After the beating, I made a decision.
No more indoor training rooms. Too predictable. Too easy for Theodore to find me.
The outdoor training facilities, then. After lights-out. When normal students were asleep and the grounds were empty.
It meant less sleep. Meant risking getting caught breaking curfew. But better that than another three-on-one beating.
My ribs had healed, mostly. Dark mana provided accelerated recovery, Asura explained. One of the benefits of being bound to a demon. The bruises faded faster than they should have. Within three days, I looked almost normal again.
Theodore's group hadn't bothered me since Lucas intervened. But I saw them around campus. Saw the way Theodore watched me. Patient. Waiting.
So I avoided him. Took different routes to classes. Ate at odd hours. Trained when no one else would be around.
The first night, I slipped out of Stone Dorm after midnight. The Academy grounds were quiet, lit by magical lanterns that dimmed after curfew. Guards patrolled, but their routes were predictable. Easy to avoid.
The outdoor training yard was empty. Open air, practice dummies, weapon racks. Less sophisticated than the indoor rooms, but functional.
I started my routine. Forms, drills, the chaotic style Asura had taught me. The night air was cool, refreshing after the stuffiness of indoor training.
I was maybe twenty minutes in when I felt it.
Eyes. Watching.
I turned, scanning the area.
There, sitting against a pillar near one of the buildings, a girl.
She wore a Pearl Dorm uniform, which meant she wasn't from Stone Dorm like me. Her hair was shoulder-length, a striking blue color that looked almost black in the dim light. She wasn't conventionally beautiful in the way noble girls were no perfect makeup, no elaborate hairstyles, no expensive accessories.
Just... pretty. In a simple, natural way. The kind of pretty that came from features arranged nicely rather than carefully constructed artifice.
And she was just sitting there. Watching me.
Not training. Not practicing. Just watching.
"Creepy," Asura observed. "Want me to scare her off?"
No. She's probably just using the area too. Waiting for me to finish.
But she didn't move. Didn't pull out a weapon or start her own training. Just sat there, looking at me with an expression I couldn't read from this distance.
I tried to ignore her. Went back to my forms.
She kept watching.
An hour passed. Two. She never moved. Never did anything except sit and observe.
It was starting to get unsettling.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I put down my practice sword and walked over to her.
As I approached, I got a better look. Younger than I'd thought, maybe fifteen, so probably a first-year like me. Her eyes were grey, pale in the lamplight. There was something... off about her. Something I couldn't quite place.
"Can I help you?" I asked, stopping a few feet away.
She looked up at me, and for a second, genuine surprise crossed her face. Like she hadn't expected me to approach her.
Then she smiled. Warm. Friendly. The kind of smile that felt genuine rather than calculated.
"Sorry," she said. "Was I bothering you? I didn't mean to stare."
"You've been sitting there for two hours just watching me train. It's a little strange."
"Fair point." She stood up, brushed off her uniform. "I'm Maya. No last name. Commoner." She said it matter-of-factly, no shame or apology.
"Aldric. Ashford."
"Oh, I know who you are." At my expression, she laughed. "Everyone knows about the Duke's son in Stone Dorm. The one who refused Theodore Valemont's duel challenge."
Great. My reputation preceded me.
"If everyone knows, why are you here? Shouldn't you be avoiding the coward?"
"I don't think you're a coward." She tilted her head, studying me. "I think you're smart. Theodore's dangerous. Refusing to fight him when you'd lose anyway isn't cowardly. It's practical."
I blinked. That was... not what I expected to hear.
"Most people don't see it that way."
"Most people are idiots." She said it cheerfully, like it was an obvious fact. "So, why do you train so hard? Out here at night, alone, when you could be sleeping like normal students?"
"Why do you care?"
"I'm curious. You train like you're preparing for war. Most first-years are still fumbling with basic forms. But you..." She gestured at the training dummy I'd been working on, several strikes visibly embedded in the wood. "You move like someone who's been fighting for years."
"She's observant," Asura noted. "Too observant. Be careful."
"I just want to improve," I said vaguely. "Get stronger. Normal student stuff."
"Hmm." She didn't look convinced, but she didn't push. "Well, don't let me stop you. I'll just watch. I find it interesting."
"You find watching people train interesting?"
"I find watching you train interesting. There's a difference." She sat back down against the pillar. "Continue. Pretend I'm not here."
