"Even the smallest flame can remember the warmth it once held."
Morning at Aurelia
The morning sun crept through the stained glass of Aurelia Academy's training hall, sprinkling multicolored light across the marble floor. Dust swirled in the air like golden snowflakes, floating lazily between the sounds of blade hitting wood.
Leon was in the middle of the floor, breathing steadily, his sword down.
The faint shimmer of his whisper flame danced around his hand — small, calm, yet alive, not the furious bright red of anger but a softer crimson flecked with silver.
He sighed, softly saying "Control the rhythm…not the fire."
The blade moved in settled arc.
Ko Gasumi.
With the stance poised — one foot turned slightly in, blade gliding forward quickly in what felt like a constant breeze passing over the mist.
Then Kesa-giri came, the diagonal cut from shoulder to waist, performed with such unconstrained control it felt as if even the air made silence.
Kael stood at the edge of the hall with his arms folded. "You pick up quickly," he said, quietly. "Too quickly for someone who kindled a flame yesterday."
Leon smiled softly. "Maybe it is instinct."
Kael looked him over. "Or memory."
Their eyes met for an intense moment—Kael looked through his eyes, testing for something he couldn't name.
Leon sheathed his blade and gave a half-bow. "Thank you, Instructor."
"Don't thank me yet," Kael said. "You're commanding the flame, you are controlling it, but you're not certain what it is. What is in you—it's not just mana. It's will."
Leon hesitated. "Who will?"
Kael did not answer.
The Library of Runestones
Later on, Leon unexpectedly found himself in the the academy's library. It was a high-ceilinged room lined with bookshelves, with the smell of salted parchment, wax, and other odors lingering in the air. Selene was sitting there, as she often did, with several tomes open in front of her.
"Oh, Leon," she said, without looking up. "I figured you'd make your way here eventually. I hear you almost burned down the training hall again."
Leon laughed, "Gossip has no time to travel slowly in this place."
She pointed at the imagery of ancient glyphs in front of her. "Actually, I was looking over the resonance theory; there's something about your resonance that's... unusual."
Leon cocked his head. "Unusual?"
Selene nodded, "Your flame reacts differently to some signatures of mana, depending on how closely you stand to them, and that is particularly true with..." she paused and glanced meaningfully at the door. She noticed soft footsteps approaching. "...with Aris's."
Leon glanced to the door. Suddenly there she was again, holding a stack of books on political theory. The silver in her hair looked as bright as the moonlight on the shelves behind her.
They made eye contact and for that sliver of time, Leon felt the flicker of mana course through him.
The Whisper Flame in his hand flickered to life of its own accord — not aggressively like before — softly, obediently, as if it recognized whom it was answering to.
"Oh, see? Exactly that!"
Selene gasped and reached for a mana suppression orb. Leon quickly clenched his hand, the flame was extinguished. His face turned beet red. "I'm so sorry! I-it's just… it's been acting out of control."
Aris tilted her head to the side, a slight smile. "It's fine. Some how… it doesn't scare me."
Selene raised an eyebrow. "That's a strange choice of words."
Aris continued to look at Leon's hand. "That flame… it feels warm, not harmful. It feels.. familiar."
Leon's chest felt something stir deep down.
Familiar..
He muttered beneath his breath, "Like the warmth of rain…"
The Courtyard for Practice
By evening, Leon found himself in the courtyard, practicing alone. The others had gone to dinner, leaving the grounds quiet except for the wind shaking the trees.
He closed his eyes, focusing on his flame again. This time, he let it flow, and instead of trying to control it, he let it listen.
The flame pulsed gently, like it was forming trails -- fuzzy outlines in the air; shapes, like memories half-remembered flickering into colors.
He saw a girl's hand reach out to him.
He saw a smile, a smile through tears.
He heard the sound of rain falling on specified pavement.
Leon let go of his sword and grabbed hold of his chest. "What... what is this?"
The flame surged again, surrounding him in light.
