The first thing Alain felt was warmth.
A still kind of warmth, the kind that are usually found in dreams.
Then the small beeps of machinery reached him, and the dull ache in his ribs made itself known, bringing him back to reality.
He stirred, blinking against the pale light that filtered through the curtains. The room around him was quiet.
It took him a moment to realize he was in a chair. His back ached from the angle he'd slept in, his coat draped over him like someone had been kind enough to keep him from freezing.
A voice came softly from somewhere near the window.
"You finally decided to wake up."
Alain straightened, startled. Lia sat on the edge of the bed, one hand resting on her lap, the other tethered to a healing array.
Her dark violet eyes, tired but alive, met his.
"You snore when you're sitting," she said, lips curving faintly.
He blinked, trying to gather himself. "...How long was I out?"
"Half a day," she said softly. "I woke up a few hours ago."
She leaned back slightly, studying him. "You stayed here all night?"
"I guess so," he muttered. "Just… didn't want to leave."
Alain straightened in his seat. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a train," she muttered, then frowned. "Ceres just said I ran out of ether and collapsed, but…"
"Wait—what did happen? The last thing I remember was that thing lunging at me. Then nothing."
Alain looked down at his hands. The faint mark caught the light, still there even though its glow had faded.
"I… stopped it," he said, the words sounding heavier than they should have. "Or maybe something else did. I don't know."
She blinked. "Stopped it how?"
Alain hesitated. How could he even explain it?
Alain leaned back in the chair, eyes unfocused. "It came for you. I tried to move, but everything slowed. I thought I was dead, but then—"
He paused, brow furrowing as if trying to describe something that didn't belong in words. "There was a woman," he continued softly. "She looked… familiar. Like someone I should've known."
"What did she say?" Lia asked.
"I'm not really sure," he glanced at his right hand. "I didn't really understand it."
"Anyways, when I came to. It felt like power had suddenly surged in me. I blinked, and somehow the monster was dead."
Lia's eyes widened, then her expression brightened. "Wait, so that was your Revelation?"
He looked up, confused. "My what?"
"That dream...vision, whatever it was." She leaned forward, excitement flickering through the fatigue in her voice. "That's what Ceres called it when I woke up! A Revelation."
Alain blinked. "You had one too?"
"Yeah!" She grinned, and for the first time since the wreck, her old energy broke through.
"When everything went white, I thought I'd passed out, but I was standing in this place full of light, like a lake reflecting the sky. I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't."
Her voice softened, her tone shifting from excitement to something more reverent. "There was someone there, too. I didn't see her clearly, just a figure made of light."
"She said something about trusting and believing in those closest to you. Especially…."
Alain tilted his head, "Especially what?"
"L…Lo…Lo—" she stammered, her face flushing red. "I don't know! It sounded like she was teasing me!"
He blinked. "Teasing you? How?"
"She laughed right before disappearing! Like she was going to say something stupid and sentimental."
He frowned, thoughtful. "Hmm… 'Lo'? Maybe she was trying to say a name."
Lia froze. "A…name?"
"Yeah," Alain nodded, dead serious. "Like Louis, or Loria. Something like that?"
Her expression went flat. "You're impossible."
He looked up, confused. "What? I'm just saying! Maybe she wanted you to find someone."
Lia groaned, burying her face in her hands. "You really don't get it."
"Get what?"
"Nothing!" she said quickly, her voice muffled.
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "You're acting weird again."
"I'm not acting weird," she said, not looking up.
"Sure," he said with a small smile. "Though... if she told you to trust the people closest to you, maybe she's right."
That made her peek through her fingers. "What do you mean?"
Alain's tone softened, casual but sincere.
"You've always been the one who believes in me, even when I don't. Maybe that's what she meant."
The air shifted.
Lia's hands fell slowly from her face, her eyes wide and pink at the corners. For a heartbeat, she forgot how to breathe.
Alain just tilted his head, oblivious. "What?"
She blinked hard, shaking her head quickly. "N–nothing! You're just—"
"Right?" he guessed.
"—insufferable," she muttered, turning away.
He smiled faintly. "Same thing."
Lia huffed, but couldn't hide the smile that crept up her face.
The room fell quiet again, the light between them soft and steady.
For a heartbeat, the quiet felt complete—warm, gentle.
Then the door exploded.
CRASH!
The door burst open with a sound like thunder.
Two silhouettes tumbled forward in a tangle of limbs, notes, and half-dignified curses. Alain instinctively reached for a weapon he didn't have. Lia squeaked, clutching her blanket.
"—Ceres!"
"—Bertran, let go of me!"
They hit the marble floor hard, one on top of the other.
When the dust settled, Ceres was face down under a pile of papers. The other man, a tall, broad-shouldered figure with gilded pauldrons and an immaculate white half-cape, was awkwardly trying to get up without stepping on him.
Ceres groaned. "You leaned too hard again."
"You said, and I quote, 'a little closer,'" the man replied, trying to free his cape from under Ceres's arm. "I merely followed instructions."
Lia blinked, wide-eyed. "Um. Are you—okay?"
Alain blinked, utterly lost. Lia just stared.
"Ah," he said smoothly, as if nothing had happened. "So these are my new wards."
Lia blinked. "Wait—you're—?"
The man smiled, warm and effortlessly magnetic. "Bertran Finn. Duke of the Eastern Frontier. I believe my name came up in your paperwork."
Alain's eyes narrowed slightly. "You're our sponsor?"
"Indeed," Bertran said. "Though between us, I prefer the term patron. Has a heavier impact to it."
Ceres was still on the floor, muttering. "Has a heavier impact indeed."
He looked between Alain and Lia, his tone calm but carrying that natural weight of command.
"After what happened on the train, even the Imperial Family has already taken notice. I'd rather get ahead of that attention before the wrong people decide to ask questions."
Alain tilted his head. "You said the wrong people?"
"Investigators, officials, scholars who like to cut first and ask later," Ceres replied dryly. "People who would rather treat you as anomalies than as minors."
Bertran nodded once. "That's where I come in. I'm offering you both placement under my sponsorship. You'll study under imperial supervision. Protected from potential prying eyes."
The room fell quiet.
Ceres cleared his throat. "He means the Academy."
Lia tilted her head. "The… what?"
Bertran smiled faintly. "Aesir Academy. It's where the Empire trains its mages. A place to learn how to use what you have instead of letting it destroy you."
Lia blinked. "You mean people just… go to school to do that?"
"Yes," Ceres said. "Well, the privileged ones do. Most people never even get close. But you two will."
Alain folded his arms. "Why us?"