That was impossible now. But I went back to training anyway.
She kept her word. Just sat and watched. Didn't comment, didn't interrupt, didn't do anything except observe.
It should have been uncomfortable. Should have triggered my problem with being observed.
But somehow... it wasn't. Maybe because it was night. Maybe because she was alone. Maybe because her watching felt more like curiosity than judgment.
Hours passed. The sky began to lighten at the edges. Dawn approaching.
I finished my routine, retrieved my practice sword, prepared to leave before patrols increased.
"Same time tomorrow?" Maya asked as I passed her.
"You're coming back?"
"If that's okay. I like watching you train. It's peaceful."
Peaceful. That was an odd word for combat training.
"Sure. Whatever."
She smiled again. "See you tomorrow night, Aldric Ashford."
I left her sitting there, headed back to my dorm before anyone noticed I'd been gone.
"That was weird," Asura said once I was back in my room.
"Very weird."
"I should tell you something about her..."
Static.
A sharp burst of interference in my head.
"Ow! What the..." Asura's voice cut off abruptly.
"Asura?"
Nothing. She was gone. Not dead...I could still feel her presence in the dagger. But silenced somehow.
That was... concerning.
But I was too tired to think about it. I collapsed into bed, managed three hours of sleep before classes started.
The next night, Maya was there again.
Same spot. Same smile. Same patient watching.
We talked more this time. Small things. She asked about my training methods. I deflected with vague answers. She told me about growing up in a small village, about being the first person from her town to attend the Academy.
"They held a festival when I got my acceptance letter," she said, laughing. "My whole village celebrated. They'd never had someone attend the Royal Academy before."
"That's nice. Supportive."
"They are. Very supportive. Very proud." Her smile faltered slightly. "I hope I didn't disappoint them."
"You won't."
"You don't know that."
"You're in Pearl Dorm as a commoner. That's already an achievement. They're probably proud just that you're here."
She looked at me for a long moment. "That's kind of you to say."
"It's just true."
We talked until dawn again. About nothing important. About everything. It was... easy. Comfortable. Like talking to Clara, but different. Maya didn't know my history. Didn't have preconceptions. Just treated me like a normal person.
It was nice.
Over the next week, I kept running into her.
At the library one afternoon. I'd gone to research advanced mana control techniques. Found a quiet corner, opened a book.
"Oh! Aldric!" Maya appeared from between the shelves, smiling. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Maya. You study here?"
"Sometimes. When I need quiet." She sat across from me uninvited. "What are you reading?"
"Mana control theory."
"Sounds boring."
"It is. But useful."
She laughed. "You're very practical. I like that."
We talked for an hour. She never picked up a book. Never seemed to be studying anything. Just... talked with me.
At the cafeteria one evening. I'd come late to avoid crowds. Found a quiet corner table.
"Mind if I sit?" Maya was suddenly there, tray in hand.
"Go ahead."
She sat, and we talked while I ate. She told me about her village, about her family. Her little brother who wanted to be a mage too. Her parents who worked as farmers.
I noticed she never ordered food. The tray sat in front of her, untouched.
"Not hungry?" I asked.
"Oh, I ate earlier. Just keeping you company."
Strange. But not worth questioning.
At the training grounds every night. She was always there. Always watching. Always smiling when I finished and came to talk.
We talked about everything. About the Academy, about magic theory, about nothing. She was easy to talk to. Funny. Sarcastic. Genuine.
For the first time since arriving at the Academy, I felt like I had a friend.
But small things kept bothering me.
She never ate. Never touched anything. Never opened books in the library.
I never saw her in classes. Never saw her around Pearl Dorm during the day.
And people looked at me strangely when I talked to her. In the cafeteria, other students would glance over, see me talking to my table, and whisper to each other.
At the library, a student had walked past and muttered, "That Ashford kid is kinda wierd... ."
I'd dismissed it. They were just being cruel.
But the pieces were adding up.
It was the twelfth night of our routine. I was deep into a drill, sweat pouring down my face, when my grip slipped.
The practice sword, no, the dagger. I'd switched to training with Asura's dagger tonight, needed to practice close-combat forms.
It slipped from my sweaty palm, flew through the air.
Directly toward Maya.
"Watch out!" I shouted.
She looked up, saw the dagger coming, but didn't move. Just watched it approach with that same calm expression.
The dagger hit her.
Passed through her.
