The world outside the trap's invisible edge carried on like nothing was wrong, or at least that's how it seemed if you didn't know what to look for.
The sky was clear, the sun warm, and the streets were busy with people going about their day.
Meanwhile, over at the Astralis university, the gardens looked as they always did in late morning, with sunlight falling across the old stone paths and scattering between the leaves overhead.
The grass between the lecture halls was freshly cut, and the faint smell of tea from the little café by the west arch mixed with the dry, clean scent of polished wood that always seemed to cling to the library doors.
Students moved in loose clusters, some rushing to make it to class, heads down and steps quick, while others wandered at an easy pace, talking to friends or staring off toward the rows of trees as though the world beyond them was just a thought away.
