The war-room had become a confessional made of candlelight and broken glass.
It was three hours past midnight, and the rooftop's afterglow still clung to everyone's skin like expensive perfume.
Arya's storm-cloud dress had reformed into a silk robe that slipped off one shoulder every time she breathed.
Alexander's storm-runes glowed soft cobalt across his bare chest, pulsing in time with the gentle thunder outside.
Liora and Cassia sat on opposite sides of the map table, pretending to study beast migration patterns while stealing glances at the storm couple.
Then the door exploded open.
Cassia Emberkin stormed in (literally).
Her coal tattoos were molten, dripping black fire onto the marble.
Behind her, Anthony Felix followed at a careful distance, shirt half-buttoned, lips swollen, hair deliciously wrecked.
Cassia's voice could have melted steel.
"I needed to feel something that wasn't ice," she snarled, eyes locked on Liora.
"So I borrowed your favorite Giver."
Anthony's blush could have powered a city.
Arya raised one brow.
"Borrowed?"
"Ravished," Cassia corrected.
"Twice.
Against the library stacks.
He screamed my name so loud the books rearranged themselves into erotica."
Anthony cleared his throat, voice husky.
"She's… enthusiastic."
Liora's ice whip materialised with a crack that froze the air.
"You touched what was mine."
Cassia stepped forward, coal fists glowing.
"He touched me first.
And he liked it."
The temperature in the room plummeted and skyrocketed simultaneously.
Alexander moved to intervene, but Arya caught his wrist.
"Let them," she whispered.
"Fire and ice need to burn or freeze.
We'll clean up the ashes."
────────────────────────
The Library, Thirty Minutes Earlier
Cassia had dragged Anthony into the forbidden erotica section (the one with the glowing spines and the privacy runes).
She'd slammed him against a shelf labeled "Dragon Bondage for Beginners" and kissed him hard enough to taste copper and coal.
"You're Liora's favorite toy," she'd growled against his mouth.
"Tonight you're mine."
Anthony (sweet, cinnamon-haired, secretly-in-love-with-Arya Anthony) had tried to protest.
Once.
Then Cassia's coal tattoos had crawled under his shirt, branding tiny hearts across his ribs, and resistance became a foreign language.
She'd ridden him on the carpet of fallen starlight, hips rolling like lava flows, nails carving her name into his back.
Every time he tried to speak, she'd kissed the words away.
When he came (hard, helpless, loud), the privacy runes overloaded and projected their silhouettes across the atrium windows for exactly three seconds.
Long enough for Liora to see.
────────────────────────
Back in the War-Room
Liora's ice whip lashed out, wrapping around Anthony's throat (not tight, just possessive).
"You let her brand you," she hissed.
Anthony's voice was raw.
"I let her feel.
You've been freezing everyone out since the auction."
Liora's eyes filled with liquid nitrogen tears.
"I was scared."
The whip dissolved into snowflakes.
She stepped forward, pressed her forehead to Anthony's.
"I thought if I kept you cold, you'd stay safe."
Cassia's coals dimmed.
"I thought if I burned hot enough, someone would notice I was terrified."
Silence.
Then Arya did what Arya does best.
She kissed the air.
A single gold butterfly detached from her wing, split into three, and kissed each of them (Liora's cheek, Cassia's lips, Anthony's throat).
The brands on Anthony's ribs turned from coal-black to rose-gold.
The snowflakes in Liora's tears warmed into rain.
Cassia's molten tattoos cooled into living ember roses.
SYSTEM (voice soft, almost shy):
"Polyamorous forgiveness detected.
Reward: +5 levels for everyone in the room.
Side effect: temporary truth-serum aura.
Warning: secrets will be spoken aloud.
Proceed with tongue."
────────────────────────
The Truth-Serum Storm
Alexander's storm-runes flickered.
He tried to speak, but the words tumbled out like thunder:
"I'm terrified of the dark."
The room went still.
He continued, voice cracking:
"Ever since the Chimera took Arya, I can't sleep without light.
I keep a candle burning under my bed.
I check the shadows for Jonathan's face.
I'm the storm, and I'm afraid."
Arya's heart fractured.
She crossed the room, cupped his face.
"Show me."
He hesitated.
Then he took her hand and led her (and the entire harem) to his private quarters.
The room was a fortress of storm-cloud walls and lightning-veined floors.
But beneath the bed: a single beeswax candle, burned down to a nub, surrounded by a circle of salt and dragon teeth.
Alexander's voice was barely a whisper.
"Every night I light it.
Every night I count the shadows.
If I fall asleep and it goes out…"
He didn't finish.
Arya knelt, picked up the candle, and kissed the flame.
The fire turned gold.
It grew wings.
It became a tiny phoenix that perched on Alexander's shoulder and sang in Arya's voice:
"The dark can't have you.
You're mine."
The phoenix nested in his hair.
The storm-runes across his chest flared white, then settled into a gentle glow.
SYSTEM: "Phobia debuff cleansed.
Reward: permanent night-light phoenix.
Side effect: Alexander now glows in the dark.
Literally."
────────────────────────
The Blackmail Aftermath
Liora stepped forward, ice whip gone, hands trembling.
"I have a confession too," she said.
She raised her hand.
A single ice rune (the same one that had frozen Arya's boots) pulsed on her palm.
"I carved it the night of the auction," she whispered.
"I was going to use it to freeze Alexander's heart if he chose Cassia.
I was jealous."
Cassia's ember roses flared.
"I melted Anthony's library card so he couldn't leave the erotica section."
Anthony raised one hand.
"I enchanted Cassia's coal tattoos to spell 'I LOVE ARYA' across her back every time she came."
The room erupted in laughter (shocked, delighted, healing).
Arya kissed each confession away.
First Liora (soft, slow, tasting of snowflakes and forgiveness).
Then Cassia (hot, hungry, tasting of smoke and redemption).
Finally Anthony (gentle, reverent, tasting of vanilla latte and library dust).
The ice rune melted.
The coal tattoos rearranged into a single word across Cassia's shoulder blades: FAMILY.
Anthony's library card reformed in his pocket, now glowing gold.
────────────────────────
The Dawn Beast
As the first ray of sunrise touched the horizon, Jonathan's fourth beast stirred (a Tier-7 Shadow Serpent made of pure darkness).
But the war-room was no longer a confessional.
It was a sanctuary.
Alexander stood at the centre, phoenix in his hair, storm-runes glowing soft.
Arya stood at his left, wings unfurled.
Liora and Cassia flanked them, ice and fire braided into a single whip.
Anthony adjusted his shirt, lips still swollen, smile secret.
Nyxara burst in, tails flicking.
"Serpent's at the gates.
It eats light."
Alexander's phoenix chirped once.
He grinned (slow, sharp, fearless).
"Good," he said.
"Let's teach it what happens when it tries to eat my storm."
The harem moved as one.
Outside, the Shadow Serpent rose (a living eclipse, mouth wide enough to swallow moons).
Inside, five hundred Winged took to the sky, wings glowing with the light of forgiven sins.
The war had learned a new language.
And its first word was:
Together.