Not cut her. Not bounce off. Just phased straight through like she wasn't there.
The dagger clattered to the ground behind her.
Maya and I stared at each other.
"Soooo...." she said finally. "Ummm. I can explain..."
"You're..." I couldn't form the words.
"Dead. Yes." She stood up, walked toward me. Her feet didn't quite touch the ground. How had I not noticed that? "I've been dead for eight months."
"You're a ghost."
"Technically a spirit. But ghost works." She stopped a few feet away. "Most people can't see me. Can't hear me. I'm invisible to almost everyone. Except you."
"Why me?"
"Your dark mana." She said it casually, like it was obvious. "Spirits who have unfinished bussiness with the living cannot leave the world, they are physical but not in a wierd way. Due to the nature of death, Vengeful spirits like myself are naturally attracted to dark mana, it can be used for necromancy of sorts. It can give spirits life again, so unconciously they are attracted to people wielding it. The wielders inturn can now see the spirits attracted to them. So you can perceive me when others can't."
I sat down hard on the ground. "This whole time. You've been dead this whole time."
"Yes."
"The cafeteria. You never ate because you can't eat."
"Can't interact with physical objects at all. It's frustrating."
"The library. You never picked up books because you can't touch them."
"Bingo."
"And people thought I was talking to myself because they couldn't see you."
"That's why I was surprised when you first approached me," she said, sitting, or appearing to sit on the ground across from me. "Nobody's been able to see me since I died. You're the first person who's looked directly at me and actually seen me in eight months."
My mind was reeling. "Asura tried to tell me. That first night. But she got cut off."
Maya looked sheepish. "That was me. I forcefull blocked your telepathic link with her. I was just... I was so lonely. Nobody could see me, hear me, talk to me. And then you could, and I was selfish. I wanted someone to talk to, even if it meant keeping the truth from you."
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Would you have kept talking to me if you'd known I was dead?" She met my eyes. "Most people run from ghosts. Or get a priest to try to exorcise us. Or freak out. You were just... normal with me. I wanted that to last."
I thought about it. Would I have run?
Maybe. Probably.
"Okay," I said finally. "You're dead. You're a ghost. Fine. I've been talking to a ghost for two weeks. Sure. Why not? My life is already insane."
Maya laughed. Real, genuine laughter. "You're taking this well."
"I'm bound to a demon trying to steal my body. A ghost is actually relatively normal by comparison."
"Fair point." She pulled her knees up to her chest, or appeared to. "Do you want to know how I died?"
"Only if you want to tell me."
She was quiet for a moment. Then: "I was a student here. First-year. Last year."
"Last year? But you said you died eight months ago. That would make it..."
"During the school year. Yes." Her expression darkened. "I was good at earth magic. Really good. Talented at hand-to-hand combat. I'd made it to Pearl Dorm as a commoner, which was rare. I was doing well. Had a future ahead of me."
She paused.
"Then the monthly combat evaluations came. They rank students based on performance in one versus one match ups. I was matched against Theodore Valemont."
My blood went cold.
"I won. Barely. But I won." She looked at me. "Theodore doesn't handle losing well. Especially not to commoners."
"Let me guess. He challenged you. You refused."
"Worse. He invited me to join his group. Said I had potential. That he could make me powerful, influential. All I had to do was accept his patronage and participate in inter-school competitions. Bring prestige to his name."
"You said no."
"I said no. I didn't want that kind of attention. Didn't want to be some noble's pet project. I just wanted to study, get stronger on my own terms, make my village proud."
She wrapped her arms around herself. A phantom gesture.
"He didn't take it well. Kept pushing. Making offers. Getting more aggressive. Finally, I told him to leave me alone. That I wasn't interested."
"And he got angry."
"He got furious. But he was smart about it. Waited." She looked up at the sky. "Then one evening, about a month after I'd rejected him, he sent me a message. Asked to meet on the roof. Said he wanted to apologize. Make peace."
"You went."
"I was sick that evening. Had a fever. Probably should have stayed in bed. But I thought..." She laughed bitterly. "I thought maybe he'd actually grown up. That he wanted to settle things properly."
She stood up, started pacing. Not touching the ground. Just gliding.
"His two goons were there. He made his offer again. Join him, or he'd make sure my family suffered. My village. Everyone I cared about. He had the connections to do it too. First Prince's son. He could ruin their lives with a word."
