The ceiling moved, warping above him.
Rei stared at it anyway.
The room was dark, lit only by the faint glow of the base lights bleeding through the glass wall. Soft hums of distant machinery whispered through the structure, like a city that never truly slept.
"...I can't sleep."
His voice came out flat. Just tired.
His stomach growled, loud enough to annoy him.
Rei groaned and rolled onto his side.
"Great. I missed dinner."
He pressed a hand lightly against his stomach.
"I'm starving…"
The bed was comfortable. The room was cleaner, softer, and quieter than his old room on campus.
But comfort didn't mean peace.
In the corner of the room, hidden behind the wall, a tiny camera lens adjusted.
In a dimly lit control room, Satsuki Kurogane leaned forward in her chair, eyes half-lidded as she watched the feed.
Rei shifted again. Another growl from his stomach.
Satsuki sighed, dragging a hand down her face.
"...I forgot to give him dinner."
Her tone was dry. Annoyed, mostly at herself.
"I'm already untrustworthy in his eyes."
She murmured.
"Now I'm just digging lower."
She leaned back slightly, sighing.
"Tch."
Rei sat up.
The room looked unfamiliar even now. Smooth walls, reinforced glass, and subtle lighting embedded into the ceiling. Everything about it felt designed for containment disguised as comfort.
"...Nice room."
He murmured.
"Better than the campus dorm."
He swung his legs off the bed and stood, stretching before walking toward the glass wall.
The base stretched out below him.
From his height, it looked like a small city.
Rows of buildings. Lighted corridors. Patrol drones flying in the night. Walkways connecting research sectors, housing units, and training zones.
It was a contained world.
"...It really looks like a town."
Rei whispered.
His reflection stared back at him in the glass.
Messy green hair. Tired eyes. A boy who looked normal for what he carried.
A slow presence appeared behind his thoughts. He heard a familiar, lazy amused laugh in his mind.
"You're craving a meal."
Vaelion murmured.
"Yes. I can feel it."
Rei exhaled through his nose.
"...Ignore."
"How about we go exploring?"
Vaelion's voice carried playful temptation.
"I can guide you. No one will know."
Rei scoffed.
"Yeah. Sure."
He muttered flatly.
"The last time you 'guided' me, you stole something from the base."
He paused.
Rei narrowed his eyes.
"I don't even know what you stole."
Vaelion sighed dramatically.
"Oh, come on. Don't make it sound so crude."
A faint ripple of pride in his tone.
"It was a rare artifact. A relic your system would classify as restricted."
Rei frowned.
"...You mean the thing from yesterday?"
The memory surfaced whether he wanted it to or not.
Phasing through reinforced floors. Passing through sealed doors. Slipping through layers of security.
The reactor room.
A room filled with humming energy and machinery.
And at its core.
A black grey fire that burned without warmth. It twisted like it was alive.
And Vaelion had reached out through Rei's body and absorbed it.
Rei's breath caught. His reflection shifted.
His eyes flickered.
Then burned.
Blues flames ignited within his pupils, writhing softly like living embers.
Rei froze.
"...What the!?"
He stumbled back a step, raising both hands to his face.
"What's wrong with my eyes?"
His reflection stared back at him.
Blue fire in his eyes. Not metaphorical but real flames.
Vaelion laughed, amused.
"Stop overreacting."
He said lazily.
"You're fine."
Rei's voice trembled.
"...Fine doesn't usually include my eyes being on fire."
"The flames are fused with your being now."
Vaelion's tone shifted, less playful, and more certain.
"Your soul was too weak to house both my power and your own."
Rei clenched his jaw.
"...You're calling my soul weak?"
"I'm stating a fact."
The words landed hard.
"If left unchanged, your mind would fracture. Your body would fail. Your existence would collapse under the strain."
Rei swallowed.
"...Then what did you do?"
The presence curled closer.
"I reinforced you."
Vaelion whispered.
"The Soul Flame amplifies your essence. Strengthens your core. Expands your capacity."
He paused.
"And I will act as the stabilizer."
Rei's heart dropped.
"...And if you didn't?"
Vaelion's voice softened into something darker.
"Without me Rei…"
"You would have already destroyed yourself."
Silence filled the room.
Rei stared at his reflection again. Blues flames burned quietly behind his eyes.
"...So I'm alive."
Rei muttered bitterly.
