The morning sun rolled over Keystone Academy in sheets of gold, cutting through the mist that still clung to the marble terraces. Training fields shimmered from last night's dew, and faint trails of steam rose where the early rays kissed the wet earth.
Jayden stood in the middle of the east courtyard, his blades resting by his side, the faint whisper of moving water echoing around him. He had been there for hours — practicing the fluid transitions Instructor Inbound had shown him the day before.
Her lessons were quiet, deliberate. She spoke little, but every motion of her hand carried purpose.
And when she fought, she didn't strike — she flowed.
Jayden had mimicked her patterns as best he could. The Eye of Creation pulsed faintly beneath his skin, responding to her every movement. The rhythm of her ice and his water had intertwined like twin rivers.
But something about the resonance had left an aftertaste — like he'd borrowed too much from a song he didn't yet understand.
He paused, exhaling frost. The water around him hung in the air for a moment, then fell in a thin sheet to the ground.
"Training before sunrise?"
He turned. Kira stood at the edge of the field, flame-threaded hair catching the morning light. She wore her standard dueling jacket, the crimson fabric half-unzipped, her gloves slung over her shoulder. Her expression was calm — almost curious.
"You've been out here since dawn," she said. "You don't know when to stop, do you?"
Jayden wiped his brow with his wrist. "Trying to keep up with the elites."
"Keep up?" Kira smiled faintly. "You mean me."
He shrugged, but the corner of his mouth twitched. "You said it, not me."
Her eyes narrowed — playful, but sharp. "Then prove it."
Jayden froze. "You're challenging me?"
"Think of it as... training," she said, stepping into the ring. "Let's see how well water holds against fire."
For a moment, silence hung between them. The faint sound of distant students faded. The morning air shifted — warmth meeting cool mist, fire and water already testing boundaries before either moved.
Jayden sighed softly and summoned his relics. The Moonshine Blades shimmered into being, water condensing into solid silver. Across from him, Kira slipped on her gloves — and the air around her changed. The faint hum of fire rose, steady and alive.
"Ready?" she asked.
He nodded once. "Always."
The courtyard exploded into motion.
Kira moved first — fast, deliberate, no wasted effort. A ring of flame flared around her as she dashed forward, her boots burning trails across the stone. Jayden raised his blades, redirecting her first strike with a burst of pressurized water. Steam roared between them.
She spun low, fire arcing from her heel. Jayden stepped back, the edge of the flame grazing his coat. The heat licked at his skin, biting, alive.
She was faster than he remembered.
He pushed off, sliding across the wet ground, blades cutting in flowing rhythm — one high, one low. She dodged both, answering with a spinning flare that sent tongues of flame curving outward like blooming petals.
Jayden rolled through, water coiling around him, shaping a shield that swallowed the heat. When he emerged, he struck back — the twin blades slicing twin arcs through the air.
The fire met water, clashing in a burst of hissing light.
Kira grinned. "Not bad, Keystone."
"Not bad yourself," he said, breath steady.
She lunged again — left hand thrusting forward, flames gathering at her palm like a heart ready to burst. Jayden saw the movement, predicted the direction — the same stance Instructor Inbound had used, just inverted for fire.
Something inside him clicked.
The Eye of Creation flared faintly, unseen beneath his skin. His perception widened — her movement slowed, the lines of heat bending before his mind could register them. He saw how her flame twisted, how her wrist flexed to guide the motion.
And then — he mirrored it.
He moved the same way, his blade trailing water that spiraled like flame. For a heartbeat, their elements aligned — fire inside water, water inside fire. The clash birthed a shockwave that cracked the ground beneath their feet.
Kira blinked, startled. "You—how did you—?"
But Jayden wasn't hearing her. The Eye pulsed harder, flooding him with patterns, instincts that weren't his. His limbs followed flows that belonged to someone else — elegant, perfect, wrong.
And then the pattern collapsed.
Pain tore through his chest. The water around him shattered into vapor, and his knees hit the ground. A sharp sting flared behind his right eye — like molten glass.
"Jayden!" Kira dropped her guard immediately, rushing forward. "What was that? You—your aura—it just—"
He forced a breath through clenched teeth. The glow faded beneath his skin, leaving only exhaustion in its wake. "I overreached."
"What do you mean?"
He met her gaze, his voice hoarse. "You can't copy the sun without getting burned."
Kira frowned, confusion flickering in her eyes. Then she helped him stand. The air around them still shimmered faintly — where flame and water had clashed, the ground had turned to smooth glass.
For a while, neither spoke. The only sound was the faint drip of water from Jayden's blades.
Kira crossed her arms. "Whatever that was… it wasn't normal."
"I know."
"You should be careful with it."
He gave a small, tired laugh. "That's the problem, Kira. I don't even know what it is."
She looked at him — long, steady — then sighed and turned away. "Then find out before it kills you."
As she walked off the field, Jayden stared at his reflection in the blade. His right eye shimmered faintly — not bright, not glowing, but alive.
For just a moment, he saw flickers within it — patterns of fire, ice, lightning, stone. All turning, all waiting.
The Eye of Creation had stirred.
And it had remembered.