"What did you do?"
"I told him to go to hell." Her voice became fierce. "Told him if he touched my family, I'd kill him myself. That I didn't care who his grandfather was. That he could take his patronage and shove it down his ass"
Despite the situation, I found myself smiling. "Good for you."
"I thought I'd made my point. Started walking away. Thought it was over." Her expression crumbled. "Then one of his goons shoved me from behind. Said something about insulting Theodore. Another one punched me. Called me uppity. Said commoners needed to know their place."
"Maya..."
"I was already sick. Weak. Dizzy. The punch made me stumble. I was near the edge. The railing." Her voice went flat. Distant. "I tried to catch myself. But I was too close. I toppled over. Fell."
She looked at me with those pale grey eyes.
"Four stories. Off the mage tower roof Just like that. One moment I was standing. Next moment I was falling. Then I was dead."
The silence stretched between us.
"Theodore killed you," I said quietly.
"His goons killed me. He just stood there and watched. Then told everyone it was an accident. That I'd been dizzy from fever and had fallen while getting some air. No witnesses. No proof. Just another tragic accident." She smiled bitterly. "They held a memorial service. My village came. They cried. And Theodore stood at the front pretending to be sad about losing a promising student."
Rage. Pure, white-hot rage flooded through me.
Theodore had killed her. Murdered her. And faced no consequences. Just moved on. Continued terrorizing students. Continued his obsession with power and hierarchy.
And he'd beaten me three-on-one just days ago.
"Now do you see why I wanted you to fight back?" Asura's voice, free from whatever had been blocking her. "Theodore Valemont is a murderer. And you let him beat you without resistance."
"Did they investigate?" I asked Maya.
"Barely. Prince's grandson. Who's going to push too hard? They ruled it an accident and closed the case." She sat back down. "I've been stuck here ever since. Can't leave the Academy grounds. Can't move on. Just... existing. Watching. Unable to do anything."
"Can you interact with anything at all?"
"No. I'm completely intangible. Can't touch, can't affect the physical world. I'm just an observer." She looked at me. "Until you. You're the first person who's been able to see me, hear me, interact with me in any way. Even if we can't touch."
I thought about that. About being dead but not gone. Trapped. Unable to affect anything. Just watching the world move on without you.
It sounded like hell.
"I'm glad I can see you," I said. "For what it's worth. You shouldn't be alone."
Her eyes glistened, could ghosts cry? Apparently yes.
"Thank you," she whispered. "You have no idea how much that means. Eight months of nobody seeing me. Nobody hearing me. Nobody knowing I'm still here. I thought I'd go mad."
"Well, I can see you. And hear you. And I'm not going anywhere." I paused. "Though talking to you in public is going to make people think I'm crazy."
She laughed through her tears. "You're already the weird kid who talks to himself. Might as well commit to it."
"Great. That's my reputation now. Weird and crazy."
"Could be worse. You could be the coward who refused a duel."
"I'm that too."
"Not in my book. You're just smart enough to pick your battles." She tilted her head. "Though I have to say, watching you train? You're way stronger than you let on. Why hide it?"
"Same reason you didn't want Theodore's attention. Sometimes being underestimated is safer than being noticed."
"Fair." She stood up, looked at the lightening sky. "Dawn's coming. You should get back before patrols change shifts."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay here. Or wander. I don't sleep. Can't sleep. Just... exist." She smiled. "But knowing you'll be back tomorrow night makes it easier."
I stood, picked up Asura's dagger. "Same time tomorrow?"
"I'll be here. Not like I have anywhere else to be."
As I walked away, she called out: "Aldric?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For not running away when you found out. For still wanting to talk to me. It means... everything."
"Friends don't abandon friends just because one of them is dead."
Her smile was blinding. "Friends... I like that."
I left her there, a ghost in the training yard, and headed back to my dorm as the sun rose.
In my hand, the dagger warmed slightly.
"She's nice," Asura said. "For a dead girl."
She is.
"And Theodore Valemont is a murderous piece of shit."
Yes.
"So what are you going to do about it?"
I didn't answer. Didn't have an answer yet.
But something had shifted. Learning Maya's story. Understanding what Theodore had done. What he was capable of.
I couldn't let him keep getting away with it.
Couldn't let him continue hurting people with impunity.
Somehow, someway, I needed to do something.
I just had to figure out what.