When the tour finally drew to its end and the academy's towering gates opened behind them like the mouth of some ancient, slumbering beast, Astra and the others stepped out into the vast expanse of Duskfall's festival night. The world beyond those walls unfurled in a sweep of color and sound so vivid it felt almost unreal, as though they had crossed from the rigid hush of academia into a realm woven from dreamstuff.
Twilight had descended in a deep wash of rose and lavender, its final light glimmering across the marble rooftops and glass spires of the city. Lanterns—thousands of them—floated between the buildings like drifting stars, each one carrying a soft, trembling flame that cast the streets in amber warmth. The Springtime Advent Festival had arrived in full bloom, and Duskfall wore it proudly: a mantle of light, life, and revelry that stretched from the merchant quarter to the farthest bastion of the noble districts.
Astra walked among it all with Vesper, Khalid, Azraq, and Samir flanking him, the five of them moving together through the crowds as though they belonged here—yet only some of them truly did. The streets were overflowing with travelers from far-off realms; voices rose and fell in a dozen different dialects; scents mingled in the air, rich and intoxicating. Smoke curled from open braziers where vendors roasted meat on skewers glazed with fragrant oils. The sweetness of honeyed pastries mingled with the sharpness of boiled teas from Alfheim. Spices from Saharan sands drifted like phantom trails beneath Astra's nose, stirring half-forgotten memories of places he had never visited.
Children darted through the crowd wearing paper masks shaped like beasts of myth. Noble youths lounged in clusters near glittering fountains, laughing into the night, their silks catching the lanternlight like captured fragments of the sky. Musicians performed upon raised wooden platforms: flutes that trilled like birdsong, drums whose steady rhythm reverberated through the bones, and stringed instruments whose notes wound through the festival like a spell cast for no reason other than joy.
For Astra—who had lived the last years of his life in a state of relentless vigilance—this sudden flood of color, laughter, and warmth struck him with a quiet ache.
He had forgotten the feeling of simply walking.Of being unhunted.Of existing within a world that was not trying to devour him.
Samir was the first to break their silent awe. The boy plucked a handful of golden dates from a vendor's stall—soft, gleaming like desert embers—and shoved them into Astra's hand with a grin.
"Go on," Samir urged. "These are the pride of the southern dunes. The desert grows many harsh things, but its sweetness is unrivaled."
Astra bit into one. The fruit burst across his tongue in a rush of bright sharpness that deepened into a warm, honey-sweet finish. He blinked, surprised.Samir threw his head back in laughter, pleased with the reaction.
They moved on.Vesper stopped at a stall where a towering Saharan man roasted spiced meat over black volcanic stones. Azraq passed Astra a skewer, his movements smooth, almost reverent.
"From Wai," Azraq murmured. "Fire pits carved before the first storms rolled through the archipelago. Try it."
Astra did. And again he found himself pausing, the flavors rich and smoky, threaded with herbs he could not name.
Music rose, and the crowd surged. Dancers spun through the open square ahead—women wrapped in flowing silks dyed in shades of desert flame and rainforest emerald, men painted with bright pigments from foreign shores. Their bodies moved like windblown banners, bending and rising in unison to the beat of drums large enough to shake the earth beneath Astra's boots.
The others watched with varying degrees of interest—Samir attempting the steps with exaggerated flair, Azraq smiling thinly, Khalid studying the crowd as though the festival were a puzzle. Vesper simply laughed in that carefree, thunderous way of his, tossing an arm around Astra's shoulder.
"Feels strange, doesn't it?" Vesper murmured quietly, close enough that only Astra heard. "Being… normal for a moment."
Astra's gaze drifted across the festival: across the children with their painted masks, the nobles sipping spiced wine, the young couples whispering beneath the lanternlights. For the briefest second, he felt himself slip into the vision of a life he could have lived.
A life where he was simply Astra, a young mage attending a prestigious academy.A life where his only concern was exams or sparring sessions or which festival game to waste coin on.A life without gods whispering in the dark, without curses, without the suffocating pull of destiny or dominion.
The thought lingered—soft, fragile, unbearably warm.
But then…
The image fractured.
Because Astra was not normal.Could never be.The blood of House Night thrummed in him like a living storm.Godhoods coiled in the depths of his soul, waiting.A church followed his shadow.Angels knew his name.
