Nova — The Ironbound's Hidden Refuge
The entrance to the Ironbound hideout was nothing more than a cracked boulder swallowed by vines. But the moment Nova stepped through, the illusion peeled away, revealing a cavern lit by molten orange crystals. The air smelled of smoke, metal, and old, buried anger.
"Welcome to the rust pit," Raze said, tossing aside his cloak. Scars ran across his arms like winding roads. "Not pretty, but it's ours."
Nova scanned the chamber—people hammering scrap into weapons, maps pinned to walls, crude diagrams of monster anatomy. And there, in the center, a pedestal holding a half-finished blade with a Grey sigil carved faintly into the steel.
His breath caught.
"That's—"
"Yeah," Raze said quietly. "Your family's design. Last surviving pattern. We've been trying to recreate it for years, but…"
He gestured to the cracked blade.
"Turns out only a Grey can finish what a Grey started."
Nova stepped closer. Something inside him stirred—like the memory of a forge long gone, his father's hands guiding his own.
"What exactly are the Ironbound?" Nova asked.
Raze folded his arms. "People who escaped the Crown's purges. People who know the truth: House Grey wasn't wiped out by monsters. The Crown ordered the gates opened."
Nova froze. "You're lying."
"I wish I were."
The cavern trembled slightly—either from mining below, or from the rising storm inside Nova's chest.
The truth was clawing its way toward him.
And it was uglier than he imagined.
Sorra — Shadows in the Academy
Sorra pressed her hand against her bandaged ribs as she walked through Silvercrest's torchlit corridor. Students whispered behind her, their gossip like knives.
"She took down an envoy."
"No way, not without help."
"Or maybe the Crown sent someone to test her…"
Nico walked beside her, glare sharp enough to silence a few of them.
"They're just scared," he muttered. "Ignore them."
Sorra tried. But something was wrong. The halls felt… thinner. As if someone had been pulling at the Academy's strings.
She turned a corner—and froze.
A cloaked figure stood at the far end, posture perfectly still. Too still.
Sorra whispered, "Wind Boost."
The air shifted around her legs, ready to push her into motion—
But the figure slipped into the darkness, vanishing without a single sound.
Nico tensed. "That wasn't a student."
"No," Sorra whispered, heart hammering, "it wasn't."
When they reached the courtyard, Headmaster Vale was waiting—expression colder than usual.
"Miss Grey," he said quietly, "may I have a word? Privately."
Her stomach sank.
Something was unfolding behind the Academy's walls.
And she was standing in the center of it.
Nova — Pursuers in the Dark
Nova hadn't even fully processed Raze's words when alarms blared through the hideout—sharp metallic shrieks that echoed through every tunnel.
Raze swore. "Sentinels?! Already?!"
A massive Ironbound woman slammed a lever, sealing steel plating over the entrance.
"We were tailed!" she barked.
Nova's blood ran cold.
By who?
Then the answer exploded through the newly sealed door—
A fist of black metal punched through with unnatural strength.
A Forge-Wrought Sentinel.
A machine built using stolen Grey designs.
In seconds, the hideout erupted into combat—Ironbound clashing with metal limbs and crackling red cores.
"Nova!" Raze yelled. "If you've got tricks—now's the time!"
Nova's hand tightened around his sword.
"…Total Creation."
Lightning crawled around his arm as he forged something new—
Silent Step,
Healing Magic,
Triple Strike,
and finally—
Lightning Element.
A storm gathered behind his eyes.
He launched forward—disappearing in a single soundless step.
The first strike carved the air.
The second split metal.
The third shattered the Sentinel's core in a burst of blue electricity.
The machine fell, sparking violently.
The Ironbound stared at him in stunned silence.
Raze exhaled.
"…Yeah. You're definitely a Grey."
Sorra — Strings of the Crown
Headmaster Vale closed the door to his office slowly, the click sounding heavier than it should.
"I need you to listen carefully," he said, voice low. "There are agents inside the Academy. They're not here for the school."
Sorra stiffened. "They're here for me."
His silence confirmed it.
"The Crown believes House Grey survived," Vale said. "They believe you and your brother carry something your family hid in the old forge."
"What thing?" she demanded.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But they want it badly."
Sorra's pulse raced.
Nova…
She could feel him—far away, but tense, burning with exertion. Fighting.
"What should I do?" she whispered.
Before Vale could answer—
A roar shook the entire Academy.
Glass shattered.
Students screamed in the hallways.
Vale ran to the window.
"No—no, no, no—this is too soon!"
Sorra looked out—
And saw armored men scaling the Academy walls.
Not monsters.
Not students.
The Crown's personal enforcers.
And at their head—
a man wearing a blazing crimson cloak.
The one who commanded the envoy Sorra defeated.
He pointed straight at her window.
"There!" his voice boomed. "Secure the Grey girl!"
Sorra stepped back, heart thrumming.
Her power flared.
Her blood heated.
Her instincts screamed.
Nova…
I know you're fighting too.
Just hold on.