[Flashback panel — the luxurious Luxford Familia mansion in flames. The silhouette of a man stands calmly before the fire.]
"Your father is High Councilor Luxford," Nyx said quietly. She stared at Aether as if she were looking at a ghost. "The man who controls the entire Upper District. You want to kill him?"
"Not want to. Have to." Aether turned away from us. "He killed my mother three years ago. Burned her alive in front of the entire Familia. His reason? She tried to free Nulls—people without power—from a mass execution."
My breath caught. Mass executions. I knew they happened, but I had never had proof.
"The Council has a project," Aether continued. "It's called Project Severance. They kill every child who fails to manifest power by the age of fifteen. Supposedly to 'preserve the purity of Manipulator bloodlines.'"
The hatred in her voice was raw. Real. Painfully similar to my own.
"But some survived," I whispered. "Like me."
"Because you hid well," Aether said, turning back to face us. "Or because your power is special. Too special to be allowed to die."
Nyx was still skeptical. "Why don't you do it yourself? You're a Lightweave Manipulator. You're strong enough."
"Elementals can't kill Abstracts. Let alone Conceptual beings." Aether looked straight at me. "I need someone whose power can surpass physical laws. Someone who can rewrite fate itself."
She needed me. A perfect Familia heir needed a Null like me.
Ironic. Humiliating. And deeply satisfying.
"I still don't have any power," I said.
"We'll awaken it. There's someone in the Old District who can help." Aether extended her hand. "So—do we have a deal?"
I stared at her hand. Clean. Soft. A hand that had never known hunger.
But in her eyes, I saw the same fire.
The same vengeance.
I took her hand.
"Deal."