Chapter 2: A Deal with the Devil
The path Mia followed was rough, uneven, and barely visible. The Mirror Glade was quiet now, eerily so. No System drones. No other students. Just the sound of her own cautious footsteps and the distant echo of her breath.
She had walked through what should have been a trap. Not by strength, but by feeling. By choosing to trust the Spirit everyone else had discarded.
The light around her dimmed slightly as she entered a grove of pale trees. Their bark reflected not just her image, but memories.
One tree shimmered with a vision of her on Earth—her final day, sitting alone in the hospital, sketchpad trembling in her hands.
Another showed her childhood, quiet and colorless, fading into medical charts and cold foster homes.
Each step deeper into the grove peeled back another layer of who she had been. Her knees weakened, but she didn't stop.
At the grove's center, a single monument stood. Not made of crystal or metal, but of something that looked cracked and scorched. Half of it had crumbled away.
A wing.
Stone feathers splayed wide, one side shattered, the other scorched. A plaque rested at its base, unreadable, covered in broken code.
Mia stepped forward. Her breath caught.
The feather inside her heart pulsed. Faster. Louder.
Then she heard it again.
The voice.
"You're not broken. You were chosen."
It was clearer this time. No longer a whisper, but a truth being remembered.
Mia touched the monument. Light flared from her palm.
A screen appeared, but different from before. Not blue. Not System-sanctioned.
It was pale gold. Faded. Fractured.
[Memory Fragment Recovered]
Origin: Lost Spirit - Designation: Elyra
Status: Imprisoned
Warning: System Anomaly
Classification: Forbidden Virtue
Her eyes widened.
Elyra.
That name didn't exist in the System records. Not in any training manual. Not in Spirit history.
And yet, something deep inside her stirred. Recognition. Not from knowledge. From connection.
"You carry a piece of me," the voice said softly. "And I... carry what was taken from you."
Behind her, the air shifted.
Footsteps.
Mia spun, bracing—but it wasn't Selene.
It was him.
Adrian Kael Thorne.
His silver hair caught the pale light. His eyes were cold as ever, but focused now, not distant.
"What are you doing here?" Mia asked, still catching her breath.
Adrian didn't answer at first. His gaze flicked from her to the monument, then to the flickering screen still hovering beside her.
"You shouldn't be seeing that," he said at last. His tone wasn't mocking. It was... curious. Cautious.
"I didn't do anything," Mia said. "I just—"
"You connected."
He stepped closer, just enough for her to feel the pressure of his presence.
"No one connects with a Forbidden Spirit and walks away clean."
She took a step back. "Are you here to report me?"
"No," Adrian said, simply. "I'm here to see why the System glitched. And now I know."
Mia looked down at the feather monument.
"This Spirit—Broken Wing... it's not broken at all. It's locked. Sealed."
Adrian's eyes darkened. "Or worse. Caged."
They stared at one another. No insults. No pretense. Just an understanding neither of them had expected.
Mia's screen dimmed. The voice went silent again. But the connection remained. That warmth still pulsed under her ribs.
The silence stretched until Adrian turned.
"If you want to survive here," he said, not looking back, "you'll need more than kindness."
"I know," Mia replied. "But kindness is how I started. It's not where I stop."
He paused for half a breath. Then walked away.
She stood alone in the grove.
Except... not entirely.
---
Mia emerged from the grove just as the Trial countdown reached its final minute.
The beacon stood ahead, a spire of pulsing blue light hovering over a fractured hill. Initiates were already converging near it, some limping, others grinning with the arrogant ease of nobility. Selene stood near the front, arms crossed, her falcon perched elegantly on her shoulder.
When she saw Mia walking toward them—mud on her robes, cuts on her palms, no visible Spirit—Selene's smirk returned like a knife unsheathed.
"I thought the fog would swallow you whole," she said sweetly. "Guess even System trash floats sometimes."
Mia ignored her. Her steps were steady. She had no need to defend herself with words.
The guide orb descended once again, its voice calm and final.
"Trial Complete. Calculating results…"
A chorus of screens appeared in the air above each initiate.
Mia's screen was the smallest, faintly glitching around the edges.
[Candidate: Mia Lancaster]
Completion Time: Fourteen minutes, fifty-two seconds
Damage Taken: Moderate
Spirit Sync: Stable
Bond Resonance Change: One point two to Three point one percent
Verdict: Conditional Pass
Whispers erupted.
