, analyzed Vale's detection methods, mapped the boundaries of what the academy considered "safe" hypnosis. Within minutes, it had found a dozen ways to circumvent the restrictions without triggering alarms.
*These limitations are laughable,* the voice observed. *Designed by people who understand perhaps one percent of your true potential.*
"That's enough for today," Vale announced after an hour of testing. "Your control appears stable, though I'm concerned about the energy readings. They're significantly higher than your initial evaluation."
"I've been practicing," Aiden said.
"Perhaps too much. Take it easy for the next few days. Let your talent settle before pushing further."
If only Vale knew that "settling" wasn't an option. The Eye was growing stronger every day, pushing against the boundaries of Aiden's human consciousness like a caged animal testing its bars.
As Aiden left the training room, he caught sight of his reflection in the hallway's polished floor. For just a moment, the image looking back at him had eyes that were completely silver, reflecting light that came from no earthly source.
Then he blinked, and they were human again.
But the message was clear - the Eye was running out of patience with subtlety. Soon, it would demand more direct action, more open displays of power.
The question was whether Aiden would resist that demand or embrace it.
*Why resist?* the voice whispered. *You've already tasted what we can accomplish together. The fear in Marcus's eyes, the gratitude in the boy you saved. Power used wisely is still power.*
Maybe that was true. Maybe the real question wasn't whether to use the Eye's gifts, but how far he was willing to go with them.
After all, in a world designed to crush people like him, perhaps becoming something more than human was the only way to survive.