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Scene 1: Echoes Beneath the Surface
The kiss had changed everything—and nothing.
Aeyon walked through the halls of Valeiris with Lucine's laughter echoing faintly in his mind. It was not weakness. It was balance. For the first time, he felt the weight of his pain... lightened.
But the world wouldn't wait.
Rumors were spreading. About the Architects. About Aeyon's victory over Lys. About a girl with too much light in a school of shadows.
And rumors were never just noise. They were signals. Warnings.
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Scene 2: Hidden Thorns
Professor Karst summoned Aeyon for a private evaluation. A psychological extraction chamber—a place where truth could be forced without physical pain.
> "You've become unpredictable," Karst said. "Isn't unpredictability a sign of creativity?" Aeyon replied.
> "Not in a mind that used to be pure logic. You're... emotional now. Dangerous in a new way."
Karst flicked through Lucine's profile on a screen.
> "This girl. She's not what she seems. Her past is sealed. Even from us. We think she was placed here."
Aeyon didn't flinch, but his fingers curled.
> "What are you accusing her of?"
> "Not her. Whoever sent her. They knew you'd fall for her. The question is—why?"
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Scene 3: Seeds of Doubt
Later, Aeyon watched Lucine paint a mural in the courtyard—a bloom of chaotic colors shaped like a tree growing upside down.
> "What's it about?" he asked.
> "It's about growing in the wrong direction… and still reaching the sky."
He wanted to ask her: Who sent you? What are you hiding?
But he didn't.
Instead, he helped her mix the colors.
Because even if her smile was manufactured… it was the only honest thing in his life right now.
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Scene 4: The Bloom Test
An invitation arrived. Not from the school—but from an old sector long thought shut down: The Bloom Division.
An experimental trial on emotional resonance and mental defenses. Students would be put in linked lucid dream states where emotional damage could manifest physically.
Lucine insisted on going. Aeyon refused.
> "You've never seen what my dreams look like, Lucine. You don't want to go there."
> "Then maybe that's exactly why I should."
They entered together.
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Scene 5: The Dream Fracture
A twisted playground. Children with mirrors for faces. A swinging noose on a rusted jungle gym. Aeyon saw the orphanage. The screams. The gasps. The bloodless bodies of children used for testing empathy destruction.
Lucine found herself in a field of dead flowers. Each petal whispered doubt.
> "You're a tool. A seed. You were planted inside him."
And Aeyon… stood on a throne made of screaming mouths.
> "Save her, or save yourself," they chanted.
Lucine ran toward him. He pushed her away.
> "No! I won't let you die in my mind!"
She wrapped her arms around him.
> "Then let's shatter it together."
The world cracked. The dream collapsed.
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Scene 6: Wake Up
They both woke gasping. Bruises on their arms from emotional impact.
Lucine's lip trembled.
> "You're broken. More than I knew. But I'm not leaving. Even if someone put me here… I chose to stay."
> "Even if I break you?"
> "Then maybe I'll bloom from the pieces."
And Aeyon… cried. Not loudly. But with full honesty.
Lucine kissed his forehead.
> "Next time you visit hell… take me with you."
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Scene 7: Watching Eyes
Across the security feed, Professor Karst stared at the footage.
> "They passed. The bond is stronger than expected."
Behind him, a new figure stepped out of shadow—half-machine, with wires across her eyes.
> "Proceed to Phase II. Prepare Project Mirrorfall."
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TO BE CONTINUED...