Training was nothing like Daniella had imagined.
There were no spectacular breakthroughs.
No clear progress.
No victories.
Only pain.
Not the kind that broke bones or tore flesh, but the kind that dug deeper—where fear, memory, and instinct collided.
Daniella knelt on the cold stone floor, her breathing uneven, sweat running down her neck. Her hands trembled violently in front of her, as if they no longer belonged to her.
— Again, Kaël said calmly.
She inhaled, closed her eyes… and tried.
Nothing.
— Focus, Pyra snapped from the other side of the room.
— I am focusing! Daniella shot back, her voice cracking.
— No. You're panicking.
Aeris floated near the ceiling, hanging upside down as if gravity had no claim on him.
— To be fair, panic mode is usually step one, he said with a grin.
— Shut up, Daniella growled.
Terra watched in silence, arms crossed. He didn't speak, but his presence alone weighed on the room—dense, immovable, like a mountain waiting.
Nyx crouched beside Daniella. Her silhouette shimmered slightly, unstable, as if she was never fully anchored in reality.
— Light doesn't obey commands, she whispered. It listens to emotion.
Daniella swallowed.
— I'm scared.
Nyx tilted her head.
— Of what?
— Of losing control.
Nyx slowly shook her head.
— That's not the root.
She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a breath.
— What are you truly afraid of destroying?
The question tore straight through Daniella.
Images flooded her mind without warning.
Her parents' faces.
The city at night.
Kaël—too close. Too exposed.
Her breath broke.
The Light exploded.
A violent golden wave burst from her body, raw and uncontrollable.
Kaël reacted instantly.
Darkness surged from his feet, unfolding like a living creature, wrapping around the blast and locking it inside a shifting cage. The impact shook the chamber, stone groaning under the force, dust raining from the ceiling.
But the walls held.
Silence fell abruptly.
Daniella collapsed forward, gasping, tears streaming down her face.
— Enough, Kaël said sharply.
He knelt beside her.
— You're forcing it.
— We don't have time, she whispered.
— Then we make time, he replied without hesitation.
A pulse echoed through the air.
Not from the sanctuary.
From outside.
Terra straightened immediately.
— That's not normal.
Kaël activated a hidden console embedded in the wall.
— Hélios scout units. They're not attempting to breach—but they're mapping the perimeter.
Pyra's flame flared violently.
— They're learning.
Nyx partially phased out, her form blurring.
— And adapting.
Daniella forced herself to stand.
— This is my fault.
Terra finally spoke.
— No. This is because we exist.
Kaël rose to his feet, his expression hard.
— We change strategy.
— Training in pairs. Now.
His gaze locked onto Daniella.
— You're with me.
A shiver ran down her spine.
The sanctuary responded instantly. Walls shifted, stone sliding like flesh, corridors and chambers forming as if the structure itself were alive.
Daniella followed Kaël into a smaller room where Light and Shadow intertwined naturally along the walls.
— Why does this place keep changing? she asked.
— It adapts to those it protects.
He turned to face her, his voice steady and grave.
— Daniella… if you lose control—
— You'll stop me, she finished.
— Yes.
— Even if it kills you?
He didn't look away.
— Especially then.
The words should have terrified her.
Instead, they steadied her.
High above them, unseen by any of them, a Hélios satellite silently recalibrated its sensors.
The fractures were spreading.