Kairo didn't sleep that night.
Not because he couldn't.
Because he dared not.
The first seal had cracked. The Keeper defeated. The whisper he used—"Hush"—still echoed faintly in the corners of his mind, like it hadn't stopped ringing even after the courtyard fell silent.
He sat in the academy's observatory tower, high above the main halls, where the stars flickered dimly through stained glass.
Below, the students whispered.
Above, something else listened.
---
Footsteps approached.
He didn't turn. He already knew the sound: deliberate, light, controlled.
> "I brought tea," Lyra said, setting the porcelain cup beside him. "And questions."
He finally looked at her.
> "I don't have answers."
She sat across from him anyway, hands folded, eyes watching the stars.
> "Then lie to me."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Instead, he asked: "What do they say?"
"Official report says the incident was a resonance backlash. No casualties. No blame."
She paused. "Unofficially? They're scared."
Kairo didn't respond.
> "And the headmasters?" he finally asked.
Lyra hesitated.
> "They've sent someone."
---
As if on cue, the doors to the observatory opened on their own.
No footsteps. No sound. Just… wind.
And then he entered.
A tall figure, cloaked in dark violet robes. No face—just a floating glass mask, smooth and reflective. Symbols drifted across the mask's surface like smoke.
> "Designation: Voiceborn."
"Authorization: Sealbreaker Detected."
"Protocol Initiated: Erasure."
Lyra stepped up, blade drawn. "He's a student. You can't just erase him!"
The masked figure tilted its head.
> "Correction. He was a student. Now, he is a risk."
Kairo stood slowly, voice calm. "Who sent you?"
> "The Silent Chorus. By decree of the Third Bell."
Lyra's grip tightened. "That's a Divine-level order…"
> "Any resistance will result in voiding your existence."
Kairo blinked once. "Then let's test that void."
He reached into his coat.
But the masked agent moved faster than sound—literally. It flickered from one end of the room to another in less than a heartbeat.
A symbol etched itself mid-air:
> "Mute."
The room fell into complete silence.
Not quiet—absence.
Even Lyra's footsteps made no sound. Her lips moved, but her voice didn't carry.
And then, the agent was in front of Kairo.
Hand outstretched.
> He's going to seal my voice.
If that happens… it's over.
Kairo did the only thing he could.
He mouthed a word.
Not spoke.
Just mouthed it.
And the world shivered.
The masked agent froze mid-motion.
Cracks spread across the air like shattered glass. The silence broke like a mirror thrown against stone.
And Kairo whispered—not into the air, but into the soul of the agent:
> "Remember."
The agent stumbled back.
The mask shattered.
And behind it…
A face.
Young. Human. Barely older than Kairo.
Eyes wide.
Tears falling.
> "I—I remember…"
The boy collapsed.
Lyra rushed over, catching him. "What did you do?!"
Kairo stood over him, eyes distant.
> "He was a Voiceborn once. Like me. They erased him."
He looked at his hand.
It trembled slightly.
> Seal Two… cracked.
From far above, the Third Bell tolled.
But no one heard it.
Except the gods.