Noel paused for a mont, as if checking where to begin, then spoke again, voice steady but threaded with mory.
"Once it was just and Noir," he said, glancing briefly at her before looking back at Nicolas. "The first thing I had to do was explore the island I landed on. There weren’t any monsters there, not a single one. Instead, I t soone." A faint smile touched his lips. "An old man nad Theo. He lived in a lighthouse and controlled it. He could see the entire island from there. Honestly... an incredible guy."
He continued without rushing, letting the story unfold naturally. "He helped the whole ti. Acted as my guide, warned about the sea, about the islands. While I was there, I realized sothing important. Shadow Step wasn’t as limited as I thought. I could use it over much longer distances."
Nicolas listened closely.
"So I did," Noel went on. "I jumped from island to island with it. That’s how I started searching for everyone. One by one, I found them. Sohow, all of them were okay." He exhaled. "That’s when I learned sothing else too. Shadow Step can take others with . As long as there’s physical contact, they can travel with ."
His tone darkened, just slightly.
"Everything was going fine," he said. "Until we reached the last island." A brief pause.
"Marcus’s island. Roberto’s island."
Nicolas remained quiet for a few seconds after Noel finished, his fingers resting loosely over the blanket. Then he looked up again, eyes sharper despite the fatigue.
"What happened then?" he asked. "From the way you stopped... it sounds like sothing went very wrong."
Noel nodded once. "It did. Yeah." His jaw tightened before he continued. "When we reached the last island, we felt it imdiately. Or rather—" He glanced down at Noir. "She did. Noir knew sothing was wrong. Not just dangerous. Wrong. She felt the energy of the First Pillar."
Nicolas’s expression didn’t change much, but sothing heavy passed through his gaze. "The first one," he murmured. "I see. So he moved before you realized what was happening."
"Yeah," Noel said. "I didn’t waste ti. I used Shadow Step the mont that feeling hit." His voice lowered slightly. "I reappeared right next to Marcus."
The mory was still too clear.
"And that’s when I saw Roberto," Noel went on. "He looked like he was fighting the Second Pillar alone. One on one. At first glance, it almost made sense." He let out a slow breath. "But my instincts went crazy. They were screaming at to run. To move. To get out of there imdiately."
Nicolas listened without interrupting.
"I trusted that feeling," Noel said. "I Shadow Stepped away the instant it hit." His eyes hardened. "And the mont I vanished, a beam of light tore through the space where I’d been standing."
Silence stretched between them.
"That beam," Noel added quietly, "that’s what left Marcus in the state he was in. If I’d hesitated even a second, that would’ve been ."
Nicolas’s voice ca low and certain. "Light magic," he said. "There aren’t many who wield it like that."
Noel t his eyes. "Only one."
Nicolas exhaled slowly. "...Roberto."
"Yes," Noel said, the word steady but heavy. "Roberto is the First Pillar."
The truth settled into the room, final and unavoidable.
Nicolas’s brows drew together slowly as the pieces settled into place. "I had no idea," he admitted at last. "During the tournant... the First Pillar appeared first." His fingers curled faintly against the sheets. "That was when my core was destroyed. I barely survived it."
He exhaled slowly. "Roberto appeared shortly after, offering his help. He must have concealed himself extrely well for all that ti." His gaze lowered for a mont. "All I can say is that I’m sorry, Noel. To you, and to the others. I should have been able to protect you better."
Noel moved without thinking, reaching out and taking his hand. His grip was firm, grounding. "You have nothing to apologize for," he said quietly. "If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died long ago. Lereus, for one. And more than a few other tis." His voice steadied. "I’m grateful. I always will be. You believed in when it didn’t make sense to anyone else."
Nicolas held his hand, then nodded once. "Then... what happened after?"
"We talked," Noel said. "Roberto and I. Even with the Second Pillar there, he didn’t let him move. Not once. He wanted to talk to ." Noel’s jaw tightened. "What he said was strange. I tried to convince him to walk away. To join us. I asked if our friendship ant nothing to him." He shook his head. "It didn’t change anything."
