"Remember when we used to sneak into the library after curfew?" Gaiza said almost wistful. "The smell of ancient scrolls, the hum of magic we weren't supposed to know yet... Those were the days, huh?"

  Elena stood a few paces away and prepared a ball of psychic energy that thinned itself.

  "Things change," Elena said flatly.

  Gaiza's lips tightened. "You used to tell me if I stuck with you, nothing would go wrong. You promised me. You promised me, Elena." There was a flicker of accusation in her tone.

  "You know," Elena began while speaking coldly, "You just never got me. The Headmaster—she's all that matters now. She’s everything. I have a duty, Gaiza. I don’t have time to waste on friendships!"

  Gaiza’s hands trembled at her sides with hurt flashing across her face. "I didn’t want it to end like this," she murmured. Her eyes darted to the psychic energy forming in Elena’s hands. "There’s no other way? Not even for us? For what we were?"

  She closed her eyes and slowly.The moisture in the air condensed into a sharp blade that glowed faintly with a pale blue light. She gripped it tightly with both hands.

  Elena didn’t flinch. "Sorry, Gaiza," Elena spoke in a way that almost sounded rehearsed. "But for the Headmaster’s vision, for the Academy’s future... you and Aliana…You traitors will have to die."

  Gaiza’s eyes widened slightly."Just like that... we’re traitors? You’re calling me a traitor for questioning the Headmaster’s path?"

  Gaiza took a step forward. "The Headmaster's corrupted you, Elena. She’s corrupted you. Don’t you see? This isn’t about duty anymore. It’s about control. It’s about power—her power."

  Elena didn’t move, but the tension between them thickened. "You’ve always been too idealistic, Gaiza. That’s what got you here. The Headmaster offers us a future. You and Aliana? You’re the ones who can’t see past your own doubts. You’re the ones who are too weak to accept what needs to be done."

  Gaiza’s breath caught in her throat. A flash of anger crossed her face.

  Elena spoke with finality, “But in the end, we’ll see whose vision is stronger."

  Without another word, Elena lunged forward and shot out a thin, razor-sharp spheres of psychic energy toward Gaiza.

  Gaiza ducked to the side and narrowly avoided the first sphere, then pivoted with a swift swing of her water blade to meet the second. She then dashed towards Elena and aimed straight for Elena’s torso.

  Elena’s eyes flickered with a momentary recognition. ‘I can’t let Gaiza land a hit. If even one of those strikes land, I’m finished!’

  Despite the injuries already slowing her movements, Elena teleported backward with a burst of psychic energy and thought, ‘I just need one of my energy spheres to hit her … if I can do that, Gaiza will fall. Then--’

  Before Elena could finish that thought, the air around Gaiza shifted. The wind intensified and spun violently. The water blade in Gaiza’s hand began to elongate until it became a massive wave of liquid power. It lashed out like a whip towards her. In response, Elena sent out a barrage of thin energy spheres her way.

  The water blade met the barrage head-on, deflecting the spheres with a series of violent splashes. The spheres fizzled out when they collided with the water’s surface, but there were too many. For every sphere Gaiza knocked away, two more came flying in.

  Her teeth gritted, Gaiza swung harder. The water blade stretched further, but she was losing ground. One of Elena's spheres grazed her arm—just a light touch, but the burn was sharp. Gaiza’s eyes flashed with pain.

  But she pushed forward with winds and water surrounding her now in a violent storm. The energy spheres were getting closer. The cold, calculating part of Elena’s mind observed it all.

  Gaiza was tiring. Her face wore a look that was less confident than a minute ago. Gaiza's blade lashed out again, this time in a sweeping arc that sent a massive surge of water slamming toward Elena. Elena’s eyes narrowed. The psychic energy around her began to twist.

  Elena hesitated just for a second which caused Gaiza’s blade reach at the same time Elena unleashed a sphere of psychic energy at her.

  Gaiza’s sword crashed down.

  The sphere of Elena whizzed through the air.

  Aliana stood motionless. The storm of water and psychic energy raged before her, but her thoughts were elsewhere—back to a different time.

  Her eyes narrowed as a memory flickered to life in an instant.

  It had been a quiet evening in the academy’s halls as Gaiza approached her.

  "Princess Aliana," Gaiza had said softly with something Aliana hadn’t quite understood then.

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  Aliana had barely spared her a glance. She was distracted by a magic catalog which she was reading. "What is it, Gaiza?"

  Gaiza had stood before her like she was steeling herself for something.

  "I know... I know this sounds strange, but if there ever comes a time when we have to face Elena... when we have to fight her... I want to do it alone. Please," Gaiza had trembled slightly, but there had been something in her eyes that Aliana hadn’t seen before.

  At the time, Aliana had dismissed it.

  “Gaiza, that’s not going to happen,” she had while shaking her head. “You’re overthinking things. We’re on the same side.”

  But now, as Aliana watched Gaiza’s body leap through the air with ferocity at Elena, she understood. Her Jaw tightened.

  "Gaiza..." Aliana murmured under her breath.

  Gaiza’s water blade stopped inches from Elena's face. The thin energy sphere that had been aimed directly at Gaiza’s shoulder embedded itself deep within her.

  Gaiza’s breath hitched. Her eyes locked onto Elena’s and she thought, ‘I can’t do it.’ She had trained for this moment—prepared herself for the reality of it—but now that the moment was here, all that preparation went down the drain.

  ‘She’s my friend. I can’t…kill her…‘The thought caught her off guard. ‘I can’t…’

  Elena blinked. Her face flickered from confusion to cold calculation, and for a split second, Gaiza saw the girl she once knew.

