The storm broke over Jericho like an omen. Dark clouds smothered the spires of "Nevermore Academy", thunder rolling low across the forest. Students gathered in corridors, faces pressed to the rain-streaked windows. Word had spread already—another new student had arrived.
Transfers weren't rare, but this one carried whispers. His parents had once studied here. His name alone unsettled some of the faculty.
The iron gates creaked open. A carriage, black as obsidian, rolled through. From it stepped a boy—tall, but carrying himself without confidence. His hair fell over his eyes, his bag nearly slipping from his shoulder. He tripped on the first stone step, catching himself with an awkward stumble.
"Sid Edward."
Most of the students snickered quietly. He looked clumsy, unthreatening. But others frowned, feeling something in the air bend around him—a heaviness, invisible yet undeniable.
Inside his sleeve, scales shifted. A voice hissed softly against his skin.
"Calm yourself, Sid. They smell weakness. Don't give it to them."
The serpent, Ryuchi, curled tighter against his arm.
At the top of the steps, "Principal Barry Dort"waited. His tone was clipped, formal. "Sid Edward. You're late. But you will find Nevermore… has a place for everyone. Even those with difficult legacies."
Sid bowed his head, mumbling, "Yes, sir."
The other students expected him to be led to the usual dormitories. Instead, Dort gestured to the far tower—an old wing sealed for decades, its windows like hollow eyes.
"You'll stay there. The North Spire dormitory. It's unused, but you… may find the solitude beneficial. Others are not permitted there. Do not question my decision."
Murmurs broke out among the watching crowd. No one had ever been placed there. Sid didn't protest.
The storm did not pass quickly. It lingered, pressing down on Nevermore like an iron shroud. The lightning painted the old stone walls white for brief moments, then left everything in heavy shadow. Sid Edward felt each rumble of thunder echo in his chest as he carried his bag up the winding stairs of the "North Spire".
The staircase was narrow, dust swirling with every step. No footsteps but his own echoed there. By the third landing, his legs burned, his clumsiness almost sending him tumbling down more than once. He muttered curses under his breath, gripping the railing until splinters dug into his palm.
"Pathetic," Ryuchi hissed softly from beneath his sleeve. "You should walk with your head high, like your mother. Not like a boy dragged by the storm."
Sid glanced down at the serpent's pale scales. "You always compare me to her," he whispered. "But I'm not Marry Eve."
"No. Not yet."
The serpent's voice carried the kind of weight that pressed against Sid's ribs. He quickened his pace.
At last, they reached the top. The door groaned open to a room untouched by time. Dust lay thick on the floor, cobwebs hanging like banners from the beams. But it was spacious, larger than any of the normal dormitories. A bed carved from dark wood leaned against the wall, a desk stood beneath a narrow window, and heavy balcony doors faced the storm.
Sid dropped his bag, coughing into the stale air. He wiped his hands on his shirt, then began unpacking.
The first object he placed was the "Ryuzen" Book. The moment it touched the desk, the dust recoiled, as though it feared the relic. Its cover shimmered faintly, runes crawling across its surface like living veins. To any other eye, it would appear blank, heavy, maybe even ordinary. But Sid knew better. This book carried the entire history of everything it had touched. It spoke when he opened it, whispered truths, bled secrets.
Second was "Ryuchi". The serpent slid down his arm and coiled upon the bedpost, scales glowing faintly in the candlelight. Its golden eyes gleamed, unblinking.
And finally, the "Ryuken"sword.Sid set it carefully in the corner, still wrapped in black cloth. Even so, he could feel its hum in the air, like a predator breathing in its sleep. The urge to touch it was there, always, but he resisted. Ryuken was a last resort. His burden, not his weapon.
Sid collapsed into the chair by the desk, exhaling. The storm raged beyond the balcony, but silence ruled the room. For a moment, he let himself feel it—the loneliness of the North Spire. He had been placed apart from everyone else, and though part of him welcomed the solitude, another part ached.
The storm rattled the spire windows, thunder clawing at the sky. Sid pushed open the heavy balcony doors, letting the rain-soaked wind blast into the forbidden dorm. The night was alive with lightning, painting Nevermore in stark flashes of silver and black.
From his high vantage point in the "North Spire", he saw the rest of the school laid out below like a chessboard of stone towers and courtyards. But one place drew his eyes immediately.
Across the courtyard, far away in the opposite tower, two figures stepped onto their balcony. Their dorm's light glowed against the storm.
Even at that distance, Sid recognized "Enid Sinclair" — all brightness and color even in the chaos of the storm. She leaned far over the railing, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout something across. The words scattered in the wind, fragments of cheerful noise that barely reached him.
Beside her stood "Wednesday Addams". Unmoving. Her black dress clung to her in the wind, her pale face sharp and cold in the lightning. She didn't wave. She didn't call. She only watched. Her dark eyes locked on Sid's balcony, as though the storm itself couldn't pull her gaze away.
Sid gripped the railing, the serpent Ryuchi coiling tighter around his wrist.
"She sees you," the serpent hissed. "Even from across the storm, she sees more than most ever will."
Sid didn't answer. He felt something in that look — an assessment, a weighing. It was not friendliness. It was not hostility. It was curiosity, sharpened like a blade.
Enid tried again, shouting something like "Hey, new guy!" but her voice broke against the thunder. She waved both arms, but the distance made her gesture look small, like the flapping of a bird.
Sid did not wave back. He simply stood there, letting the storm whip his hair, the "Ryuzen" Book pressed against his chest.
And below, in the courtyard shadows where the rain ran like rivers, a flicker appeared. A shape. A girl.
"Agnes DeMille."
Her invisibility faltered, body half-shimmering, half-exposed in the stormlight. She cursed under her breath, clutching her arms. But when her eyes rose and found Sid silhouetted on the balcony, her fear paused. For a heartbeat, she forgot her trembling power. She forgot the storm.
Sid Edward. The strange boy in the forbidden dorm. The one everyone whispered about already. Something about him drew her like gravity.
She stayed in the shadows, hidden as best she could, watching him as he unknowingly became the first page in her story.