Third Person POV
The morning sun came into the library. Fell on Averyns desk. She was sitting there with Vynessa and the others. The Codex was open on the desk, between Averyn and the others. Averyn looked at the Codex with Vynessa and the others.
The morning sun made everything feel warm and cozy in the library where Averyn and the others were sitting with Vynessa.
Carmira said "that thing looks like it is alive". She was touching one of the glowing symbols with her finger. The symbols were really glowing. Carmira was looking at them closely. The glowing glyphs seemed to be moving a bit which is why Carmira said that. Carmira was very interested, in the glowing glyphs.
Ruelle leaned back in her chair her eyes were really wide. She said "And it whispers to me". Maybe she thought to herself I am just hearing things that are not really there like my mind is playing tricks on me.
Averyn said "it is not just you". She looked at a page that was shining under her fingers.
"The page responds to the people who are using it " Averyn said. Averyn felt this happening the night. It was like the page knew that Averyn was awake.
Vynessa nodded slowly. "I felt it too. When you touched the pages… the room changed. Something… small, like sparks, ran along the walls. I can't explain it, but it felt alive, aware."
They looked over the illustrations of Aetherion: the city that drifted above the clouds, its veins of glowing energy, the gems humming with a quiet power. Something about those images stirred them. Each girl felt it, like a secret echo inside her chest.
They tried shaking this feeling of unease off and went to a party thrown by one of their classmates that night. The place pulsed to the rhythm of music and the sound of laughter; hues of colored lights danced across the walls.
Yet, shadows seemed to press in at the corners, just out of reach, never quite allowing them to forget what lay waiting beyond the noise. Little weird things happened, almost not there, but enough to set the nerves on edge.
Averyn hunched over, her voice no higher than a whisper. "I think they're following me," she whispered to Jade and Vynessa as they pushed their way through the crowd.
Jade's jaw clenched. "Then we trail them, and we find out what they are after."
The figure reappeared, leading them away from curious eyes, away from the real world and into a hidden sanctum. The mirrors and soft rays of magic swirled around them. The room seemed to go on forever, light bouncing off infinitely, with a thrum of magic vibrating in the silence.
"This… this is unbelievable," Vynessa whispered, extending a hand as a strand of energy darted by her fingers.
"And terrifying," Averyn clutched the Codex hard. "But it's ours now. We have to understand it… before it understands us completely."
Outside, Evershade stood motionless, unaware of the current that tightened around the girls, a current that would eventually draw them toward peril, discovery, and magic unfolding.
For Averyn and Vynessa—and for the others—it would never be the same.