  Gaiza’s eyes widened. Time seemed to slow as a memory flooded her thoughts.

  She was younger then—still finding her way around the halls of the academy. She had never felt fully comfortable among her peers, always out of place, always smaller than the others.

  Gaiza sat in the corner of the lunch hall as she often did. She didn’t have to be alone—there were people around her, sure. But even surrounded by them, Gaiza often felt like a ghost.

  She picked at the food on her tray and pushed the vegetables around. The whispers of her classmates filled the air. Their laughters were too loud.

  And then Elena had appeared.

  “Gaiza!” Elena broke through the noise, sharp yet somehow warm. Gaiza looked up. Elena was standing there with a faint smile playing on her lips.

  "Come on, I’m saving you a seat." Elena had reached out, and Gaiza flinched just slightly at the sudden motion. But Elena was already tugging her gently by the arm and pulled her to a lunch table.

  “You’re always sitting by yourself,” Elena had said with a hint of concern.

  Gaiza had bit her lip and looked down at her tray. “I… I’m fine. I just like it here.”

  But Elena didn’t didn’t back off. Instead, she settled down beside her.

  Elena spoke casually. “You’re not fine if you’re sitting alone and picking at your food. Here. Eat this.” She had pushed a piece of bread in front of Gaiza. “If you don’t eat, your magic won’t grow. You can’t keep skipping meals, Gaiza. It’s not good for you.”

  Gaiza had stared at the bread for a moment. "You don’t have to do that…”

  “I’m doing it anyway,” Elena had said while pushing the bread in her mouth. “You can’t eat like this and expect to stay strong. You’re growing, Gaiza. You have to take care of yourself.”

  Gaiza had chewed the bread. She didn’t know how to explain it that grateful feeling but also how foreign Elena’s actions felt. It had been a long time since anyone had looked after her so casually.

  Elena had smiled before shoving more food in front of Gaiza. “Eat a proper diet, okay?”

  The memory faded. Gaiza’s eyes flickered to Elena again. The girl before her now—the one who had once shared meals, moments, dreams—had changed. Something in Elena hardened. She wasn’t the same person anymore.

  Gaiza’s could feel a subtle but firm tug on her thoughts. Her fingers trembled around the water blade,. Then, a whispering command filled her thoughts.

  ‘Raise the blade to your neck.’

  It wasn’t Elena speaking out loud; this was a telepathic command, an intrusion into Gaiza’s mind. Elena’s power. Gaiza’s breath hitched. She didn’t want to—she couldn’t do it—but her hand twitched. The blade’s edge tilted slightly upward.

  Gaiza fought it. ‘No. I won’t. I won’t do it, Elena.’

  But there it was again—‘Raise it higher.’

  Her limbs felt heavy. The blade began to rise, inch by inch by something beyond her control. The pressure in her chest tightened. ‘No,’ she thought with all

  the defiance she could summon, ‘NOOO’

  She clenched her teeth. The command was too strong.

  Aliana’s eyes flickered over the battlefield, sensing the strain in Gaiza’s movements. Her body was trembling. Aliana could feel the conflict. She was about to step in—she couldn’t let this go on in Gaiza’s current condition.

  But before Aliana could make a move, a voice interrupted her.

  “Well, well…” The voice was cold and held both disdain and amusement. “It seems former Elite Mage Aliana is still alive.”

  Aliana’s spine straightened, and her eyes snapped toward the new arrival. From behind emerged Arlysa. The sight of her was unexpected.

  Her robe was barely holding together as it was torn and frayed in multiple places due to the battle she fought earlier. Her staff was cracked. Her body was a patchwork of cuts and bruises.

  Her gaze swept across the scene before her eyes fixed on Aliana with something more than just disdain. There was an edge of amusement.

  Aliana’s breath caught in her throat. “Arlysa…Of course you’re still with them…”

  Arlysa gave a small, twisted smile. “Oh, I’m still with someone.” Her gaze flicked to Gaiza and Elena. “But wouldn’t you like to hear a secret?”

  Aliana’s eyes narrowed. She could feel it—the distinct absence of magical energy that signaled the complete depletion of Arlysa’s power. Weak.

  “It’d be too easy to end you right now,” she muttered. “You’re out of magic, Arlysa. You won’t last much longer. I could freeze you where you stand, and we’d be done with it.”

  But Arlysa’s twisted smile only grew. “Oh, I’m not here for a quick death, Aliana, Though it seems like I’d be doing you a favor by offering you an easy way out. But no. I’ve got something better for you.”

  Aliana tilted her head slightly. “Better? You must be delusional. You’ve got nothing left.”

  Arlysa’s eyes flashed, and she lifted a hand. “I may not have magic left, but I’ve still got information. Something that could benefit both of us. All I’m asking is that you hear me out. Just a moment of your time.”

  Aliana’s eyes flashed with irritation but her mind buzzed with curiosity.

  Arlysa’s twisted smile deepened and she leaned slightly on her cracked staff.

  “Tell me, Aliana…Have you heard about my plans for Sylra yet?”

  Aliana’s brow furrowed. Sylra? She’d nearly forgotten about the girl who had been Arlysa’s most devoted student. Aliana’s gaze flicked toward the battlefield, and she spotted her—Sylra, lying unconscious not far from the others.

  A dark chuckle that bubbled up from Arlysa’s throat. “ She is the key to everything. You should really hear me out.”

  Aliana’s eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, Arlysa?”

  Arlysa’s lips curled into a smile that made Aliana’s blood run cold.

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