The next morning arrived with a softness that felt almost suspicious.
Birds chirped.
Wind rustled gently through the courtyard trees.
Even the aether—normally the loudest troublemaker—seemed to hum at a tolerable volume.
Arav stretched his arms and rubbed sleep from his eyes.
It felt like the world had finally given him a break.
Which, of course, meant that it probably hadn't.
He stepped outside and blinked at how ordinary everything looked. Guards walked their routes calmly. Servants carried baskets of herbs. The courtyard stones warmed under the early sun.
For once… nothing was bending, crackling, glowing, shaking, or threatening to explode.
Arav wasn't sure if he trusted that.
---
Aaryan and Sharanya were already waiting for him in the training circle. They exchanged a brief glance when he approached—one of those silent conversations adults have that makes children suspicious.
"Today," Aaryan said, "we try something gentler. Not flame. Not aether-sight. Just sensing."
Arav sat down cross-legged.
"Close your eyes," Sharanya said softly. "Listen to the world, but don't answer it. Let it pass through you."
He obeyed.
At first he heard small things.
Wind brushing leaves.
Distant footsteps.
Isha yelling something about rescuing a frog.
Normal noises.
Then he felt the aether.
It pulsed faintly—like a heartbeat that did not belong to him.
Slow.
Warm.
Almost cautious.
Arav breathed carefully.
He didn't reach for it.
He didn't respond.
He simply let it exist.
For a moment, it worked.
The world felt still.
Peaceful.
Balanced.
Until—
A faint ripple trembled under the ground.
Not a distortion.
Not danger.
A pulse.
Like someone knocking on the door of his senses.
His flame stirred.
His heartbeat quickened.
Aaryan noticed instantly.
"Ease your breath. Stay centered."
Sharanya placed a hand on his back, grounding him.
Arav exhaled slowly. The ripple moved through him without grabbing hold. It passed like a wave slipping beneath a boat.
The flame inside him settled again.
Sharanya smiled softly. "You did well."
Aaryan nodded, approval faint but unmistakable. "Much better than yesterday."
Arav let out a shy grin.
For the first time, he felt like he wasn't drowning in the world.
He was learning to float.
---
Isha ran toward them, carrying a small wooden bucket.
"Look! I saved Mr. Frog! He lives here now!"
Arav peered inside.
Mr. Frog looked distressed.
"Isha," he said cautiously, "frogs don't live in buckets."
"They do now," she declared confidently.
Sharanya pinched the bridge of her nose.
Aaryan muttered something about needing stronger estate rules.
Mr. Frog croaked in existential despair.
Arav sighed. "We'll… talk about frog relocation later."
Isha beamed proudly. "See? Bhaiya supports Mr. Frog!"
Arav shook his head. "I never agreed—"
Too late.
Isha had already run off to "prepare his home."
Aaryan murmured, "Your sister is a natural disaster."
Arav grumbled, "At least her disasters don't warp reality."
---
POV — Elder Varun
In the observation tower miles away, Varun studied the latest resonance wave.
It was small.
Controlled.
Gentle.
"Interesting," he murmured. "The child adapts faster than predicted."
He pulled up an older record—last year's reading from another prodigy born under a thunderstorm.
Two pulses.
Two signatures.
Both rising.
Both stabilizing.
But both reacting to each other.
Varun tapped the flame signature on the display.
"You are learning."
He tapped the thunder signature.
"And you are responding."
He closed the screen with a frown.
"This generation will not be peaceful."
---
Back at the Ashvathar estate, Arav walked through the courtyard after training. He watched servants arrange herbs, guards adjust their routes, and caretakers brush dust from pathways.
Everyone looked normal.
No one seemed afraid of him.
Yet.
That thought stung.
He paused near a column and leaned against it quietly.
He wanted to be strong.
But he didn't want to be feared.
Or watched.
Or studied.
He wanted to grow at his own pace—not the world's.
A soft flicker lit his palm.
The flame appeared without him calling it, but this time… it didn't flare or misbehave.
It simply rested there.
Arav stared at it.
"Are you trying to be nice today?" he whispered.
The flame brightened briefly, like a nod.
He felt a small swell of warmth, not from the fire but from himself.
Maybe today really would be calm.
Maybe—
A sudden gust of wind rushed across the courtyard.
Arav tensed—
But the flame didn't surge.
No bending.
No distortion.
No flare.
It stayed small.
Steady.
Controlled.
Arav breathed out—relief washing over him.
He had stopped it.
He had stopped it.
Sharanya spotted him and smiled. "See? You're learning."
Arav nodded proudly.
A soft chime sounded in his mind.
[Stability milestone reached.]
[Host's emotional-aether alignment strengthened.]
Arav grinned.
For the first time in days, he felt like he was catching up to the flame within him—
not chasing it.
He didn't notice the shadow watching him from the estate wall.
A guard whispered to another, eyes wide.
"He suppressed a ripple… without help."
"It's too early for that, isn't it?"
"Tell the Patriarch?"
"No. He already knows."
Arav walked on, unaware of the eyes or whispers.
His world was finally quiet.
But the world outside the estate had already begun to wake.