[VEXIS'S CASTLE – PRIVATE SOLAR – EVENING]
The fire in the massive hearth snaps like breaking bones. Vexis sits in a high-backed chair carved from dark wood, scarred hands resting on the arms like a king on a throne of thorns. A bottle of amber liquor sits untouched beside him.
The heavy doors open without a knock.
Monaki enters first black cloak still dusted with frost from the road, scales hidden beneath fresh illusion powder. Yuka follows, bow slung low, face half shadowed. Taru brings up the rear, twin swords sheathed but fingers twitching.
They stop a respectful distance from the fire. Vexis doesn't rise.
VEXIS
(voice low, amused)
The eastern border is quiet tonight. Forty thousand Elyrian corpses turned to glittering statues. Word travels fast when an entire legion shatters in the cold.
MONAKI
(flat)
We did what you asked. The war scales are balanced for now.
VEXIS
More than balanced. You've given Velhem breathing room. Those foul Elyrians will think twice before another push. I'm… pleased.
He finally looks up, one eye glinting in the firelight.
VEXIS (cont'd)
You've heard about Marla, I assume?
A beat of silence.
MONAKI
No.
VEXIS
She's dead. Decapitated in a C-rank dungeon that somehow birthed an S-Class "monster." Two Gold rank adventurers went with her. None came back. The guild is in panic calling it a targeted hit.
He studies their faces.
VEXIS (cont'd)
Tragic, isn't it?
MONAKI
(voice even)
That's Really a tragedy.
No inflection. No grief. Just the words.
Vexis smiles thin, knowing.
VEXIS
Indeed. Well. You've earned your rest. Return to the Arcanum Institute. Play your parts. Stay invisible until the next battle calls. We'll need that frost again soon enough.
He gestures. Servants appear from the shadows silent, efficient carrying trays: fresh clothes, purses heavy with coin, sealed vials of mana restoratives, enchanted cloaks lined with warming runes.
VEXIS
Take what you need. And one more thing.
He snaps his fingers.
COSMA
(from the doorway)
You rang, my lord?
The illusionist steps in pale face painted, fingers still stained with dye. She carries her black case, same as before.
COSMA
Back for another round of screaming?
TARU
(grumbling)
Joy.
VEXIS
Make them look like proper students again. No slips. No scales peeking.
Cosma opens the case. Vials glint. Needles thin as moonlight.
COSMA
Strip. All of you. Pain killers are optional your choice, prodigy.
MONAKI
No thanks.
The procedure is brutal but quick. Screams echo off stone walls Monaki's jaw clenched, Taru biting down on leather, Yuka breathing through it like a battle. When it's done, mirrors show three unmarked teenagers: clean skin, no veins, no scars. Perfect Institute transfers.
Cosma packs up.
COSMA
You know the drill. Don't bleed. Don't let someone with the magic power truesight stare too long. And try not to die before the next job.
[ARCANUM INSTITUTE – DORMS – TWO DAYS LATER]
Gray robes again. Monaki walks the corridors like he owns them arrogant genius, distant, bored in lectures, brilliant in theory classes. AClass students with silver pins still orbit him, offering alliances, invitations, subtle propositions. He nods, says little, lets them think they're close.
The Headmaster watches from upper balconies blind eye milky, seeing aura instead of flesh. He smiles faintly whenever Monaki passes.
Yuka and Taru keep lower profiles.
Yuka sits in the back of archery drills, arrows splitting targets with casual precision good enough to be noticed, not enough to stand out. She eats alone in the refectory, eyes scanning faces, always aware.
Taru spars in the training yards—twin blades flashing, holding back just enough to look like a talented B-rank transfer. She laughs at the right jokes, nods at the right people, but her black veined eyes (hidden now).
At night, in their shared dorm room, the illusions hold.
YUKA
(quiet, rubbing her now-straight arm)
How long do we play pretend?
MONAKI
(staring out the window at the humming gardens)
Until the next border call. Or until someone comes looking for Marla's killer.
TARU
(grinning darkly)
Think they'll figure it out?
MONAKI
They will. Eventually.
He touches the iron ring on his finger still there, still cold.
MONAKI (cont'd)
When they do… we'll be ready.
Outside, snow falls softly over white towers..