He carried too much power, too much responsibility, too many eyes watching from realms beyond mortal sight to ever live a life shaped by peace and simplicity.
A cold glint sharpened in his eyes, not cruel but resolute—steel accepting the shape of the blade it was forged to become. Longing was allowed. Delusion was not.
He looked ahead, toward the distant fireworks that burst across the sky in great blooms of azure and gold, and he felt something settle in his chest—something fierce, unyielding, familiar.
This path… the climb toward the pinnacle… it is mine. Whether chosen or forced, it fits me better than any quiet life ever could.
Vesper caught the look and smirked, his dark eyes narrowing with understanding as they take on a subtle red hue."So," he murmured, "you feel it too."
Astra's lips curved—not quite a smile, but close.
"Yes," he said softly. "I suppose I do."
They walked on then, side by side, the five of them weaving through the splendor of the festival—scions of great houses, a masked heir of Night, and a boy carrying the weight of gods within him—yet for a moment, they were simply young men moving through a world that still held beauty.
And for Astra, that fleeting peace was enough to carry with him into whatever storm awaited next.
"Something is wrong." This thought sent tremors through Astras being, He was someone who took his intuition extremely seriously.
A shiver danced along his spine, a subtle pressure in the air that no one else seemed to notice. The festival around him, so vibrant, so full of life began to feel distant. The laughter blurred, the music warping into a slow, droning hum. The colors dimmed, as though something unseen was leeching the vibrancy from the world. Even the fireworks seemed to fade, their sparks swallowed by an unseen abyss.
A strange thread was floating throughout the air unseen
No it was as if millions of threads were floating.
Then, he saw him.
A lone figure, draped in a cloak of shadow and dust, sat on the cold, desolate sands of the festival grounds. His posture was casual, almost indifferent, but his presence weighed upon reality itself, as if rejecting the world entirely. The robe he wore, seemingly once white and pure, was now tarnished by time and the desert's cruelty, the fabric clinging to his form like a burial shroud. And yet, none of the revelers seemed to notice him.
None but Astra.
The figure's gaze lifted, his eyes changing colors ever so slightly as if alive with mana. He studied Astra, head tilting ever so slightly, He was enjoying a meat skewer as he chugged some green liquid.
A slow, creeping smile stretched across his beautiful face.
"You... a mere Rank One?" His voice was low, rich with amusement and something deeper something ancient. "You can see me?"
The world around them froze.
"No..no you...You... You're not normal....Fate moves weird around you....I wonder why?"
Astra's breath caught in his throat. The wind ceased, the music cut to an eerie silence, and even the floating embers from the lanterns hung suspended in midair. His companions stood mid-step, their expressions frozen, caught in a moment that no longer flowed forward.
The stranger took a step closer, his presence an abyss of nothingness no mana, no life, no essence. Yet deep within that void, Astra sensed something far worse than raw power. Something limitless. Threads within threads.
"My, oh my... how despicable." The figure chuckled, his lips curling higher as he observed Astra like a specimen in a jar. "I can see it in you... that wicked nature of yours. The corruption. Buried deep... festering"
Astra couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The words slithered into his mind like tendrils, twisting, prodding at things he dared not acknowledge.
"Strange, I can't feel the true depth of your soul, or see the connections.....hmmm" The stranger stepped even closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "But I do sense your nature little one. Heh. Revenge? Ambition? Yes... yes. So many delicious little seeds."
Astra clenched his fists, his body trembling. "Who... what are you?"
The figure suddenly halted. His eyes narrowed, recognition flickering across his face. Then, abruptly, he threw his head back and laughed.
It was not a human sound. It was unhinged, raw, something wrong. The sky itself seemed to darken at the sound, the stars flickering like dying embers.
"Oh, heavens! I know you! That proclamation... How bold. How despicable!" His laughter continued, uncontrollable, tears nearly brimming in his eyes as he clutched his sides. "You..you are him that bastard from earlier!"
Astra had no idea what he was talking about, but the sheer delight in the being's voice unsettled him more than anything. He felt like prey being played with.
The stranger's laughter finally subsided, his gaze sharpening once more. "Alright, alright. I'm enjoying this... Here, boy. Take this."
He reached out and tapped Astra's forehead.
Pain.
