The infirmary still smelled faintly of iron.
Finn stared at his bandaged hand like it had personally offended him.
"It was going perfectly," he muttered. "Absolutely perfect."
Max looked over from the wall, one eyebrow lifting slightly. "You vibrated in to a bed."
"I phased through it."
"You phased in to it."
Scarlett snorted from her stool between the beds. "You impaled yourself on hospital furniture."
Finn frowned. "That's a harsh interpretation."
Elena leaned back against the wall near the window, arms folded. She had been quiet since her return from Sergeant Smith's office.
Scarlett noticed.
She always noticed.
But she didn't push.
Max shifted slightly, wincing. "What exactly where you doing?"
Finn perked up slightly despite himself. "Right. So, I was thinking about vibration. Not just speed — but frequency. If I push the oscillation far enough, my molecules can slip between the spacing of whatever I am touching."
Max blinked once.
Scarlett stared.
Elena's head tilted slightly.
Finn grinned. "I can phase."
Scarlett leaned back. "You can what."
Finn carefully sat up, ignoring the pull in his abdomen.
"Watch."
He closed his eyes and focused.
The tremor began in his fingers — subtle at first. Then faster. His skin blurred faintly around the edges, like heat distortion.
Max leaned forward despite his ribs protesting.
Finn reached toward the metal frame of his bed.
His fingers met the metal.
Then slipped through it.
Scarlett swore under her breath.
Max stood.
Elena stepped closer, watching carefully.
Finn withdrew his hand, solid again.
"Told you."
Scarlett walked up and poked his shoulder. "You idiot."
"It worked."
"You stabbed yourself."
"Minor setback."
Max's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "How stable?"
Finn shrugged. "Depends."
"On?"
"How fast I vibrate and how long I can hold it."
Scarlett folded her arms. "You are not experimenting alone again."
Finn opened his mouth.
She cut him off with a look.
He shut it.
Elena stepped closer, crouching slightly.
"Do it again," she said.
Finn obliged, slower this time.
The vibration built gradually — cleaner now, more controlled. His hand passed through the metal frame smoothly.
Elena reached out and hovered her fingers near his wrist — not touching, just feeling.
There was resistance.
Not physical.
Pressure.
Like air compressing.
Her chest tightened faintly.
She withdrew her hand.
Max didn't miss it.
"You felt that?" he asked.
Elena nodded once. "There's distortion."
Finn blinked. "Distortion sounds cool."
"It means it's unstable, you muppet." Max said flatly.
Finn deflated slightly. "You're very supportive."
Scarlett rolled her eyes. "He's right."
Finn pushed himself carefully off the bed.
"Alright," he said. "One more."
He focused harder.
The vibration intensified, spreading up his forearm.
He stepped toward the stone wall this time.
Max moved instinctively closer.
Scarlett too.
Finn inhaled.
And walked forward.
His arm blurred first.
Then shoulder.
His torso slipped partially into the stone.
He froze.
"Still good," he called out.
Scarlett's jaw dropped slightly.
Max's eyes widened.
Elena felt it again.
That pressure.
But stronger.
Not from Finn.
From herself.
It rose from somewhere deep beneath her ribs — like water pushing against a dam.
She stepped back slowly.
Finn withdrew from the wall and solidified fully.
He grinned triumphantly. "See?"
Scarlett walked straight up to him and punched him lightly in the chest.
"Do not get stuck in a wall."
"Yes, ma'am."
Max shook his head slowly. "This changes things."
Elena didn't speak.
Because the pressure had not faded.
Later that night, when the others were asleep, Elena slipped out into the courtyard.
The stone was cool beneath her boots.
Lanterns burned low along the walls of the Academy of Champions, casting long shadows across the training yard.
She moved to the centre of the sand circle.
Alone.
She closed her eyes.
And reached.
Telekinesis flowed outward as it always did — subtle at first. She lifted a small stone from the ground.
Rotated it.
Compressed it gently.
Easy.
Controlled.
She reached further.
Two stones.
Three.
She suspended them at shoulder height.
The air around her shifted slightly.
She pushed harder.
Five stones.
Eight.
Her breathing deepened.
The pressure rose again.
That same feeling from earlier.
Like a tide building behind bone.
She did not stop.
She pulled harder.
The stones lifted higher.
Sand began to tremble around her boots.
Her vision sharpened — colours deepening unnaturally.
Her pulse thudded in her ears.
The tide hit.
It was not pain.
It was force.
Energy flooded through her limbs — not from outside, not entering her —
From within.
The stones shot upward violently.
The sand beneath her feet cracked outward in a spiderweb pattern.
Elena gasped.
She lost control for half a second.
The force surged again — stronger.
She could feel it — vast and heavy and raw — pressing against her control like water against glass.
She gritted her teeth.
"No."
She pulled back.
Focused.
Compressed the surge inward.
The stones froze mid-air.
The sand stopped shifting.
The energy roared inside her chest.
She forced it down.
Slowly.
Slowly.
Like pushing back a wave with both hands.
Her knees buckled slightly.
The stones dropped harmlessly into the sand.
Silence returned.
Her heart hammered.
She stood there breathing hard, hands shaking.
It hadn't felt like telekinesis.
It had felt like something else feeding it.
Amplifying it.
Unstable.
She looked down at her hands.
They weren't glowing.
They were not different.
But she knew.
If she had not contained that—
It would have levelled the circle.
Not by choice.
Not by intent.
Just by overflow.
She exhaled slowly.
Control.
That's what Cassie had said.
Control.
Footsteps sounded faintly near the edge of the courtyard.
Elena straightened instantly.
It was only Marek, crossing toward the barracks.
He paused briefly when he saw her standing alone.
Their eyes met.
He didn't comment.
He simply nodded once and continued walking.
Elena watched him go.
The tide inside her had settled.
But it had not disappeared.
It was there.
Waiting.
Back inside the infirmary, Finn rolled onto his side carefully.
Max sat in a chair by the window staring at the ceiling.
"You think this ends quietly?" Finn murmured.
Max didn't look at him.
"No."
Finn flexed his bandaged hand carefully.
"I can get through walls now."
Max finally glanced over.
"Then make sure you know what's on the other side."
Finn grinned faintly.
"Yeah."
Outside, the academy slept.