St. Celeste campus was weird that morning.
Raziel noticed it as soon as he left the dorm bacause the guards at the main entrance weren't in their usual relaxed posture, exchanging cheap jokes about the novices.
Today they were stiff as statues, hands tight on their sword hilts.
A group of priests ran past him without even looking at him, their robes fluttering.
Raziel stopped in the middle of the courtyard.
Something had happened during the night and it seems like it was something big.
He kept walking toward the library, keeping his head down and the steady pace of a dedicated student who just wanted to review sacred texts.
No one stopped him when he had that "bored pious" face.
Inside, his veteran mind was on high alert.
'What the hell happened now?'
The hallways were half empty.
The few people he saw were whispering in small groups, throwing nervous glances toward the administrative offices.
Raziel passed close to two young priestesses speaking in urgent whispers.
"...the Director left in the middle of the night..."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but they say it's urgent. Something about..."
They shut up when they noticed his presence.
Raziel ignored them and turned the corner, but he knew that wasn't normal.
The St. Celeste director never left the academy except for major ceremonies or political crises.
'Political crisis or...?'
He didn't have time to finish the thought.
A familiar figure appeared at the end of the hallway.
Brother Thomas.
Raziel felt a strange tug in his chest seeing him.
In his first life, Thomas had been his informal mentor.
The priest who taught him how to read ancient texts, who gave him his first book on ecclesiastical history.
In this life, Thomas was just another instructor who had never met the novice Raziel Celeste.
It was freaking depressing.
Thomas was walking fast, a pile of scrolls pressed against his chest and his face pale as a dead man.
His eyes, usually warm and curious, were lost.
Raziel stepped in his way.
"Brother Thomas."
The priest stopped dead, blinking as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.
"Novice...?" He looked at Raziel without really recognizing him. "Ah, yes, The kid from the incident. Raziel, right?"
Raziel nodded. "Are you okay, Brother? You look..."
"Bad?" Thomas let out a hollow laugh. "Yes, well, I didn't sleep."
"What happened?"
Thomas hesitated.
He looked around as if fearing the walls had ears and then leaned closer, lowering his voice until it became a harsh whisper.
"They say the King is... very sick."
Raziel frowned, faking surprise.
"What does he have?" he asked, keeping the tone casual.
"No one knows for sure but whatever it is, it's not good." Thomas ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Father Marius was summoned to an emergency meeting in the capital and St. Celeste is... vulnerable without him."
'Vulnerable.'
That word echoed in Raziel's mind "Why vulnerable?"
Thomas looked at him as if he had just said something stupid.
"Because without Marius here, the Inquisitors have free rein to do whatever they want, boy. You can be sure they are already digging in every corner of the academy looking for heresies to burn."
Raziel felt a chill. 'Inquisitors on the loose... Perfect.'
"Thanks for the warning, Brother."
Thomas nodded distractedly and continued his way, muttering prayers under his breath.
Raziel stood in the middle of the hallway, processing.
And then he felt it.
A familiar tingle at the base of his skull.
[ALERT: CRITICAL TEMPORAL DEVIATION DETECTED]
[EVENT: King Aurelian's Terminal Illness]
[ACCELERATION CONFIRMED: +3 years ahead]
[Original Timeline: King's Death — Year 1027]
[Current Timeline: Date — Year 1024]
[WARNING: Cascade of critical events initiated]
Raziel stepped back until he leaned against the cold stone wall, his breathing speeding up.
'King Aurelian never died from illness.'
Raziel clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
His mind started working at full speed, connecting dots 'Shit! What I knew about the past isn't as accurate as I thought.'
Every action he took created ripples.
Butterflies.
And some of those butterflies were monsters.
'Did Ayres really kill his own father to take the throne?' Raziel paused. 'Or did someone else do it and blamed him?'
"Raziel."
The voice pulled him out of his mental spiral.
He turned around.
Lara was standing a few feet away, hands clasped in front of her and that worried look that seemed to be her permanent state lately.
"Lara."
"You are upset," she said bluntly.
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
Raziel closed his eyes for a second. 'Right, the one who detects everything.'
"What do you want, Lara?"
"To know if you are okay."
"I already told you yes."
"And I tell you no." She took a step forward. "I feel your anxiety from here like a wave hitting me in the face."
Raziel stared at her, expressionless. "It's not your problem."
Lara frowned, but before she could answer, Raziel cut her off with calculated coldness.
"I have things to do so if you'll excuse me..."
He turned to leave.
"Sister Elena was meeting with someone last night."
Raziel froze mid-step and turned slowly.
"What did you say?"
Lara looked at him with those big expressive eyes that saw too much.
"Very late past midnight. I felt her energy from my room." She paused, looking for the words. "She was... like a predator smelling blood."
Raziel felt his heart start to race.
"Are you sure?"
"Completely."
Raziel took two steps toward her, lowering his voice.
"Lara, could you feel where that emotion was coming from? The direction?"
Lara frowned, concentrating. "From the administrative wing, I think from... Father Marius's study."
Raziel felt the world stop because he knew it wasn't a coincidence.
The pieces fit with a horrible click in his mind.
The Cult of Saint Sophia was more involved than he thought.
"Raziel, what's wrong?" Lara asked, alarmed by the look on his face.
Raziel looked at her.
And for the first time in days, he let some truth leak into his voice.
"Lara, I need you to trust me."
"What?"
"Don't get close to Sister Elena. No matter what she tells you, what she offers you, just stay away from her."
"But she is my mentor..."
"She isn't!" Raziel's voice came out harder than he intended. "She is not what you think so promise me you will stay away."
Lara took a step back. "You are scaring me."
"Good." Raziel turned around. "You should be scared."
He walked into the shadows of the hallway, leaving Lara behind.
His mind was already somewhere else.
'I have to move fast before the King dies.'