The days passed slower than I wanted. I didn't cry again after that night. I couldn't afford to. Grief didn't vanish, but it learned to sit quietly in the background.
And then the call came. Lilith wanted us to gather.
The rumors were already circulating before the official notice. Three of us, hand-picked, special and dangerous. I hated that word.
I walked to her house just after sunrise. The air was thick with dew and the scent of petrichor. The jungle trees that surrounded the edge of the village swayed gently, their thick, ancient roots curling into the stone paths.
Lilith stood in front of her house , arms crossed over her black and gold robe. She was one of the strongest Flux Elites, even if she didn't act like it.
The others were already there.
The girl had caramel-colored hair tied back in a tight braid, and one emerald eye gleamed from under her bangs. The other eye was gray, which was an anomaly in this region. Most islanders had variations of green, though mine had a blue depth to them no one else quite shared. She was sharp and lean, with a calmness to her face that rubbed me the wrong way.
Her name was probably something delicate, some tribal name passed down like a birthright. Her posture was proud. Even her Flux aura pulsed evenly. It was Elemental. I could tell by the way the air shimmered faintly around her skin.
The boy was broader than the average twelve-year-old. He stood with arms folded, glancing around like he was already bored.
He has brown hair with strands of copper, deep purple eyes that marked him as someone gifted, or cursed, depending on who you asked. He had the Psyche Flux. I'd heard rumors that the mountain chief's son could already tap into emotional resonance and memory fragments. He looked at me once, then looked away. I was already irrelevant to him.
They didn't greet me or ask who I was or why I was here. They didn't need to.
Everyone knew me.
"Verdamona," they whispered when I passed through the village.
"She's the beauty with the cursed eyes."
"She's too powerful for her own good."
I was the girl raised by the community, praised for my potential, feared for my silence. They loved me when I smiled. They flinched when I fought. They didn't understand I wasn't doing it for them. Still, I stood beside them like an equal, at least for now.
Lilith cleared her throat, her voice firm but without hostility.
"Alright you three. Listen well, because I'm not repeating any of this. From today onward, your lives belong to me."
A gust of wind swept through the clearing. None of us flinched.
"You've been selected not because you're exceptional but because you're unfinished. Your Fluxes awakened ahead of schedule. That's not a blessing. That's a problem. And problems can be corrected with time."
I could feel the girl bristle. The boy tilted his head, probably trying to probe her surface thoughts.
Lilith continued, "You'll be training under me for ten years. You will not leave without permission. You will not live with your families. You'll eat, sleep, and bleed under my roof. Except for Verdamona. Her house is nearby. But for you two—"
She pointed at them with two fingers. "—welcome to your new home."
The girl blinked slowly. The boy smirked. Lilith's eyes sharpened.
"Now. Your training will be divided into three phases. You'll be tested at ages thirteen, fifteen, and seventeen. Fail any of those evaluations, and you're done. You'll never be allowed to train your Flux formally again. That's a lifetime ban."
The threat wasn't just in her tone. It was law. Formal Flux training wasn't just about growing stronger. It was a rite of passage. Losing that meant losing your identity.
"Phase One," she said, pointing toward the slope behind her. "From now until age thirteen. That's six years. You will build your body, your stamina, and your limits. Because if your soul is a sword, your body is the sheath. Weak sheaths shatter."
She clapped her hands once, and the sound echoed across the slope.
Three boulders materialized behind her. They weren't comically large but just big enough to be annoying and heavy enough to break a few ribs if one rolled over your foot. Their surfaces were smooth, marbled and marked with the color of our Flux.
My boulder had orange lines like string etched into stone.
"You'll push these down the hill, today. All the way to the bottom. Should take you five minutes. Enjoy it."
She paused, letting the silence wrap around us.
"Then you have six years to push them back up."
The girl exhaled. The boy furrowed his brow. I said nothing.
"You may not ask for help. You may not use tools. You may not cheat. I will know if you do. This is your Phase One. Prove you can do this, and I'll train you. Fail, and you're just another waste of potential."
She walked off to the side, motioning for us to begin.
"Verdamona. You're first."
I stepped forward, letting the other two watch. I didn't mind.
The boulder wasn't as heavy as I expected but it wasn't kind either. My palms burned instantly as I pressed my weight into it, bracing my legs against the earth. My feet slid a little as I pushed forward, shoulder hunched, stomach tight.
Every muscle in my back screamed but I didn't stop.
The stone budged then rolled faster than I anticipated. It began to tumble and bounce, cracking small rocks and skimming over roots until it finally crashed at the bottom of the slope with a dull thud.
The girl went next with no hesitation. She was calm, calculated, like everything was a checklist. Her push wasn't as strong, but she used her stance well. It rolled it down with precision.
The boy was last. He grunted like he wanted everyone to know how strong he was. The boulder nearly crushed his foot at one point, but he laughed it off. Typical psyche-type. Too proud to admit mistakes.
When it was over, we stood shoulder to shoulder, watching our boulders sit at the base of the hill, like tombstones waiting for a purpose. Lilith walked up behind us.
"This is your burden now. Push it up an inch every day. Or don't. Your choice. But come age thirteen, if that boulder isn't back in place, I'll know who wasted my time. So for now, get ready to live with me. Except you, Verdamona."
The two kids looked at me with a crude look. I didn't care. Let them underestimate me.
Let them call me the village beauty or the cursed girl or whatever whispered nonsense helped them sleep at night.
They didn't know what it meant to love and lose. They didn't know what it was like to hold death in their arms and scream at the sky. They didn't know what it felt like to earn your power through pain, not privilege.
I would push that boulder up every day if I had to bleed doing it.
But six years, huh?
That gives me more than enough time to perfect my Stringweave.