"A pass? With that?"
"How is that even possible?"
"She should have failed."
Selene stepped forward. "There has to be an error. The System's reading is corrupted."
Before the orb could respond, a voice echoed across the field.
Not synthetic. Not human.
Spoken with wind and fire all at once.
"There is no error."
Every student froze. Even the Spirits dimmed slightly, retreating closer to their hosts.
A second screen flickered into life above Mia—different again from the others. Gold-tinted. Ancient.
[System Notice: Anomaly Detected in Candidate Lancaster]
Sub-Process: Echo Signature Recognition
Result: Fragment Identified
Spirit Classification: Unknown
Alert: Council Review Recommended
More gasps. The Council? No one got flagged for review unless their Spirit posed a threat... or was too powerful to remain unchecked.
Selene's smirk collapsed completely. Her mouth opened, then closed.
Adrian, standing apart from the group, shifted slightly. His gaze was unreadable. But his silence was absolute.
The guide orb processed the final results and floated back into place.
"All candidates will now return to the Assessment Chambers. Additional screenings will be scheduled for flagged participants."
Mia turned to walk. Then paused.
Selene stood frozen, fists clenched at her sides.
Mia glanced at her, just once, voice calm.
"You're right. Trash floats. But feathers..." She lifted her hand, palm open to the sky. The invisible warmth of Broken Wing surged once more beneath her skin. "Feathers fly."
The screen behind her blinked one last time.
[Spirit Notice: Hidden Sync Pathway Reactivated]
Status: Locked Memory Rebuilding
Emotion Trigger Registered: Defiance
Bond Resonance: Three point one to Four point seven percent
Update: Unknown Skill Awakening Pending
And just like that, the System blinked.
Only for a second.
But Adrian saw it.
So did the Council drone watching from the high walls above.
Somewhere in Virtura's Central Core, an ancient line of code stirred awake. Something the Spirit Council had buried long ago.
Something with wings.
---
Mia barely made it back to the dormitories before collapse claimed her.
Every part of her body ached. Her spirit buzzed with a pulse that didn't feel entirely hers. The Council alert had shaken her, but the weight of stares that followed her down the halls pressed heavier than stone.
She walked slower than the others, trailing at the edge of the exit corridor. Behind her, the Trial chamber sealed with a hiss. Another wall closed.
A new path opened.
And standing in it... was Adrian.
He didn't speak right away. Just leaned against the pillar with his arms folded, silver hair casting a faint glint in the low glow of the hall's artificial light. His presence wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. The air bent subtly around him, like gravity gave him more weight than it should.
"You were supposed to fall," he said without looking at her.
Mia stopped. The words weren't cruel. Just factual.
"I didn't," she replied, not in defiance, but in quiet truth.
He finally turned. Those frost-gray eyes locked onto hers with the precision of a blade mid-swing.
"No. You didn't. You walked through a Spirit-disrupt field without a shield or guide. You bonded with something flagged as Forbidden. And you survived a Trial designed to eliminate the bottom ten percent."
Mia held her ground. "Are you complimenting me or interrogating me?"
Adrian studied her. Not her robes. Not her Spirit score. Her.
"You're different."
"Thanks. I get that a lot."
He stepped forward. Slowly. Deliberately. Until he was close enough for her to see the thin scar under his right eye. Almost healed. Almost invisible.
"I'm offering you a deal," he said.
Mia's lips parted, surprise breaking through her weariness. "A deal?"
"I'll train you. Not the way the academy does. The way that works. You'll grow faster, stronger. Not through stats or manuals. But through precision. Real control."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
Adrian's silence was immediate and sharp.
Mia pressed. "You don't seem like the charitable type. So why me?"
"Because you broke a rule without even knowing it. Because your Spirit shouldn't exist. And because... you're either a threat or a solution. I need to know which."
Mia's pulse quickened.
"And if I say no?"
"Then you'll keep failing upward. Until you hit something you can't climb past. And it kills you."
There was no menace in his voice. Just clarity. Logic.
Mia took a slow breath. Her Spirit shifted faintly inside her—nervous, uncertain, but curious.
She had always learned through feeling. Through rhythm and resonance. Adrian offered the opposite. Cold calibration.
It terrified her.
It intrigued her more.
"What's the cost?" she asked finally.
He smiled. It wasn't warm.
"If you survive, you'll never be weak again."
---