Some children are born with blessings.
Some with curses.
I was born with both.
The floating island of Celestia shone like a jewel in the sky. White stone towers reached upward, carved with halos and wings, while waterfalls spilled endlessly into the clouds below. At the very center stood Angel Academy, the most prestigious school of magic in the world.
Students poured across the courtyard, uniforms crisp and identical: navy jackets with silver trim, white shirts, and the academy crest stitched over their hearts.
I wore mine too.
No hood. No cloak. No mask.
Just a normal student uniform, like everyone else.
At least on the outside.
"Is that the transfer?" someone whispered.
"Grey hair… kind of strange."
"Look at his eyes. Gives me chills."
I ignored them. My steps echoed on the polished stone, steady, even. Whispering never bothered me. It was when the whispers stopped that I knew trouble was coming.
The academy was breathtaking, I'll give it that. A massive obelisk of light floated in the center of the courtyard, humming with divine energy. First-years gathered around it in awe, touching its glowing surface as if it would grant them luck.
I didn't go near it.
Instead, I found myself drifting toward the classrooms. My schedule flickered across the rune-etched slip of parchment in my hand:
Class A. Basic Theory & Channeling. Hall 3B.
Of course it had to be Class A. The elites. The best bloodlines. The perfect students.
I almost laughed.
"Oi! New kid!"
I turned.
A boy with flame-colored hair and sharp eyes strode up, spinning a mana orb between his fingers like it was a toy. Two other boys flanked him, wearing smug grins.
"You're a Transfer student?" the redhead asked.
"That's right?"
He smirked. "Name's Casian. Class B. Top of my fire track last term. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up—Class A eats people alive. Don't think wearing that jacket means you belong there."
"Noted," I said flatly.
Casian blinked, clearly expecting more. His grin faltered for just a second before he snorted and waved me off. "Whatever. Don't say I didn't warn you."
A bell chimed through the air, resonant and pure. All around, schedules glowed brighter. First period.
I slipped into Hall 3B, taking a middle-row seat. The room was already filling—desks arranged in a semi-circle, chalkboards glowing with diagrams of ley lines and elemental wheels.
A few students glanced my way, then lost interest.
Except one.
By the window sat a girl with soft pink hair. A book lay open in her lap, but she wasn't reading. She was staring—at me.
The moment our eyes met, she dropped her gaze, cheeks coloring faintly.
Interesting.
The professor floated in—literally, his feet never touching the floor, robes swaying as if moved by unseen currents. With a casual flick of his hand, runes lit the room, and the lesson began.
"Welcome to your first day at Angel Academy," he said, his voice calm but firm. "Some of you were born for this. Others will wish they never enrolled. Either way, you are here. So learn."
Glowing diagrams of mana channels and elemental cycles filled the air.
"Channeling," he said, "is the core of all spellcraft. Without balance, you burn out. Without focus, you lose control. Both end the same way."
He paused, letting the silence hang.
"Failure."
Nervous laughter rippled through the class.
I raised my hand.
The professor arched a brow. "Yes… Haru, correct?"
"What happens," I asked carefully, "if someone carries opposing forces inside them? Say… Light and Dark?"
The room went still. A few students chuckled, thinking I was joking. Others frowned.
The professor's expression tightened. "Then they would be unstable. Dangerous. A contradiction that cannot last. Either one side consumes the other… or both collapse."
I lowered my hand, my face calm.
Figures.
No one could know the truth. Not yet.
Half angel. Half demon.
A sin wrapped in skin and bone.
I looked toward the endless sky beyond the window.
For now, I just had to survive.
Blend in.
Pretend I was ordinary.
But something told me this academy wouldn't stay peaceful for long.
And when the cracks formed…
I'd be standing at the center of it.