Astra staggered, his vision fracturing into a kaleidoscope of horrors. Visions, of fallen angels locked in battle, of shattered thrones, of a figure that bore his face but whose eyes were not his own. Darkness swallowed him whole, devouring his mind, his soul. A insatiable feeling of curiosity assaulted his mind.
And then it was gone.
Astra gasped, stumbling backward, his hands gripping his temples. "What... what did you do to me?! Who are you?!"
The stranger grinned, teeth gleaming like ivory daggers. "Me? I am but a humble Devil. As for my name...heh you can't even hear it. The devil scoffed."Not from me anyways."
Astra's stomach dropped. His thoughts raced.
A Devil! Rank six! A being equal to an angel, yet utterly profane. Terrifying, unshackled, bound by no laws of gods or men. A creature of pure, unrestrained madness and power.
They were the ultimate outcasts, unholy and absolute.
They were truly free.
A dangerous emotion rose in the depths of his soul before instantly disappearing. Astra tried to calm himself as he tried to decipher this conversation.
"He stopped time. A godhood of Time! Not only that but he proclaims to see fate and can see slightly into my secrets piercing a genuine godhood of secrecy...Who is this being?!"
The devil studied him for another moment, then suddenly leaned in, his colorful eyes burning through Astra's soul yet not being able to pierce the cloak of secrets that guarded it. "How interesting I still cannot pierce your soul even with my blessing" Suddenly his eyes lit up with amusements and dark excitement.
He spoke as the world became even darker and the mana became even more unstable."Ah I see...godhood.
"Shit". Astra panicked for a second before calming himself down again. No the godhoods protect me, no matter how powerful even gods cannot directly kill me...But what if he were to capture me instead?"
The devil looked at Astra strangely. "You... you really are interesting aren't you? But.... oh, oh, what's this? Fascinating... You are of both Umbra and Noctis, aren't you? Ah, that would make you a prince of the defeated House of Night. " His grin stretched wider. "Say...did you know your ancestors had four angels and....two devils in their ranks once? Truly despicable."
Astra's mind reeled. That couldn't be true. No way right.. Devils?
The devil straightened his back as he looked at astra thoughtfully. A twisted smile baring his gorgeous face.
"I see. Aha I got it now! You a little seedling of Night lost in the cities of Duskfall inherited godhood shook the realms and now are being used in some ploy for house Shadow...Ahhhh but you harbor secrets little one.
He leisurely strolled around Astra as if examining some specimen "Only godhood that can block my probing this thoroughly is the rumored cloak of secrets! I see a godhood of Shadow and one that I cannot make out. Im guessing one from your ancestors of Night..how fateful.....Heheha. Not only that but I see the deep seeds of corruption, ambition and treachery deep within your fate. How vile, how odious, how fitting!" The mad Devil seemingly went on a rambling streak exposing all of Astras secrets. Yet he did not find the connection to the Kingdom of Stars. How strange!
Astra throat was dry, his muscles were weak and his head was light. "Stay calm. Astra also felt the connection to the kingdom of stars remain. If he so wanted to he could potential expose this devil. Do I risk it? No..no I can't expose my position as Castellan! no one needs to know about me just yet." Astra made up his mind. It was a gamble!
The devil looked up as the shadows around the festival grounds became increasingly darker and suddenly alive seemingly all watching him.
"Ah, it seems my time is up. Those self-righteous bastards are starting to take notice..." He stepped back, tilting his head. "Take my Blessing of Curiosity, young pawn. It'll help you see truths. Excel faster."
The world shuddered.
"Till we meet again Heir of Night" The devil turned around then.
Then the world snapped back.
Laughter, music, fireworks. The festival had never stopped. Astra stood in place, his friends walking ahead, oblivious.
His hands trembled.
What the fuck?
The moment the world returned to normal, Astra felt it, the shift, the disturbance in reality that made his very soul tremble.
His vision blurred, colors twisting, unraveling into threads of light and shadow. The air pulsed with something unseen, a rhythm beyond mortal perception. It was mana… but wrong. Twisted. Unnatural.
Astra swayed, his breath coming in shallow gasps. His whole being felt, wrong. But at the same time… right. His body rejected the sensation, yet something deep inside welcomed it, as if a long-lost part of himself had been awakened.
Sweat beaded down his temple. His hands trembled.
"A devil... no way."
He clenched his fists, trying to steady himself, but then he saw it, a golden thread.
