The corridor lay locked in stillness. Students were frozen mid-step, laughter caught in their throats, drinks hanging in the air like painted stars.
Even Alex’s body refused to obey him, every muscle bound by invisible chains. Only his mind was free, sharp as a blade.
’This suffocating stillness... it’s her,’ he thought grimly.
The silence broke with a voice smooth, commanding, and impossibly calm.
"Long ti no see, Alex... or should I call you Lucifer Morning-star now?"
The air shimred in front of him, and from the folds of reality itself, a girl erged—Evelyn Williams.
Golden hair cascaded down like strands of sunlight, her golden eyes glowing faintly with divinity.
Her face was perfection sculpted, every curve refined to flawlessness—a beauty that could topple kingdoms with a glance.
The sway of her hips carried an elegance so commanding that even the air bent to her rhythm.
She walked toward him as though the entire world was hers to command, her every step a proclamation of superiority.
She stopped just before him, her expressionless face close enough to feel the trace of her breath.
Slowly, deliberately, she reached out slender fingers and brushed against his cheek.
With the gentleness of a lover but the authority of a god, she pulled away his skeletal mask.
Athyst eyes were revealed beneath—eyes in which galaxies seed to swirl, stars burning faintly in their depths.
His black hair frad the glow, and though his features were unchanged, his presence sharpened.
Evelyn’s lips parted faintly. Her golden eyes flickered.
’His previous looks were good... but damn, this one...’
A voice in her head—Aurora—laughed.
[ Yeah, I’m digging this one too. Those black hair and athyst eyes suit him better. ]
Alex raised an eyebrow at Evelyn’s lingering gaze. She caught it imdiately and smirked faintly.
"You can talk. I made sure that sharp tongue of yours still works. I froze you because I know you’d never listen otherwise."
Alex t her golden gaze, his tone sharp and simple.
"How."
Her smirk deepened, and she circled around him slowly, her golden hair glinting as she moved.
"How, huh? That’s a good question... one I’m still trying to answer myself."
He frowned, and she stopped behind him, her tone shifting to a soft confession.
"I’m glad you’re alive and well, Alex."
She ca around to face him again, eyes narrowing.
"Exactly six months ago, on the day you and my brother were kidnapped, I saw a vision. A vision that shook to my core."
Her voice grew heavier.
"In that vision, I saw you. . And others—faces I vaguely recognized.
But I knew that place... the Age of Gods. Confused, I asked Aurora what that vision ant.
But she was just as shocked.
Because neither of us recognized you at all. It was as if you didn’t exist. Not a single mory of you in that era. Impossible. And yet..."
Alex’s brow furrowed. ’Is she talking about... when I touched Ethan’s sword during the fight with the twins?’
He looked at her sharply.
"That doesn’t answer my question."
Her lips curled faintly.
"The man I saw in that vision... was beyond comprehension. The powers he possessed were beyond understanding.
And he looked exactly like you."
Her golden eyes bored into him.
"So when the news ca that you died, I didn’t believe it. Not for a second. Aurora confird it too—you had survived."
Alex’s voice dropped into a cold edge.
"I’ll say this only once. Release ."
Evelyn’s smile faded. For the first ti, her expression softened into sothing almost pleading.
"I will. But promise one thing."
His eyes narrowed.
"What."
To his shock, Evelyn lowered herself to her knees. She bowed so deeply her golden hair spilled across the floor, her forehead touching the polished stone.
"Please," she whispered, voice trembling with sothing far heavier than pride, "forgive my brother. He only did what he thought he had to in order to save the lives he could."
Alex’s expression darkened, his aura flaring.
The very air vibrated as particles of ti itself bent and shifted around him. Slowly, his limbs moved again despite her still-active spell.
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
’How...? I didn’t lift the spell.’
His voice was icy.
"Get up."
She rose, stunned, as his gaze bore down on her.
Alex’s voice grew heavier, laced with restrained fury.
"Did you know? That I was going to die in that dinsion when your brother left to rot?"
Evelyn closed her eyes briefly, then nodded. "He told everything."
Her voice softened, but the words were like daggers.
"Believe ... when he told , he looked more broken than I’ve ever seen in my life. He didn’t eat for days. Every ti he tried, he vomited everything back up."
She took a breath, her tone trembling despite her usual divine calm.
"Even now, he hasn’t seen our mother. He says he doesn’t have the courage... not after what he did.
To tell her that her son abandoned his friend... left him bleeding on the ground, looking at him with hopeful eyes that he would save him—all in the na of so so-called greater good that he himself feels disgusted at."
Her golden gaze dimd, guilt flickering deep inside.
"He suffers, Alex. Even now. The friends he once fought beside barely speak to him. They look at him only with disdain. They don’t even acknowledge him anymore."
The weight of her words lingered in the frozen air, pressing against Alex’s chest.
Her hands clenched at her sides, her golden aura flickering faintly.
"He suffers every day. He just tries to appear strong."
The corridor stood unnaturally still, the frozen air suffocating, Evelyn’s golden eyes locked onto Alex as though searching for sothing hidden behind his calm. Her voice trembled, rare for soone who carried herself like divinity.
"All those people ignore him as if he’s a stranger," she whispered, "even though everything he did was to save their lives."
