I froze.
The image on Siara's screen didn't move, but everything else in me did — my pulse spiked, my mind started racing. I leaned closer, not trusting my eyes.
"That's... no. That can't be her," I said in total disbelief.
But it was. she seemed to be in pain too much. although i couldn't see clearly since the shot was from far away, i am sure she was clutching at her pendant. she was in outer circle. after five minutes from the start of the chant, it stopped. but the people in the rings floated where they were. but all of them were unconscious.
"Do not panic!" Kaelen called out, clearly sensing the tension in the air.
Yeah, sure. Because saying it out loud totally fixes the fact that a bunch of people just passed out midair.
"Their powers are simply being integrated into their bodies from the fractal circle," he explained, pointing upward. "I mean the glowing specks that had been circling the dark and light cores."
Now that he mentioned it, I noticed the shimmering shell that had surrounded the twin orbs was gone.
"They will regain consciousness once the dark and light fragments have fully merged with their rightful owners," Kaelen continued, calm as ever. "And the reason those two were not pulled into the circles is because they were already shown their visions earlier, through their spirit guides."
His eyes swept across the rooftop and beyond.
"So, the ones who now carry the fragments of light and shadow... please step forward and introduce yourselves."
At that moment, Siara gasped beside me. She was staring at her phone, eyes wide. I leaned closer to mine, tapped into the hot search feed — and there it was. Someone had stepped forward from the crowd gathered at Haukland Beach shore in Lofoten, Norway. A girl with dark auburn hair was floating — yes, floating — slowly toward the twin orbs above the sea. Panic was all over her face. And honestly, who could blame her? The ring of chosen ones there hovered at least a hundred meters above the water. One wrong move and it was a straight dive into the sea. People on the beach below watched in stunned silence as she drifted closer.
When she passed into the inner circle of Garriors and floated toward Kaelen, something strange happened — her image shimmered into view right here on our rooftop as well. Just like Kaelen, she now appeared across every projection, every illusion field around the world.
"Salva Snowwhite," Kaelen announced, his voice steady, "Garrior of the Light Fragment."
She hovered in front of him, clearly panicked, her eyes flicking down at the nothingness beneath her feet.
"Uh... hi," she managed, barely above a whisper.
At that moment, Herald — now standing a little behind Kaelen towards his right — tilted his head and offered a grin that was far too amused for the situation.
"Don't worry," he said cheerfully, "you won't fall. Or die. At least not right now."
Wow. So comforting.
As Salva blinked, still frozen in place, another man stepped forward — the one standing to Kaelen's left. He placed a hand lightly over Salva's head. His expression didn't change much, but one eyebrow lifted in interest.
"You have affinity toward all forms of mana," he said quietly, almost to himself. "Rare. It seems you are assigned... creation magic."
Salva looked like she had no idea what that meant which, to be fair, made two of us.
"Are they going to keep chattering?" Favian muttered, his voice tight. "Tavira is unconscious up there."
I couldn't help but glance back toward the circle above our college rooftop, where the floating forms of the chosen still hung in eerie silence. Tavira was among them. I could almost imagine my sister, halfway across the world, stuck in the same state — suspended, unresponsive, unreachable.
And the more I thought about it, the more restless I became. Maybe I was being irrational. Maybe I wasn't handling my emotions well. But how was I supposed to stay calm when I couldn't even get to her? When I couldn't do anything?
It was driving me crazy.
Beside me, Favian's jaw was clenched so tightly I could hear the grind of his teeth. "If they don't start waking people up soon, I swear—"
"Garrior of the dark fragment, step forward," Kaelen called out again, his voice calm and steady.
At that moment, I noticed someone leap straight off the roof — not float, not descend — jump. Directly toward the abyss-like circle at the center of the ground. What were they thinking?
I mean, sure, news had spread about the invisible, glass-like wall that had covered the open ground last time, keeping everything contained. But still, jumping headfirst into it? That was either extreme bravery or a complete lack of survival instinct. The person had jumped from the far end of the rooftop, way across from where I stood. I couldn't see their face, not from this distance, not through the cluster of heads between us. Also, let's be honest. My average height wasn't exactly helping the situation. I clutched Eron's sleeve, tugging just enough to catch his attention. "Hey. Did you see that person jump?"
He turned, squinting in the direction I pointed. Most eyes were still locked on Salva, so I wasn't sure how many had noticed this little fiasco. Honestly, I expected the person to bounce off or land smack against some invisible wall. But no, they passed through the boundary and entered the abyss . What caught me off guard even more? The spot they were going to land didn't have any of those spiral steps we'd seen form earlier. But right before they touched down, one of the steps shifted, adjusting and slotting a new platform into position just in time. From this distance, all I could tell was the hair — long, dark, and untied, falling forward with the motion of the landing. It seemed like a girl. Stereotypical, I know. But sometimes, you can't help it.
By now, the movement in the steps had caught everyone's eye. Slowly, attention shifted away from Salva and toward the mysterious newcomer, who was now nonchalantly walking through the abyss, each step aligning itself just before her feet touched it — as if the ground recognized her.
One approached from the sky, the other from the ground.
Polar opposites and Perfect symmetry.