(First Person — Aria)
I told myself the feeling would disappear by morning.
It didn't.
Something followed me into sleep that night — not a nightmare, not exactly. Just darkness stretching endlessly beneath a sky filled with unfamiliar stars. They shimmered silver instead of white, forming symbols I almost understood.
Almost.
A voice echoed faintly.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Just… waiting.
Find me.
I woke with a sharp gasp, sitting upright in bed. My room was dark except for the faint glow of streetlights leaking through the curtains. My heart pounded as though I had been running.
"Okay," I whispered to myself. "Definitely a nightmare."
But the air felt cold.
Too cold.
Goosebumps spread across my arms as I glanced toward the window. For a brief second, I thought I saw a shadow move across the glass from the outside.
I froze.
My apartment was on the third floor.
Slowly, I stood and pulled the curtain aside.
Nothing.
Just empty streetlights and quiet roads.
I laughed nervously. "You're losing it, Aria."
Still, sleep didn't return easily after that.
The next day passed in a blur of lectures and unfinished notes. I tried focusing on biology, but my mind kept drifting back to the dream — the stars, the voice, the strange feeling of familiarity.
Like homesickness for a place I'd never been.
By afternoon, even Lucien noticed.
"You've reread the same page five times," he said, sliding into the seat across from me in the library.
"I'm concentrating," I insisted.
"You're staring," he corrected gently.
I sighed and closed the book. "Have you ever felt like… something is about to happen, but you don't know what?"
Lucien tilted his head thoughtfully. "That sounds like anxiety before exams."
I laughed despite myself. "Thanks. Very comforting."
He smiled. "Whatever it is, you'll handle it. You always do."
His confidence in me felt undeserved — but comforting anyway.
For a moment, the strange unease faded.
Until the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Students around us barely reacted, but a sudden pressure filled the air, heavy enough to make breathing difficult.
I looked toward the window instinctively.
And this time…
I knew someone was there.
Watching.
🌑 Elsewhere…
High above the campus rooftops, hidden within deep shadow, a figure stood motionless.
Kael Draven Nyx had spent centuries sensing disturbances in Aether.
Never once had he felt anything like this.
Below him, students moved unaware of the invisible tension pressing against reality itself.
His gaze fixed on one person leaving the library doors.
Her.
The Veiled Star.
He had expected power.
Danger.
A monster foretold by prophecy.
Instead, he saw a girl laughing softly at something her companion said, completely unaware of the storm surrounding her existence.
Confusion flickered across his normally controlled expression.
"…Impossible," he murmured.
The Aether around her pulsed faintly — responding to emotions she didn't even understand.
Untrained.
Unsealed.
Awakening.
Behind him, shadows twisted violently.
A tear formed briefly in the air — dark energy slipping through the Veil.
Kael's eyes sharpened instantly.
"They've sensed her already."
The hunt had begun sooner than expected.
Below, Aria suddenly stopped walking.
Her hand pressed against her chest.
She felt it again.
That pull.
Slowly, instinctively, she looked up toward the rooftop.
Their eyes met.
Distance should have made it impossible.
Yet she saw him clearly — a tall figure wrapped in darkness, silver eyes reflecting faint light.
For one suspended moment, the world went silent.
Recognition struck them both.
Then he vanished.
As if he had never been there.
I blinked rapidly, heart racing.
"…Did you see that?" I asked Lucien.
"See what?"
The rooftop stood empty.
But the feeling remained.
Watching.
Waiting.
And somehow…
Protective.