- The Astral Nexus Academy - Entrance Ceremony.
Inside the colossal aula, Hundreds of new students filled every seat, their voices a rising wave of anticipation.
Excitement buzzed through the air like static, though beneath it, a faint shadow lingered.
The tragedy from last month.
It still clung to the walls like a scar invisible to the eye.
Only those who had been inside that nightmare remembered the screams, the collapse, the helplessness.
Their wounds were quiet, but deep.
Even so, the ceremony moved forward.
On the podium, the principal, Eldrin, stood tall, adjusting his coat with ceremonial dignity.
A line of instructors stood behind him, each radiating their own presence.
And among them... Alice.
Her posture was composed. Her face was calm. But inwardly? Her entire being trembled. Alice's Heart Wasn't Here
Since dawn, she'd felt it.
A pulse.
A vibration in her blood.
A whisper in the deepest core of her soul.
Her father… Taufik… He had returned.
