The hiss of the train's brakes sounded like a dying gasp.
When the doors slid open, the air of Northam didn't just hit Sila, it invaded him. The scent of expensive perfume and sterile cleanliness made his lungs ache. He stepped onto the platform and froze.
Everything was white.
Pillars carved from ivory-toned stone. Polished marble floors reflecting the artificial suns suspended from the vaulted glass ceiling. The brightness was almost blinding, the kind that made the world feel unreal.
It was beautiful.
"Move, Sila," Axil said from behind, his voice low but amused. "I know you're impressed, but this is nothing compared to the center of the capital."
Sila wasn't impressed. He was overwhelmed.
As they walked through the terminal, the noise of thousands of commuters, footsteps, distant conversations and echoing announcements thinned around them. Not entirely, but enough for him to notice.
It started with a woman in a silk coat. She had never seen Sila before, never left the hut in Ego. Yet as he passed, her head snapped toward him. Her pupils widened before she pulled her child closer, her expression twisting into instinctive revulsion.
Then a group of students. A businessman mid-conversation. They weren't whispering about his clothes or his hair. They were looking at him as if he were unstable. Something leaking.
Sila drew his shoulders inward.
"How do they know?" he asked quietly. "I've never been here. No one knows my face."
Axil didn't slow his pace. His pale aura cut through the crowd, parting it naturally.
"They don't need to know your face," he said, clinical rather than cruel. "In the Capital, Aura Sense is practically a civic duty. Even children are trained to recognize the vibration of a Tar's signature. To them, it's obvious you're a half."
The words were facts. That made them worse.
Sila's palms itched, dry heat threatening to surface.
"I don't like this," he muttered.
Before Axil could respond, something tugged at his awareness. He glanced sideways.
The woman's child had slipped slightly from her mother's grip. Unlike the others, she wasn't recoiling. She stared wide-eyed, curious, not at Sila's face, but at his hands, as if she could see the heat trembling beneath his skin.
Their eyes met for a brief second. The overwhelming noise of the station rushed back.
The girl tilted her head, not in disgust or alarm, but in quiet curiosity.
Her mother noticed and quickly pulled her back, turning her away as if shielding her from contamination.
"I know," Axil said more softly this time. "It must be difficult. But I hope you get used to it, because you'll be working to save these very people."
The Headquarters wasn't just a building. It was a kingdom.
A massive skyscraper stretched toward the clouds, its glass surface catching the light, surrounded by manicured gardens and secondary buildings that likely cost more than the entire town of Ego.
Sila's composure slipped. "Damn," he breathed.
They approached the main gate, a towering slab of dark metal engraved with intricate swirling patterns that seemed to tell a story he couldn't read. As they drew closer, the gates hummed softly and slid open, recognizing Axil's presence without hesitation.
Inside, the halls teemed with movement.
Executors in uniform, assistants carrying documents, quiet but purposeful conversations echoing against polished walls.
Here, the Aura Sense felt different.
People noticed him. Their gazes lingered. But no one recoiled or stepped away.
They were used to monsters.
For the first time since arriving in Northam, Sila felt his shoulders loosen.
In a private office overlooking the gardens, Axil placed a contract on the desk. At the bottom, next to a poorly drawn smiley face, was a space for a thumbprint.
Sila stared before pressing his thumb into ink, then onto the paper. The mark looked small but felt significant.
"Welcome to the Order," Axil said, smiling brightly. For a split second, something quieter passed across his expression. He muttered something about the past, but the words were too soft for Sila to catch.
"Come on," Axil added, energy returning. "Let's head to the dorms. Your team's already there."
The dorm room was small.
Three beds, a desk, a narrow wardrobe but to Sila, it felt luxurious. Clean floors, sturdy walls, no leaks. A small, genuine smile appeared.
Then a voice rang out from inside the room.
"Because I'm a girl! I'm taking the single bed. You can have the bunk with the new guy. Especially since he's a Half, he's probably used to cramped spaces anyway!"
Sila stopped in the hallway and slowly looked at Axil, who leaned casually against the wall, watching his reaction with amusement.
Inside, another voice groaned in protest.
They didn't sound disgusted. They didn't sound afraid.
They just sounded annoying.
And somehow, that felt better.