(POV: Haru / Ren / Nagi)
Haru stirred, but something was wrong. Her green aura flickered, unstable. She could feel herself slipping—not fully gone, but not fully present either. The chamber beneath the stage had begun to claim fragments of her soul.
Ren knelt beside her, crimson threads wrapping gently around her aura. "Stay with me!"
Haru's eyes widened. "The music… it's taking me… like it took him…" She glanced at the empty space where Tsubasa had vanished.
Nagi stepped forward, violet aura pulsing. "It's not just a test anymore. The academy decides who will vanish, and it does so without mercy. You are only partially tethered now. One misstep…"
And she would be gone forever.