Narrator:"In Vantaria, storms don't always come with thunder. Sometimes, they walk quietly... wear a smile... and sit beside you."
🌸 Scene 1: Stillness Before the Shift
The sun painted the Vantarian sky in hues of gold and lavender. Cherry-glass petals floated in the air, catching the light like silent fireworks. The academy's sprawling garden—normally bustling with training students—was eerily calm today.
Kael sat beneath the Verdant Elm, a massive tree older than the Crown Trials themselves. His sketchpad was open, pencil hovering, unmoving.
For the first time in weeks, he wasn't sketching futures. He was stuck.
"Thinking hurts, huh?" a familiar voice teased.
Riven stood there—hair untied and flowing, no more bandages hiding who she was. Her jacket hung loosely off one shoulder, eyes softer now, but still fierce.
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You're still talking to me after the... everything?"
"Someone has to make sure you don't grow moss under that tree."
She sat beside him. The wind curled around them as if waiting.
Kael hesitated, then spoke. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I did... in everything except words."
They both went quiet. A pause. The kind that makes you wonder if something's about to break—or begin.
Then she reached over and gently touched his pencil.
"Draw something."
"What?"
"Doesn't matter what. Just... draw."
And he did. Not the future. Not some mythical symbol.Just her. Laughing. Mask off.
🌀 Scene 2: Zayen's Disrupted Reality
Halfway across campus, Zayen found himself waist-deep in the marshlands of Sector 9—a hidden zone unlocked only for Phase 2 teams.
"Who the hell makes 'hunt a legendary marsh beast' the next step in a soul-bound tournament?" he grumbled.
"You complain more than you fight," his teammate Myria smirked, swatting away a glowing dragonfly.
Suddenly, the air cracked like glass. Zayen's vision blurred.
Everything froze.
Time slowed. The marsh turned monochrome.
A vision flickered—a future version of himself—armored differently, eyes older.
Future-Zayen raised a hand and said something only Zayen could hear:
"You won't like who you become."
Then—snap.
Everything resumed. Water splashed, birds chirped, his teammates still arguing.
Only Zayen stood still.
🌙 Scene 3: Whispers in the Dark
That night, Kael dreamed.
A hallway of mirrors. Each reflected not his face, but versions of himself—angrier, colder, corrupted.
At the end stood the Soulfruit, glowing like an ember in shadow.
Then came a voice, neither male nor female.
"You carry the Thread of Rewrite. Will you unweave the world... or repair it?"
Kael reached out—and woke up gasping.
His hand hurt. He looked down.
His palm had ink on it. A strange symbol. One he didn't draw.
đź’” Scene 4: Riven's Crossroads
Riven stood on the rooftop of the old dorm wing, hair whipping in the wind. In her hand: her old faceplate. The one she wore every day as "the boy who didn't belong."
She stared at it for a long moment. Then dropped it.
The wind took it. No ceremony. No tears.
She turned—and Kael was already there.
"How long were you watching?" she asked.
"Since before the wind."
"I don't know what I'm supposed to be now."
Kael looked at her—not like someone broken, not like someone hiding.
"You already are."
And for once, Riven didn't flinch.She let herself lean, slightly, into the calm. Into him.
🩶 Scene 5: Threads Begin to Shift
In a forgotten vault beneath Vantaria, masked figures gathered.
"The boy has begun to glimpse the Rewrite Thread," one said.
Another placed a hand over the Soulfruit—now pulsing crimson.
"Then the next stage must begin. Before they awaken fully."
"They?" a third asked.
The first nodded.
"Kael. Zayen. Riven. And the one not yet arrived."
đź“Ś End of Chapter 2