She stepped closer, lifting her chin with quiet defiance.
"If it weren’t for , Seraphina, and Ophelia giving him emotional support, he would’ve broken long ago."
She drew a breath, steadying herself before her words cut sharp.
"So tell , Alex... if you were in his place, would you have done better? Would you have saved everyone without sacrificing anything?"
Her eyes softened, but her tone pressed hard.
"Please. I beg of you—" her golden lashes lowered as she bowed her head slightly "—forgive him."
Alex said nothing. His face was unreadable, but the weight in his gaze pressed against her like a storm waiting to break. Finally, his lips parted, and his voice ca out low and cutting.
"You know," he began, "as I was bleeding on that cold ground the day your brother abandoned , a storm of emotions clawed at my chest—betrayal, sadness, anger, hopelessness."
His athyst eyes glowed faintly as he leaned forward.
"But oddly, one emotion I didn’t feel was hatred. Not for Ethan. Not for my so-called friends."
His voice sharpened as his aura flared, cracking faint distortions into the frozen corridor.
"Because it wasn’t the first ti I was abandoned. The first betrayal didn’t co from an outsider. It ca from my own parents."
Evelyn’s breath hitched slightly as Alex’s tone dropped darker.
"They left a ten-year-old boy with a six-year-old girl to fend for themselves. No roof, no money, no one. Just the cold streets and hunger." His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles whitening. "We didn’t even know if we’d survive to see tomorrow. But we did. I survived everything thrown at , no matter the odds. I fought tooth and nail."
His expression twisted into sothing between a smirk and a grimace.
"I scamd when I had to.
I stole when I had to.
I bled when I had to.
I killed when I had to.
At twelve years old, when so bastard tried to kidnap my sister to sell her as a slave—luckily he was unawakened—I slit his throat myself."
He leaned closer, eyes swirling with galaxies, voice dropping to a growl.
"And you know what? That wasn’t the first ti I felt it. That sa feeling I felt the day my parents left us."
His lips curled. "Hatred."
Evelyn stayed quiet, her golden aura dimming, her fingers tightening at her sides.
"My sister," Alex said, voice lowering with bitter irony, "she still loves them. She says they must’ve had an ergency. Sothing important. But ? I loathe them so much that I don’t even know what I’ll do if they ever stand before again." His gaze burned into Evelyn’s.
"So believe when I say this: what I feel for your brother isn’t hatred. Because if it was, I’d have taken his head off the mont I saw him in the exam."
Evelyn’s eyes flickered with faint relief, but Alex lifted his hand sharply.
"Don’t misunderstand . What I feel is betrayal. Anger."
He let his words hang, the silence choking. Then he smirked bitterly.
"When I first ca to this academy, I thought maybe I could trust people again.
That maybe I could share my life with soone else. But your brother opened my eyes again.
He reminded of the truth—" his aura flared, crushing the air around them "—this world is every man for himself. Never trust anyone with your life."
He exhaled slowly, his voice cooling into razor calm.
"So yes, I’m thankful to him. For reminding of reality. And as for forgiveness..." his smirk widened cruelly, "that’s not sothing I can give right now."
Evelyn clenched her hands together, her golden light flickering. "Then—"
"But," Alex interrupted, his voice booming in the frozen corridor, "before he left to die, do you know what your brother said?"
Her eyes trembled faintly. "What?"
"He said to never forgive him. And for once, we both agree."
Evelyn’s lips parted, but Alex’s tone cut her off like a blade.
"I know the choice he made was logical.
I know it took courage. Hell—I’m even impressed he had the guts to make it. So no, I won’t kill him.
If that’s what worries you.
If I wanted to kill him, he would already be dead. At the test we just had, I would’ve taken his head off if I wanted.
But I’m just disappointed in him.
So when he finds out I’m alive... tell him this—stay out of my way. And never ask for forgiveness."
Evelyn let out a bitter chuckle, then gave a faint, sad smirk. "That’s enough for ."
She nodded once, dismissing the topic.
So ti passed in silence and stillness.
Then suddenly Evelyn’s golden eyes followed him quietly as she said, "Looks like you’re coming from the Student Council office. eting with Alicia?"
Alex shot her a sharp glance. "How’s that any of your concern?"
"You’re right. It isn’t." She snapped her fingers, and the frozen corridor roared back into motion, students blinking as if nothing had happened.
Alex didn’t look back, simply walking toward the warp gate, his coat billowing behind him.
But then Evelyn’s voice ca from behind, faintly teasing yet heavy with aning.
"Did you like her?"
Alex’s steps faltered just for a mont, then he resud walking without answering. Evelyn didn’t stop him again.
Inside her mind, Aurora’s voice echoed.
[ You still have a chance. ]
Evelyn gave a bitter smirk, her golden eyes softening.
And then, Alex’s voice drifted back through the corridor, sharp and rciless.
"Oh, and by the way—about defiling at the ball..."
Evelyn froze, her cheeks instantly reddening.
"Consider this my compensation. Send ten million credits. I’ll forward the details."
Her golden eyes widened, her lips parting to snap back—but by then, Alex’s presence had already vanished, leaving her standing there, red-cheeked and astonished.
-----
A/N:
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