He went on, words coming faster now. "He said he was tired. That he wanted to end everything. That he was trapped in a loop too, because of Noctis and Elarin. He’s been in the middle of all this alone." A pause. "For a mont, I wanted to believe him. He even gave an advantage, told the Second Pillar not to act until I attacked. None of it felt real."
Noel swallowed. "Before he left, he said he’d be waiting for . That we’d have a final battle. Just the two of us." His eyes t Nicolas’s. "I don’t know what to do. I have a year. I’m not alone anymore—I rely on the others now. I’ve changed. I didn’t take revenge when I could have. I didn’t choose the cruel path. And still... I don’t know."
Nicolas was silent for a long mont, thinking. Then he spoke, voice calm and unmistakably his. "You have changed, Noel. I’ve seen it. As your professor, as your director, I’m proud of where you stand." His gaze sharpened. "But don’t let Roberto dictate your choices. You were alone once. You aren’t now. Don’t undo the decisions you fought to make."
He squeezed Noel’s hand. "Go with them. Prepare. Let Redna help you. Let Daemar help you. Let the girls help you. Everyone who can." A faint, tired smile appeared. "If Roberto betrayed you once, don’t hesitate because of the past. Prepare well. And win."
His breath hitched, and a cough followed—dry, insistent—breaking the stillness of the room.
Nicolas’s coughing eased slowly, each breath shallower than the last. Noel didn’t pull his hand away. If anything, his grip tightened, as if holding on could anchor the mont in place.
"It’s alright," Nicolas said quietly, noticing it. His voice was thin, but calm. "You don’t have to hold so tight."
Noel didn’t answer. His eyes stayed on Nicolas’s face, morizing it in pieces he didn’t trust himself to rember later. The lines at the corner of his eyes. The faint, tired curve of his mouth. The way his expression had softened into sothing peaceful, unburdened.
"I ant what I said," Nicolas continued after a pause. "About living your life. About choosing it." His fingers shifted weakly in Noel’s grasp, returning the pressure as best they could. "Don’t carry this mont as a weight. Carry it as proof."
Noel swallowed. "You always say things like that," he murmured. "Like you already know how they’re going to land."
A quiet breath of amusent left Nicolas. "That’s because," he said, "I’ve had a lot of ti to think about what matters."
Silence settled between them.
Nicolas’s gaze drifted past Noel, toward the window. Toward the academy beyond it, its silhouette resting in the distance like a mory made of stone. The place where he had taught. Where he had argued. Where he had believed in children who would one day stop being children at all.
"It’s bright today," he said softly.
Noel turned his head just enough to follow his line of sight. Sunlight filtered in through the glass, touching the bed, the floor, Nicolas’s sleeve. "Yeah," he replied. "It is."
Nicolas breathed in once more. Slowly. Peacefully.
And then he didn’t breathe out.
Noel felt it before he understood it. The weight in Nicolas’s hand changing. The warmth fading, subtle at first, then unmistakable. He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He just stayed there, holding on, as if waiting for sothing to correct itself.
Nothing did.
Nicolas’s expression remained calm. Rested. As if he had simply decided to stop.
Noel’s vision blurred. Tears gathered and spilled over, silent and steady, tracing lines down his cheeks without sound. His shoulders didn’t shake. No sob escaped his throat. He just cried, eyes fixed on the academy through the window, on the place that had shaped so much of who he was standing here now.
His grip tightened around Nicolas’s hand, fingers curling as the last of the warmth slipped away. He bowed his head slightly, forehead hovering near the bed.
"...You were a good director," he said quietly. The words trembled, but they didn’t break. "And a good friend."
No answer ca.
Noir shifted beside him, sensing it the mont it happened. She rose onto the bed without hesitation, sitting close, her presence solid and warm. She looked at Nicolas once, then at Noel.
Noel didn’t look away from the window. "Noir," he said softly. "Please... let Seraphina and the others know."
’Of course, dad,’ Noir replied without hesitation, her voice gentle and certain. ’I’ll tell them.’
She lingered for a heartbeat longer, then slipped away, her form dissolving into shadow as quietly as she had arrived.
Noel stayed where he was.
Holding on.
And beyond the glass, the academy stood unchanged, bathed in light, unaware that one of its pillars had just quietly, finally, co to rest.
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