In the Lapis Lazuli Baths, the air was so thick with steam and Aether it felt like breathing warm silk. The "Proxy Resonance" between the Professor and the Ice Queen had reached a critical mass.
Vespera's fingers were a blur against her own slick flesh, the wet *slapping* sounds echoing off the marble walls. She was no longer a teacher; she was a woman drowning in the memory of Caelum's gold energy. Beside her, Isolde's resistance had finally shattered. The silver-haired girl was arched like a bow, her own fingers buried deep in her soaking heat, her breath coming in ragged, high-pitched sobs.
"He's... he's everywhere!" Isolde cried out, her silver Aether finally bleeding into Vespera's violet.
The climax hit them both at the same time—a violent, messy explosion of energy. Vespera let out a guttural scream, her body convulsing so hard she slipped beneath the surface of the water for a second, her fluids mixing with the mineral salts in a frothy, white cloud. Isolde collapsed against the stone edge, her legs shaking uncontrollably, a long, thick trail of her own nectar dripping into the bathwater.
They lay there, panting and spent, their bodies slick and shimmering. They waited. They both expected the steam to part and Caelum to step through, to claim the prize he had so expertly "primed."
But the steam remained still. The only sound was the dripping of water. Caelum was nowhere to be found. He had ignited the fire, but he had left them to burn in the ashes.
While the two high-ranked women were losing themselves in the baths, Caelum was walking calmly back to the **Obsidian Wing**. He didn't look like a man who had just orchestrated a garden orgy and a bathhouse breakdown. He looked like a scientist who had just finished a successful day of data collection.
He reached Room 101. He knew Seraphina was still recovering in her own quarters, but as he pressed his palm to the door, he felt a new, unfamiliar frequency.
*A new reagent,* he thought, his golden eyes glowing.
He pushed the door open. The room was dark, lit only by the glowing embers in the fireplace. Sitting in the oversized velvet chair by the window was a figure draped in shadows. As the door closed and the magical seal clicked shut, the figure stood up.
This was his "official" roommate—the one the Academy had assigned him before Vespera had tried to claim him.
She was **Xavia**, a girl from the Shadow Isles. Her skin was a striking, dusky charcoal gray, and her hair was a shock of neon white that seemed to glow in the dark. She wore nothing but a loose, black silk robe that was open nearly to her navel, revealing the sharp, athletic curves of a warrior. Her Aether was **Deep Obsidian**—not cold like Isolde's, but heavy, silent, and hungry.
"You smell like three different women," Xavia said, her voice a low, raspy growl that felt like sandpaper on Caelum's skin. She walked toward him, her movements silent and predatory. "The village girl, the Prefect... and even the Professor."
She stopped right in front of him, her obsidian energy reaching out to touch his gold. Unlike the others, her energy didn't melt or spark; it tried to *swallow* his light.
"You've been busy playing with the 'light' side of the Academy," she whispered, her hand sliding up to grip his throat, not to hurt, but to control. Her touch was cold, but beneath it, he felt a thrumming, dark heat. "But they don't know what to do with a core like yours. They want to refine you. I... I want to consume you."
Caelum didn't pull away. He felt his Gold Aether react to her darkness, creating a strange, high-contrast vibration. This wasn't a marriage of elements; this was an **Eclipse**.
"You're the shadow that everyone is afraid of," Caelum murmured, his hand finding the opening of her robe and sliding inside to find the firm, dark heat of her breast. "But every shadow needs a light to exist, Xavia. Let's see how much of my gold you can actually swallow before you burst."
Xavia's eyes flashed with a dark, primal hunger. She pushed him back against the door, her robe falling to the floor, revealing a body covered in glowing, silver tattoos that pulsed with every heartbeat.