The steam from the teapot curled lazily in the air, catching the morning light.Maria, the head maid, moved with quiet grace, pouring the last cup. The aroma of mountain leaf and flame-flower filled the room, soft and soothing.
She placed the final cup before the mage and bowed.
"Lady Velen, Lady Arin, my Lady Elara."
Elara nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Maria. You may leave us."
Maria smiled faintly, curtsied, and left the room, closing the door with a soft click.
A moment of silence followed.Three women sat around a round marble table, each holding porcelain cups painted with the crest of the Lys family — a twin flame and a blade crossing a blue star.
Sirion Velen was the first to break the silence.She took a long sip, her violet eyes watching the rising steam as though it were telling her secrets.
"Alright," she said finally, setting the cup down. "Why don't we start with you, Arin? You were the one trading blows with him. Tell me what you think first. It'll give me a better baseline before I say what I saw with my Scarlet Eyes."
Arin placed her cup down gently. Her tone was calm, clipped — the voice of a soldier choosing her words with care.
"At first, I assumed he was simply using natural Ether flow — reading motion through instinct. But no."
She paused, fingers tapping the rim of her cup.
"The longer the fight went on, the clearer it became. He wasn't predicting my movements. He was reacting to the Ether around me — to the irregularities in the air itself."
Sirion tilted her head, intrigued.
"Irregularities?"
"Yes. The parts of Ether flow that don't align — the inconsistencies most of us don't even notice. He moved in ways that avoided them, like water finding gaps in stone."Her eyes narrowed slightly. "It wasn't mirroring me. It was… reflecting me. His Ether reflected mine."
Elara listened quietly, her hand resting on the edge of her teacup, her eyes unreadable.
Sirion leaned back with a grin.
"That matches what I saw. Though from my perspective—" she lifted a finger, "—it was far stranger."
Her eyes glimmered faintly as she spoke, as if remembering the vision.
"When I used Scarlet Eyes, I expected to see imbalance — maybe damage in his flow, maybe too much output. But what I saw was… something else. His Ether behaved like it had its own will. It responded not just to his emotion, but to any Ether around it. Mine, yours, even the air's residual current."
Sirion's expression turned serious now.
"Elara, your son doesn't just have strong Ether. He has responsive Ether. It's mimicking the behavior of elemental Ether — but he hasn't awakened one yet."
Elara's eyes shifted slightly.
"Explain."
"Normally, natural Ether is passive — it fuels life, nothing more. Elemental Ether carries laws and intent. It follows purpose — fire burns, water flows, lightning strikes."Sirion gestured toward Elara."Your blue flame, for example — it carries the law of purity. It burns cleaner, hotter, sharper than standard flame. But your son's Ether—"She hesitated, smiling faintly. "—it behaves like an element without being one. It's wild, yes, but intelligent. It answers to Ether itself."
Elara exhaled slowly, her calm cracking just slightly.
"You're saying… he's manipulating pure Ether as if it has a will."
"Exactly." Sirion leaned forward, voice lower. "And if I'm right… that means his Ether doesn't obey normal limits. It's learning."
A long silence fell.
Arin broke it first, voice soft but steady.
"Then letting him train with blades might be a waste. He'd make a greater mage than any of us."
Sirion shrugged.
"Probably. But his control is already instinctual. I've seen mages twice his age fail to synchronize Ether that cleanly. He's not trying — he's just… breathing it."
She smiled, a flicker of amusement in her tone.
"Still, I can't help but wonder… what element will he awaken next year? Born under the Serpent Calendar, right?"
Elara nodded once.
"Next year."
Arin finished her tea and set the cup down.
"Then it's settled. I'll train him until then. I won't be heading back to the border for a while anyway. He needs control — before the awakening burns him out."
Elara studied her for a moment, then nodded in silent approval.
Sirion grinned, finishing her cup.
"Good. Now that we've all decided to risk this child's sanity for science, I'd say we're done here."
She rose, dusting her sleeves.
"And, Elara—"Her tone softened slightly. "—he's going to be terrifying someday. Try not to let him grow up too fast."
Narration — The Nature of Ether
Ether — the unseen lifeblood of the world of Arian — exists in two states.Natural Ether, which sustains all life, and Elemental Ether, born when that life finds a will strong enough to shape it.
When humans awaken their Element, their Ether takes on a law — a guiding principle of creation, destruction, or balance.But pure Ether, unshaped and aware, was thought to be impossible.Until now.
Scene Shift — Cydonia
Thunder rolled across the western skies.
A lightning raven glided through the clouds, its wings leaving crackling streaks of blue across the horizon.Upon its back rode a man draped in a dark travel cloak, his expression as cold as the storm itself.
The bird descended, talons striking the courtyard stones of the Salian estate with a metallic clang.
He dismounted, cloak billowing, and stepped forward as an old man approached from the gates.
The elder's face was lined, eyes sharp as if age had only tempered him.
"Well, well," the old man rasped. "If it isn't the runaway son. What brings you back, boy? Run out of favors in the Empire?"
The younger man didn't answer immediately. His hand rested briefly on the raven's neck, calming it.Then he met the old man's gaze, eyes like tempered steel.
"I'm not here for you," he said coldly. "Nor am I here to ask or beg."He took a step closer."I'm here for the old lady."
The elder's smirk faded. For the first time, uncertainty flickered across his face.He stepped aside silently.
The man walked past him, boots echoing on the marble steps, his cloak trailing faint sparks of residual lightning.
Behind him, the raven spread its wings and cried — a sound that rolled like thunder over the city of Cydonia.
Far from the quiet tea tables of the Light Empire, the storm that would one day decide the balance of Ether itself began to gather—slowly, inevitably, and with purpose.