Aria's POV
"Defective."
The word cut through the crowd like a knife, and I knew they were talking about me.
I stood in the middle of Spirit Hall, surrounded by hundreds of tamers, and tried not to shake. The Grand Ceremony happened once a year. Every young tamer came here to prove their power by making contracts with spirits.
Everyone except me.
I was twenty-four years old, and I still couldn't feel spirits the way normal tamers could. While my little sister Yuki had contracted with three powerful spirits by age twelve, I couldn't even sense a common ghost.
"Maybe this year will be different," I whispered to myself.
"Aria Nakamura, please step forward." The announcer's voice boomed across the hall.
My legs felt like jelly, but I walked to the center stage. A thousand eyes watched me. I could hear the whispers growing louder.
"The defective one is trying again?"
"Poor thing. She'll fail like always."
"Why does the Nakamura family even bring her?"
I clenched my fists. My parents sat in the front row with empty faces. They didn't even look proud or hopeful. They looked... embarrassed.
"Begin the contract ritual," the Master Tamer said.
A small ghost appeared in front of me. It was the weakest kind—just a floating ball of pale light. Even children could contract with these.
I reached out my hand, trying to feel the connection. All the books said you should feel warmth, a pull, a voice in your mind. I felt nothing. Just cold air and my own heartbeat.
"Come on," I begged silently. "Please work this time."
The ghost floated closer. My hand started glowing with a faint light. Hope exploded in my chest. Maybe this was it! Maybe I could finally—
The light died.
The ghost flew away from me like I'd burned it.
Laughter erupted across the hall. Not quiet giggles. Loud, mean laughter that made my face burn hot with shame.
"She failed again!"
"Twenty-four years old and can't even catch a basic ghost!"
"The Nakamura family must be so ashamed."
I looked at my parents. My mother covered her face with her hand. My father stood up and walked toward the exit like he couldn't stand to watch anymore.
Tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of everyone.
"Thank you, Miss Nakamura," the announcer said quickly. "Next participant, please."
I walked off the stage on shaking legs. Every step felt like walking through mud. The whispers followed me like ghosts I couldn't escape.
Then I saw her.
Yuki.
My younger sister glided into the hall like she owned it. Her long hair shined under the lights. She smiled at everyone, and they smiled back. Of course they did. Yuki was everything I wasn't—powerful, confident, loved.
"Yuki Nakamura will now demonstrate her newest contract," the announcer said, his voice full of excitement he never used for me.
My sister walked to the center stage. She didn't look nervous at all. She raised both hands, and the air around her started glowing gold.
A massive bird made of fire appeared above her head.
The entire hall gasped.
"A Phoenix!" someone shouted.
"She contracted with a legendary Phoenix spirit!"
"The Nakamura family is blessed!"
I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. A Phoenix was one of the rarest, most powerful spirits in the world. Only master tamers could even dream of contracting with one.
And my twenty-two-year-old sister had done it.
"Thank you, thank you," Yuki said, bowing as everyone clapped. Then her eyes found me in the crowd. She smiled, but it wasn't a kind smile. It was the smile of someone who'd just won a game.
I needed to get out of here. I needed air. I needed—
"Aria, wait."
I turned around. Finally. Ren was here.
My fiancé pushed through the crowd. Ren Hayashi was the most handsome man I'd ever known. We'd been together for three years. He was the only person who'd ever made me feel like I wasn't completely worthless.
Relief washed over me. At least I had him. At least someone still—
Then I saw who was holding his hand.
Yuki.
My sister and my fiancé were holding hands. Walking toward me together. Smiling.
No. No, no, no.
"Aria," Ren said. His voice was gentle, like he was talking to a child. "We need to talk."
Everything around me went silent. I couldn't hear the crowd anymore. Couldn't hear anything except my own heart breaking.
Ren looked at Yuki. She looked back at him. Then they both looked at me.
"I'm sorry," Ren said. "But I can't marry you."
The world tilted sideways.
"Ren and I are engaged now," Yuki announced loudly, making sure everyone could hear. "We're perfect for each other. Both powerful. Both worthy of the Hayashi and Nakamura names."
She held up her hand. My engagement ring—the one Ren had given me three years ago—now sparkled on her finger.
"You understand, don't you, sister?" Yuki's voice was sweet like poison. "Ren needs a wife who can make his family stronger. Not someone who would... weaken his bloodline."
The crowd erupted in excited whispers. Some people were even taking pictures.
I looked at Ren, waiting for him to say this was a joke. A mistake. Anything.
But he just looked away.
"I'm sorry, Aria," he repeated. "But this is better for everyone."
My mother's voice cut through the noise. "We support this union."
I spun around. Both my parents had returned. They stood next to Yuki and Ren, smiling like this was the happiest day of their lives.
"Yuki will bring honor to our family," my father said. "As for you, Aria..." He looked at me like I was a stranger. "You are no longer part of the Nakamura family."
The words didn't make sense at first. Then they crashed into me like a wave.
They were disowning me.
My own parents were throwing me away. Right here. In front of everyone.
"No," I whispered. "Please, don't—"
"Security, please escort the former Miss Nakamura out," my father said.
Two large men grabbed my arms. They started pulling me toward the exit. Everyone watched. Some looked sorry for me. Most just looked entertained.
This couldn't be real. This had to be a nightmare.
But Yuki's smile told me it was very, very real.
"Goodbye, sister," she called out sweetly. "Try not to disappear completely, okay?"
The security guards pushed me out the main doors. They slammed shut behind me with a sound like thunder.
I stood alone in the cold night air. Rain started falling from the dark sky.
Everything I'd ever had was gone. My family. My fiancé. My home. My name.
I had nothing left.
Nothing except the crushing weight of being completely, utterly worthless.
I started walking. I didn't know where. Didn't care. My feet carried me away from the lights of Spirit Hall, away from the laughter, away from everything.
The rain soaked through my dress. I didn't feel it.
I just kept walking into the darkness, wishing I could disappear like Yuki had said.
Maybe I should just... stop existing.
The thought scared me. But it also felt like relief.
I walked until I reached the edge of the city, where the buildings stopped and the wild forest began. Through the rain, I saw something that made me stop.
A shrine.
Not just any shrine. The Forbidden Shrine.
Every tamer in Tokyo knew about this place. It was covered in warning seals. Master tamers had died trying to enter it. Evil spirits lived inside—spirits so dangerous that even legendary tamers stayed away.
Smart people avoided the Forbidden Shrine.
But I wasn't feeling very smart right now.
I was feeling destroyed.
And maybe, just maybe, something in that cursed place could end this pain.
I walked toward the shrine gates. The warning seals glowed red, trying to keep me out. But when my hand touched the wood, they flickered and died.
The gates creaked open like they'd been waiting for me.
Dark energy poured out like thick smoke, wrapping around me. It felt cold and hungry and alive.
Normal people would run.
I stepped inside.
The gates slammed shut behind me with a boom that shook the ground.
I walked down steps carved into stone, going deeper and deeper underground. The darkness got thicker. The air got colder. Something was watching me. I could feel it.
Finally, I reached a chamber at the very bottom.
And that's when I saw them.
Two eyes.
Glowing red in the darkness.
Staring right at me.
A voice spoke from the shadows—smooth and dangerous and amused.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Something moved in the darkness. Something big.
"A little human lamb has wandered into my prison," the voice continued. "Tell me, girl... did you come here to die?"
I should have been terrified.
Instead, I lifted my chin and looked straight at those burning red eyes.
"No," I said. My voice didn't shake. "I came here to make a deal."