It hovered above, thin yet impossibly vast, stretching beyond mortal comprehension. His eyes widened as the world around him seemed to slow, and suddenly, Astra saw them.
Two figures, hidden in plain sight, looming way above him in the violet skies.
The first was unmistakable, the devil from before, his smirk twisted in amusement. His dark, swirling presence seemed to contain infinite possibilities and fates.
The second…
A tall man cloaked in shadows, ancient unfathomable shadows shrouded in a misty hue. An Angel! Astra could not make out anything even with his godhood of Umbra.
They locked eyes with Astra for a single, fleeting moment. And then...
They vanished.
Astra's heart pounded in his chest. He felt it, deep in his bones, in the very fabric of his being. They had been fighting.
An angel of shadow and an unknown devil… waging battle right above him, unseen and undetected by anyone else.
His breath hitched. His mind reeled.
"Wait… how did I even notice them?"
Astra's breath was uneven, his fingers twitching at his sides as the last remnants of the vision lingered in his mind. The golden thread, the two figures, the twisted mana his whole body still felt off, like he was standing between two realities.
"Hey, princess… you alright?"
Vesper's voice cut through the haze, laced with something Astra wasn't used to hearing from him concern.
"You're sweating your ass off, and you're paler than usual."
Astra barely registered the words, too caught up in the overwhelming wrongness pulsing in his veins. But then Vesper's expression shifted. His usual teasing demeanor faded as something in the air made him pause.
He felt it.
It was faint—so faint—but Astra saw the subtle change in Vesper's stance, the slight furrow in his brow. A tinge of something unseen, something off, brushing against his senses before vanishing like a whisper in the wind.
Vesper's dark eyes narrowed as they emitted a strange red sheen. "Hey, Astra...do you feel that.."
Astra swallowed, forcing himself to steady his breathing. He looked at Vesper, horror flickering in his gaze before he schooled his expression. "Yeah… yeah. We need to talk."
That was all it took.
Vesper's entire demeanor shifted.
The air grew heavier as the other three fell silent. Their casual, relaxed conversation died in an instant as they turned, sharp gazes locking onto Astra and Vesper.
They felt it too.
Their auras surged, not aggressively, but instinctively, like predators sensing a shift in the air. The easy-going, festive atmosphere was gone, replaced by something far more alert, far more dangerous.
A silent understanding passed between them.
"…Alright," Vesper finally said, voice quiet but firm. "Let's head back."
Astra immediately alerted the Saints Valerius and Satalus.
They bid the remaining nobles goodbye, who also seemed strangely alert from the weird shift in the atmosphere.
The walk back to the Shadow Estate was shrouded in silence. The festival's distant echoes laughter, music, the scent of spiced meats and honeyed fruit felt like another world entirely. Astra could barely focus on the lingering warmth of the night, his mind still reeling.
Vesper's friends had parted ways, their sharp eyes flickering with curiosity, but they said nothing. They weren't fools. They had noticed the sudden shift in both Astra and Vesper's demeanor, but they knew better than to pry at least, not yet.
As they entered the grand estate, Astra barely registered the lavish interior, the intricate obsidian columns, or the moonlight filtering through the high, arched windows. His breath was shallow, his heart still unsteady.
By the time they reached Vesper's quarters, Astra was finally pulled from his thoughts.
Vesper's room was massive, a testament to his status. Regal and dark, with towering bookshelves carved from deep ebony, velvet drapes as black as the void, and a central seating area lined with plush cushions and furs. An entire wall was lined with weapons, each blade gleaming in the dim candlelight, while another wall bore tapestries woven with depictions of House Shadow's greatest warriors.
But it was the shadows that truly defined the space.
They welcomed Vesper like an old friend, stretching, curling with familiarity, their forms rippling with something akin to joy. They slithered along the floor and walls like living things, responding to his mere presence.
Then Astra stepped in.
The shadows froze.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the once-playful darkness shrank back. It was subtle, but Astra noticed, the flicker of unease, the way the living darkness twitched unnaturally, as though sensing something wrong.
Then they recoiled.
The shadows shrank away from him, retreating to the corners of the room as if frightened. It was like a ripple in still water, silent, almost imperceptible, but utterly unnatural.
Astra stiffened. Offended that the shadows even dared to commit such an act.
The shadows instantly came back.