"Because you're babysitting my soul."
"Think of it as a partnership."
Vaelion answered smoothly.
"A mutually beneficial arrangement."
Rei looked away from the glass.
"...You're enjoying this way too much."
"Of course I am."
Vaelion chuckled.
"You're becoming something far more interesting than a normal boy."
Rei clenched his fists.
"...I just wanted a normal life."
Vaelion didn't respond immediately.
"That was never going to happen."
Rei closed his eyes for a moment.
His stomach growled again, loud and unforgiving.
"...I still want food."
A faint pause.
Then Vaelion smiled in his mind.
"Then get dressed, Rei."
"If you won't let me explore…"
"We'll at least find you dinner."
A slow breath echoed through Rei's mind.
Vaelion closed his eyes.
Then a pulse spread outward.
The sensation rippled through the entire building like a silent wave, passing through walls, ceilings, corridors, cameras, and sensors without resistance.
Rei flinched as the world unfolded inside his mind.
A blueprint of hallways, security nodes and floors stacked like layers of reality. Paths glowing faintly.
A map of the building inside his mind.
His breath hitched.
"...Whoa."
He blinked rapidly.
How did you do that?"
Vaelion's voice answered with lazy superiority.
"You're asking a stupid question. It's like asking how are you breathing."
"I'll teach you later."
A section of the mental map glowed.
"There's a few vending machines on the first floor. Let's go."
Rei stared at the door.
"...We're on the fifth floor. In Miss Satsuki's home."
He deadpanned.
"You really think we're getting out of here without being seen?"
Vaelion smiled in his mind.
"Of course we can."
A faint ripple of amusement followed.
"I never told you this, Rei…"
"You're not like other Somniarchs."
Rei frowned slightly.
"...You're said that before."
Vaelion continued anyway.
"For most Somniarchs, there are rules."
"They can manifest only one concept at a time."
"They require rest. A reset. They need to sleep before using another."
He paused.
"You obey neither."
Rei's jaw tightened.
"...Because of you?"
"Because of your adaptation."
"And because of your damaged mind."
The words sank in.
"Your body rewrote itself to survive."
"But in doing so… it became unstable."
The map shifted slightly as Vaelion's presence deepened.
"Your insomnia prevents a reset."
"Your trauma prevents rest and peace."
"And your mind refuses to shut down."
Vaelion chuckled.
"Which means you don't need to reset."
Rei swallowed.
"...Meaning?"
"Your manifestations can overlap."
The statement felt heavier than it should have.
"Multiple concepts."
Vaelion's tone sharpened slightly.
"That's why my presence leaks through you."
"That's why your power bleeds into reality."
A metaphor surfaced in Rei's mind.
Vaelion guided it.
"Imagine yourself as a ship."
The image formed, a battered vessel on a violent ocean.
"You plug one hole, another tears open."
Another crack split through the hull.
"No matter how many repairs you make…"
Water kept flooding in.
"You are always breaking."
Rei stared at his reflection in the glass.
The blue flames in his eyes flickered faintly.
"...Meaning?"
Vaelion smiled.
"You can use multiple concepts."
He paused, with a light smirk.
"At the low price of your sanity."
Rei's throat went dry.
"...That's not comforting."
"Power rarely is."
Suddenly.
A translucent interface flickered into existence in front of Rei's left eye.
A system window. Glitching faintly.
THE COVENANT
Mental Autonomy: Comprised
Mental Energy: Low
Cognitive Stability: Fluctuating
Rei blinked.
"...What the hell is this?"
Vaelion sounded pleased.
"Our contract. A warning. A system."
"Call it what you like."
The interface flickered again.
"For now."
Vaelion added.
"I'll handle manifestations."
"You're in no state to manage them yourself."
Rei exhaled slowly.
"...So you're in charge of my powers now."
"For now."
Vaelion corrected.
"Until you either stabilize…"
"...Or break."
Rei glanced toward the door again.
The map in his mind pulsed faintly.
"...Fine."
He muttered.
"But if this gets us caught,"
"Then you'll learn something valuable."
Rei groaned a hooded from a chair and slipped it on.
"...You're impossible."
"And yet,"
Vaelion replied.
"You're still alive because of me."
Rei stepped towards the door.
His reflection followed.
Blue flames flickered faintly behind his eyes.
And somewhere deep within him, Vaelion watched with quiet satisfaction.