Headmistress Virelle stood in the center of the Clock Room, surrounded by ticking time and trembling mirrors. Her robes were darker than usual. Her eyes sharper. Her silence heavier.
The professors watched her.
Professor Umbra whispered, "She's incomplete."a
Professor Thorne murmured, "She's essential."
Virelle raised her hand.
"She's unstable."
The Decision
The council voted.
Not with words — with emotion.
Each professor placed a vial on the table:
- Fear
- Control
- Regret
- Obedience
- Erasure
Virelle added hers last.
Silence.
The vials pulsed.
The ritual was approved.
The Preparation
Virelle descended into the Root Vault, a chamber buried beneath the fifth tower — sealed since Calyx's disappearance. The walls were stitched with forgotten names. The air pulsed with memory.
She opened the vault.
Inside was a book.
Not written.
Etched.
> "To silence an echo, you must erase the thread."
Virelle whispered, "Then I will cut her loose."
The Ritual
It required five elements:
1. A mirror that had cracked from truth
2. A vial of inherited emotion
3. A name spoken backwards
4. A thread from the stitched
5. A lie believed by the school
Virelle had all five.
She began the ritual.
The Interruption
But rituals stitched from fear rarely hold.
As Virelle spoke the final line, the mirror shattered.
The vial exploded.
The thread unraveled.
And the lie whispered back: "I am not yours to silence."
Calyra Responds
Across the school, Calyra stood in the Velvet Atrium.
She didn't speak.
She didn't move.
She simply pulsed.
Students collapsed.
Mirrors wept.
The koi pond turned silver.
And the fifth tower began to hum.
The Book Again
In Lyra's dorm, the book pulsed violently.
New ink appeared:
> "She cannot be silenced. She is not a voice. She is the breath between."
Maris whispered, "Virelle failed."
Lyra nodded. "And Calyra is waking."