He heard a voice, faint as a whisper -- soft and tremulous. "Itsuki..."
His eyes widened. His breathing began to hyperventilate. "Who's there!?"
But the light faded out as quickly as it came, and the courtyard grew silent. Only the dim warmth was left on his skin.
He collapsed to his knees, fearful -- trembling.
That voice... I know it. But from where?
Aris and the Melody
Aris sat by the mirror in her dormitory quietly brushing her hair. Through the dim amber glow of the mana lamps, she thought about Leon - his fiery determination, his cheerful disposition, and how he smiled, even when visibly exhausted.
She reached for her pendant and started humming. It was a simple melody she had known since she was little but could not place any particular origin for. It was nothing special, but it was her melody.
Outside, Leon paused mid-step down the hallway, hearing it softly escape through the open window. He felt his chest tighten.
"That song again…" he said quietly. "Why do I always associate that song with the rain?"
Kael's Contemplation
Inside his office, Kael examined an old artifact: a blade, badly damaged and with faint burn marks.
"This world just won't learn," he said under his breath. "Souls won't even rest when promises go unfulfilled."
He looked at the glowing mana crystal sitting on his desk, which recorded Leon's resonating wave. Within the crystal, two intertwined lights sparkled.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I should have killed this magic, when I had the chance."
In the silence of the room there came a faint voice.
"You can't halt what has already started."
The flame of the candle flickered and a long shadow of Kael fell against the walls.
The Nocturnal Duel
Restless, Leon returns to the courtyard at midnight. The moon looms above an empty sky, pale and quiet.
He drew his sword. The flame sparked back into life — dim, but constant.
"This power... is connected to something I've repressed," he murmured to himself. "Then if it truly is her... show me."
Once again, he practiced his forms: Ko Gasumi, Kesa-giri, and a third that appeared as the result of instinct alone.
Each motion resembled a dance more than combat the rhythm of memory, the sound of an old promise.
When he finally made contact, the flame exploded in brightness — not red, but gold.
The golden flame illuminated the courtyard — as he realized that Aris was above him on the balcony.
She spoke softly to no one — worried and watching. "That light... it is beautiful."
Leon looked upward to where she was, but there was no communication between them.
The cherry petals drifted in the wind between them, glowing slightly in the moonlight.
The golden flame around Leon's hand settled down into his palm as if it was alive — content.
In the Balcony
Later, as the moon softly disappeared behind cloud cover, Leon rested on the training steps, spent. Aris quietly stepped down from the balcony, her movements soft against the stone above.
"You weren't able to sleep either?" she offered.
He shook his head, smiling slightly. "No. My flame... won't stop calling to me. Like it wants to remember something."
Aris sat on the step beside him close enough for their shoulders almost to touch. "Maybe it's not memory. Maybe it's emotion."
He turned over to look at her. "Emotion?"
She smiled softly. "Magic comes from the heart, doesn't it? Maybe your flame isn't trying to remember the past — it's just a reflection of what you feel when you are near."
Leon stared into the weak and faded light of his palm. The flame flickered once, as if to agree with her.
"I think," he said softly, "I feel... warmth. When you are near."
Her cheeks flushed gently, but she still didn't look away. "Then maybe that's what it remembers."
Silence swept over them — cozy, delicate, with all the things left unsaid.
Above them, the moon moved through the clouds, illuminating the whole courtyard in an itty bit of silver light.
The Whisper Flame
Leon arrived back at his dorm and rested his sword against the window. The Whisper Flame pulsed softly and glowed like a faint heartbeat.
He shut his eyes.
A vision emerged as he faded into unconsciousness —
A girl in the rain trying to reach him.
Her lips moved but there were no audibly perceived words.
"Promise me… you'll find me again."
With that, Leon opened his eyes, tears grew in the corner before he knew why.
"I already did," he whispered to himself.
And the Whisper Flame glowed one last time — warm, steady, and remembering.