The morning after the Trial felt heavy, like the sky itself was holding its breath.
The Sacred Academy had sealed off the East Wing — where the Mirror once stood. Word spread fast. Yohan, the boy who shattered the Mirror. Some said he'd been consumed by forbidden magic. Others whispered that he'd fused with all five elements — something no mortal could survive.
He sat inside a dim chamber now, wrists bound by glowing restraints that pulsed with symbols of control. Elemental chains — they adjusted to the wielder's nature. Except his didn't know what to adjust to. Every few minutes, the glow shifted from blue to red to gold to white — never steady, never sure.
He'd stopped trying to speak to the guards. They didn't look at him. Maybe they thought eye contact would make them lose their minds too.
He leaned against the cold wall, eyes half-closed. The silence wasn't empty anymore. It spoke.
Whispers — five of them.
Fire's voice burned low and mocking: You shouldn't have held back.
Water murmured like sorrow: You only wanted to be seen… didn't you?
Earth grumbled with patience: Endure.
Wind laughed softly: Run, if you can.
And Aether… Aether was different. It didn't speak in words — it was presence itself. A pulse that tugged at his chest, neither cruel nor kind.
They didn't argue. They existed together — like fragments of a single broken thought.
The door creaked open. The Head Mentor entered, robes trailing a faint mist. Lily followed quietly behind him, her eyes red.
"Yohan," the mentor began. "You've been given the rarest of gifts — and the gravest of burdens. To hold five elements is not power, it's chaos. The balance cannot allow your existence."
Yohan tilted his head. "Then why am I still alive?"
The mentor's expression flickered — pity? fear? "Because something wants you alive," he said. "And until we understand what, you will remain under watch."
Lily stepped forward. "Please… he didn't do it on purpose. The Mirror—"
"Enough, Lily," the mentor interrupted. "The elements have chosen, and we must obey their will."
The door closed. The lock clicked.
When they were gone, Yohan stared at the chains again. The restraints pulsed weakly — then flickered out for just a second.
He exhaled slowly.
"…You're testing me," he whispered to the voices. "You want to see if I'll break."
The faint laugh of the Wind answered first: No. We want to see what you'll become.