Vesper's sharp eyes flicked toward the movement. His expression didn't change, but Astra knew he had noticed.
Still, Vesper said nothing.
The room chosen was not a training hall, not a chamber of counsel, but a small, quiet prayer alcove in the east wing of of the shadow estate a place where voices did not echo and shadows stayed still.
The stone door shut behind Astra.
Outside, Vesper waited, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, face drawn tight but he did not follow.He wasn't allowed to.
Inside, Saint Valerius stood before a low altar, back turned, his cloak falling in heavy folds like layered dusk. He raised one hand slow, practiced and the air shifted. Space folded inward, sound dampened, light thickened.
A distortion barrier settled over the room like a second skin.
Astra felt it vibrate under his ribs.
Valerius did not speak right away.
When he finally turned, his eyes held no judgment only recognition.
"Prince," he said, voice quiet. "You were blessed?."
"…Yes." Astra's voice was low. "A devil, it was terrifying, he stopped time as he tried to inquire about me, he saw right through me and my goals, then he proceeded to bless with me with curiosity, even now I feel it my curiosty growing deeper and deeper."
Astra sighed. "Not only that, he rambled about my house and even detected my godhood. He was perhaps the most powerful being Ive ever encountered" he said with a shudder.
Valerius studied him not with suspicion, but with care.
"I feel it, the mark of a powerful being upon your soul," Valerius said. "Like a thread pulled taut through the soul of the realm. Subtle, but unmistakable. Devils do not touch lightly."
He stepped closer.
"Show me where."
Astra lifted a hand, fingers brushing the point just above the brow — where the presence had seated itself like a second thought always waiting.
Valerius exhaled not in fear, but in thought. I cannot see through it. It is far more powerful than a normal rank six blessing. Tell me Prince what did he bless you with?"
"Curiosity." Astra replied bluntly.
"Intriguing." Valerius replied as he tried to further inquire." A blessing not of an affinity or power but desire. Curiosity means having a strong desire to know or learn about something." Valerius sighed. "Truly a twisted blessing. It is both a boon and a curse. Its affects will be known soon enough as you gain power."
Astra's pulse tightened. "You're telling me it will grow."
"Yes," Valerius said. "As you grow."
Silence.
Then honesty, clear and sharp:
"It is power," Valerius said. "Real, significant, possibly boundless. And also a chain. That is the duality of the Profane Path. Devils do not gift — they bind. Their blessings are seeds that root into identity. What you are, and what you become, will shape how it manifests."
Astra swallowed. The room felt smaller now.
"…How did he even find me, in fact why me?"
Valerius's expression shifted not confusion, but something like understanding.
"How he found you is indeed a mystery to me. After all we don't know what methods you use to cloak yourself prince." Valerius said sharply.
"Yet you are in flux," he answered. "You are rising. Creating disturbances. And beings like that" his gaze flicked upward, toward the ceiling, toward something unimaginably far away "take interest when the threads of fate twist strangely. Especially when a mere fledgling noticed him. Im guessing partially due to your godhoods influence."
Astra nodded, he too thought the same, he looked at Valerius as he hesitated, then spoke the memory that had burned behind his eyes since that night:
"I saw it clash with an angel. One of Shadows. Above the city. Only for a moment. Then both vanished."
Valerius's jaw tightened not in fear, but in discipline.
"That is not a matter I am permitted to know," he said. "Angels and devils do not war for territory or belief. They test outcomes. Their battles are not our wars."
Astra felt a coldness settle in his lungs.
"So what do I do?"
At last, Valerius placed a hand lightly — respectfully — on Astra's shoulder.
"What can you do? An angel may be able to rid you of it perhaps not but for right now...You do not reject it. You do not embrace it. You contain it. You learn its language before it learns yours. You act before it whispers."
His grip was steady. Grounding.
"You Astra are not a normal mortal. Not by a long shot, your potential exceeds even those who are already demigods and your foundations are inherently stable. Use it to grow, as you grow inn power you will learn that the line between the profane and sacred is so very thin."
Astra nodded slow, steady, unbroken.
"…I will."
Valerius inclined his head not as teacher, not as guardian not even as a true ally but as one acknowledging a path only few could walk.
He nodded.
The barrier dissolved.
Outside, Vesper straightened, eyes searching Astra's.
The saint opened the door and simply said "Vesperion, Enter"