"And you decided to seal your brother, didn't you?" Alpha shot back, ears flattened, muscles taut.
The memory of Damien's sword tearing through him was still painfully fresh.
"You have no idea why I do it," Damien snapped, his voice slowly rising. His back remained turned. "No idea what it costs me. No idea what it feels like to make that choice."
"If it hurts you so much," Alpha said sharply, stepping forward, "if it's tearing you apart—then stop it!"
Damien turned in an instant.
His voice dropped—so low it seemed to scrape the ground.
"You have no idea what kind of disaster you'll unleash if you walk into his Soul Sea and release him."
Alpha laughed softly.
"Oh? Then you should know," he said lightly, "I already broke one chain."
Silence.
"You did what?" Damien whispered, disbelief twisting his expression. His voice wavered—dangerously.
"You heard me," Alpha replied. "One chain. Gone."
In the next heartbeat, Damien was in front of him.
Fingers fisted in Alpha's collar, lifting him slightly off the ground. Damien's other hand burned with red, flaming light, heat warping the air around it.
"Did you enter my brother's Soul Sea," Damien demanded, eyes locked on Alpha's, "and try to free his dragon?"
Alpha didn't hesitate.
"Why?" he shot back. "Afraid he'll be more powerful than you ever were?"
That did it.
"Stupid boy!" Damien roared.
The punch came fast—but Alpha twisted away on instinct.
"If anything happens to my brother," Damien snarled, reappearing beside him in a blur and slamming him into a tree, "It'll be all your fault and I will not spare you."
The trunk cracked.
"Forget school rules," Damien continued, eyes blazing red. "I'll end you—and I'll get expelled for it."
Alpha hit the ground, breath sharp in his chest.
He didn't attack back.
Instead, he stayed just out of reach, watching Damien carefully—seeing it now.
Not just fury.
Fear.
At the Dorm
Ace paced back and forth, steps uneven.
Ramien sat on his bed, foot tapping rapidly against the floor.
Victor stood near the window, arms crossed, eyes distant.
"Was your brother always this unhinged?" Victor asked suddenly.
Ramien stiffened. "He's not mad. He has his reasons."
"Reasons to hurt an innocent boy?" Victor pressed.
"I've known my brother for twenty-one years," Ramien snapped. "He doesn't act without reason."
Victor turned fully to face him.
"I'm starting to think whatever you two are hiding," he said calmly, "is dangerous enough to get us all killed."
Silence fell.
"You'd better explain," Victor continued, voice firm. "Before I decide to report it."
Ramien stared at him, surprise flashing across his face. He rubbed his temples slowly.
"These are family matters," he said at last. "You don't get involved."
Victor didn't back down.
"Not when family matters put all of us at risk," he replied. "We deserve answers."
He glanced at Ace. "You with me?"
Ace fidgeted with his wand, eyes fixed firmly on the floor.
"I… I think they'll tell us when they're ready," he muttered.
Victor let out a sharp breath.
"That might be too late."
The door burst open.
Damien strode in.
Alpha was nowhere in sight.
"Where is Alpha?" Victor demanded immediately.
Damien didn't even spare him a glance. His eyes still burned red as he turned straight to his brother.
"Ram," he said tightly. "We have a problem."
He started toward Ramien.
Victor moved faster.
In a blink, he stepped between them, two short daggers flashing into existence in his hands.
"I asked you something," Victor said, voice cold and edged with steel.
"Where. Is. Alpha?"
The room went still.
Damien stopped. Slowly, deliberately, his gaze lifted to Victor.
"You will regret it if you don't move out of my way," he said, his voice low, frighteningly controlled.
"Vic—don't," Ramien said quickly from behind. "Let me talk to him."
Victor didn't budge.
"I'm not putting my trust in either of you," he said, never breaking eye contact with Damien.
"But if anything happens to that boy—"
His grip tightened on the daggers.
"I won't hesitate to take you down."
The air between Victor and Damien crackled, thick with the promise of violence.
At last, Victor stepped aside.
Damien strode out without another word, Ramien following close behind. A moment later, Alpha walked back into the dorm, silent and unreadable. Neither Victor nor Ace asked what he had done to earn Damien's fury. Whatever it was, they could feel it lingering in the room.
Outside, Damien told Ramien everything.
Ramien listened in silence, eyes narrowing. "This is dangerous," he said at last. "We can't keep disappearing for the sealing. The school will notice—if they haven't already." His gaze flicked restlessly between his brother, the sky above, and the ground beneath his feet. "They're demanding an explanation."
Damien paused. "And you're going to give it to them?" he asked, incredulous.
"There's no hiding it anymore, Dam," Ramien replied quietly. "And a shared problem is half solved."
Damien scoffed. "Give me a break. You mean the secret we kept even from our parents? You're saying you'll tell three random people?, just because they want answers?"
"We've been with them long enough," Ramien said. "And Victor can be trusted—"
"Oh, please," Damien cut in sharply. "Him? You're trusting him? He won't even trust you."
For the first time Damien could remember, Ramien raised his voice.
"I don't care," he snapped. "Not telling him won't make him trust us either. I'm going to tell them."
Damien stared at him for a long moment, then spoke calmly—too calmly.
"You realize what will happen when you do, right?"
Ramien's anger drained away at once. His eyes dropped, avoiding his brother's gaze.
"They'll leave you," Damien continued. "They'll report you. And they'll try to put you down."
The words hung heavy between them, unspoken fears finally given shape.
"I'm still going to tell them," Ramien said at last, his voice tight. Then, after a pause, quieter, "Just… not now."
Damien didn't hesitate.
"Do whatever suits you," he replied flatly. "Just know this—when the authorities come, I won't be able to protect you."
With that, he turned his back and walked away.
Ramien remained where he was, his entire body trembling. His mind raced ahead, replaying every possible outcome—faces of disbelief, betrayal, fear. Punishment. Separation. Loss.
Slowly, he lifted a hand to his neck.
A sharp ache pulsed there, deep and insistent.
Ramien frowned, rubbing the spot as if that might ease it—but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't explain why it hurt.
"Today, we will continue where we left off last class—Fear," Professor Giga announced, standing tall on the podium. Her presence commanded silence. "But before that, I would like to assess your assignments."
Her sharp gaze swept the hall.
"How many of you have successfully refined your Fate Orbs?"
Several hands rose. Others hesitated. Some stayed firmly down.
"The rest of you," she continued coolly, "should persist. When you succeed, report directly to me at the administrative block."
She walked around the podium, eyes moving from student to student.
"As I said before, fear is something true humans should feel—"
Her voice carried on, measured and confident.
Ramien heard none of it.
Fear doesn't exist? his mind echoed bitterly. Then what do you call the feeling right before execution?
Fear.
The word rang louder than her lecture.
Pain flared again—sharper this time. It spread from his neck down into his chest, then into his hands, like they had been kept in a single position for years before given freedom, Ramien clenched his fingers, breath hitching, panic creeping in as he searched for a reason and found none.
Meanwhile—
On a frozen lake where endless mist swallowed the horizon, a bound dragon stirred.
The chains that wrapped its massive form trembled—then cracked.
Slowly.
Surely.
One by one, they began to loosen.