"That is the girl you need to bring down."
The voice inside her spoke.
Her eyes lingered on Irina for a mont longer than necessary before she tore her gaze away, a faint clench in her jaw betraying the irritation simring beneath her composed exterior. She had more important things to concern herself with.
Yet, before she could take another step, a voice called out from the crowd.
"Maya!"
A fellow sophomore, a girl nad Elaine, weaved her way through the bustling cadets to reach her. Elaine was friendly, competent, and soone Maya had worked with on multiple occasions. Normally, she wouldn't mind the company, but right now…
Elaine grinned, oblivious to the storm quietly brewing within Maya. "We're heading to the lounge for a bit. Want to co with us?"
Maya hesitated.
A few months ago, she wouldn't have thought twice about agreeing. Spending ti with her classmates, strengthening relationships, maintaining a presence—that was the natural order of things.
But right now, her mind was elsewhere. The irritation from earlier still clung to her like an unwanted presence, the words she had overheard, the pictures she had seen—they refused to leave her thoughts.
Not to ntion the faint whispers of her other self, lurking at the edges of her consciousness.
"Look at her."
"Standing there so confidently, so sure of herself."
"And you? You're here. Wasting ti."
Maya's fingers curled slightly at her sides, her nails pressing faintly into her palms.
She didn't have the patience for this today.
"I'll pass," she said, her voice perfectly polite but carrying no room for argunt.
Elaine blinked, clearly surprised. "Oh. Are you busy?"
Maya simply nodded. "Sothing I need to take care of."
Elaine didn't push further, sensing the finality in Maya's tone. "Alright, maybe next ti." With that, she turned back to join the others, her excitent unbothered.
Maya exhaled slowly.
She needed to cool her head down.
******
The crisp evening air greeted Maya as she stepped onto the academy's expansive training grounds. The echoes of sparring cadets filled the space, the clashing of weapons and the occasional burst of mana-infused techniques blending into the rhythmic hum of combat.
She barely spared the others a glance as she moved with purpose, her path set toward the Elental Chamber—her usual refuge.
"You should be doing sothing."
Her other self's voice slithered into her thoughts, smooth yet laced with impatience.
Maya exhaled sharply through her nose, her pace unwavering. "I am."
"No, you're distracting yourself. Again." The voice scoffed. "You saw her. You heard them. Irina Emberheart stands there like she's untouchable, and you're here, avoiding the inevitable."
Maya's jaw tightened, but she didn't deny it.
She had seen Irina's confidence—how she carried herself, how she seed utterly unbothered by anything. Even after everything that had happened, after the rumors, after the whispers, Irina moved as though she was always in control.
That fact grated against Maya more than she was willing to admit.
And her other self knew it.
"You don't have the luxury of waiting anymore," the voice pressed, its tone sharper now. "I told you—she's the one standing in your way. If you don't move first, she'll take everything from you."
Maya's fingers twitched at her sides. She knew that.
But things had been moving too fast. She had barely had the ti to think about how to act, how to strike properly.
Too much had happened—her realization about her other self, the confrontation with Irina at the infirmary, the storm of emotions that had been suffocating her since. And through it all, Astron's presence remained at the center.
She couldn't deny that he was a part of this equation.
Irina wasn't just standing tall on her own—she was standing beside him.
And that…
That bothered her.
"You agree with , don't you?" her other self whispered, softer now, coaxing. "You know I'm right. You know what you need to do. So why aren't you acting?"
Maya stepped past the training rings, heading toward the isolated structure of the Elental Chamber. The building shimred faintly under the mana-infused lights, its crystalline walls humming with power.
She reached for the door and pushed it open. The familiar rush of concentrated mana filled her lungs as she stepped inside.
Silence.
Here, away from the noise of the academy, away from prying eyes, she could finally breathe.
Maya let her satchel slip from her shoulder, landing lightly against the smooth marble floor. She exhaled deeply, rolling her shoulders as she turned her thoughts inward.
"You're asking why I haven't acted?" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her other self was silent for a mont, before responding, "Yes."
Maya closed her eyes, feeling the raw energy of the chamber pulse around her. "Because I need ti."
A sharp, bitter laugh echoed in her mind. "Ti? Ti for what?"
"Ti to think," she answered, her voice steady but laced with frustration. "I won't act impulsively."
Maya stood in the center of the Elental Chamber, the air around her thick with latent mana. The ambient energy pulsed against her skin, like a silent reminder of her presence, of her control. But inside, her mind was anything but steady.
Her own words echoed back at her.
"I won't act impulsively."
Yet, the mont she said it, sothing felt… off.
She had been acting impulsively.
Ti and ti again, whenever Astron was involved, she had let herself act without thinking—stepping in, inserting herself into his business, demanding sothing that she never defined. And Astron, for all his patience, had tolerated it.
But did he like it?
Her breath hitched slightly at the thought. The answer was clear.
No.
Maya wasn't foolish enough to deny it. She had watched him carefully—studied his every move, his reactions, the way his gaze sotis flickered with sothing unreadable whenever she spoke. He had never outright rejected her presence, but neither had he welcod it.
He simply let it happen.
Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.
This was why she was controlling herself now. Why she wasn't storming forward like before. She needed to think. To understand.
She wouldn't make the mistake of pushing too far. Not again.
And yet—
Laughter echoed in her mind, dark and mocking.
"Ah, so that's it."
Maya's eyes narrowed.
"You're afraid."
She straightened, her spine stiffening. "That's not true."
Her other self humd, amused. "No? Then what else would you call it? You've never hesitated before. You always went after what you wanted. But now? You're frozen. You tell yourself it's for control, but let's be honest, Maya—you're scared."
Maya clenched her jaw. "I'm being careful. That's different."
The laughter ca again, softer this ti, curling through her thoughts like smoke. "Careful? Or hesitant?"
Maya inhaled sharply, steadying herself. "I'm thinking. For once, I'm thinking before I act. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"
Her other self sighed, almost disappointed. "You're hesitating because you fear the answer. You fear that if you push too hard, he'll reject you. That if you stand your ground, if you stop dancing around your feelings, you'll lose him."
Maya's breath ca slower now, asured and even.
It wasn't wrong.
But it wasn't right either.
She wasn't hesitating because she feared losing him. She was hesitating because she was trying to respect his boundaries, not just her own.
That was the difference.
"That's why you don't get it," Maya murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "You don't understand what it ans to care about soone outside of yourself."
"What did you say?"
But then once again her world turned crimson.
Reviews
All reviews (0)