That night the wards settled into a quiet hum that wrapped the room in controlled isolation. For several minutes she did not move, her back pressed lightly to the reinforced stone, listening not with her ears but with everything else she had learned to trust. The headquarters breathed around her, disciplined and watchful, a place where danger was not chaotic but scheduled, documented, and buried beneath layers of justification.
Eventually, when nothing else came, she crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
The mattress dipped beneath her weight, softer than she expected, another reminder that this was not a place meant to break her, only to hold her. She removed her cloak slowly, folding it with more care than necessary, then lay back and stared at the ceiling, where faint sigils pulsed in steady patterns, each one a promise that nothing inside this room would happen by accident.
Sleep did not come easily.
When it finally did, it did not come gently.
She dreamed of the barrier she had crossed days ago, the moment her body had screamed in protest as ancient magic tore at her core, stripping something away even as it forged something new. In the dream, the pain returned sharper and deeper, dragging memories with it, memories she had tried to bury under resolve and forward motion.
Cold nights with no warmth of a true family. Hunger that hollowed her from the inside out. Hands that grabbed not to help but to take. Voices that called her a mistake, a curse, a thing that should never have survived long enough to learn fear.
Faces blurred together from the life she came here from, all which were familiar and cruel, layered over one another until she could no longer tell past from present.
She saw the village she had left behind, not as it was, but as what it may become if she pass her tests, if she managed to survive and understand this world, the elders' eyes full of joy and their doubts gone. She saw the forest again, the impossible creatures watching her pass, not attacking, not welcoming, simply witnessing as if they already knew where her path would end.
Then the city rose around her, towers bending inward like a crown, and beneath it all, something vast shifted, red eyes opening in the dark, not hostile, not kind, but aware, and from it shackles shook, and a woman of beauty and danger appeared in her dreams, calling to her.
She woke with a sharp inhale, fingers digging into the sheets, heart steady but heavy.
For a moment she did not know where she was, only that she was no longer running. The room slowly reasserted itself, the quiet hum of wards, the faint light seeping through the narrow window, and the distant rhythm of boots and commands from the training yard below.
Morning had crept in without ceremony and she realized she was awake, no longer confusing her dreams, past, or what may be with her reality.
She sat up, drawing her knees close, her tail flicking once before she forced it still, grounding herself in the present. The system stirred, unusually quiet, as if it too had chosen observation over commentary.
[Rest Cycle Completed]
[Note: Mental Stress Elevated]
[Status: Stable]
"Stable, it's okay, I am alive, I... I am not abandoned, I am not being beaten..." she mumbled as her lips trembled and she tried her best to force back the tears that pricked her eyes and her nails dug into her arms as she shook herself to calm down, like a child being scared of the thunder.
After a while, she calmed down, rose from the bed and crossed to the window, pushing it open just enough to let the cool air brush against her face. Below, knights were already moving, armor catching the pale morning light, voices sharp and focused. No hesitation. No doubt. A world where purpose was assigned and followed without question.
For the first time since entering the city, she felt something dangerously close to envy.
She glanced down at the scratches on her arm, then sighed and went to freshen up, when she finished, she got dressed in a simple but elegant dress left by Selene.
When she was finished, before her soul could torment her, a knock sounded at the door, crisp and deliberate.
She turned, senses flaring again, but this time without panic. "Come in."
The door opened to reveal the same knight from the night before, armor polished, expression alert but not unfriendly. Her gaze flicked briefly over her, taking in the signs of a restless night she made no comment on.
"Morning," the knight said. "Magistrate Selene requests your presence. Immediately."
That alone would have been enough to set her on edge, but then the knight hesitated, lowering her voice.
"And," she added, "you might want to brace yourself. You weren't the only thing that had a rough night."
Something in her tone hooked deep, sharp and promising.
She reached for her cloak, settling it around her shoulders once more, resolve tightening where exhaustion had threatened to linger. Whatever had shifted beneath the city had not slept, and neither had the forces that governed it.
As she stepped into the corridor, the headquarters was already alive with motion and whispered tension.
Before she could get any further, her step faltered for the first time in a while and her eyes widened, but the knight grabbed her arm and her eyes lit up.
[Notice: External System Acknowledgment Detected]
[Classification: Mutual Observation]
Her instincts flared, and a sharp pain tore through her body as she collapsed to her knees, her eyes turning completely white, blotting out her vision entirely.
A scream escaped the knight's lips as she hurried to find out what was wrong, sending all the nearby knights into alarm.
"Go bring the magistrate," the knight ordered one of the guards and he dashed off.
"Who are you? Why are our souls making contact?" The voice echoed in her head as she looked up, struggling to regain her vision. But all that filled her mind were the same eyes from before, and her breath hitched as she saw shackles and blood covering two delicate arms.