The interruption came without warning. The door burst open as chairs were still scraping into place.
"Guys—it's happening!" a student shouted, breathless. "The rain! It's not touching anything!"
Stella was already on her feet. Kai looked at the student and lifted his hands. "Slow down. Start from the top."
"It's raining all over campus," the student declared, words tumbling over each other. "But it just—stops. Before it hits the ground. Before it hits anything."
Cedric stood up, leaving his papers on the table. "Show us."
They spilled into the hall and down the stairs. By the time they reached the courtyard doors, Stella could already feel it. A pressure in the air that didn't belong to weather. The courtyard looked unreal. Rain filled the sky but never landed. Droplets hovered inches above stone paths, railings, and rooftops, remaining suspended and unmoving. A few students reached up instinctively, fingers passing through nothing. Faculty weren't here yet, that alone made Stella's chest tighten. The rain wasn't making a sound. Not a single drop hissed.
"Under the covered walkway," Cedric ordered. "Now."
Students clustered beneath the overhang. Cedric and Kai stepped forward, scanning the area. Stella knew the moment she stepped past the overhang, this would stop being an observation and start being a violation that could not be explained away as curiosity or instinct. She walked straight into the courtyard, away from the covered walkway.
"Stella," Kai spoke sharply, already tense.
She ignored him, moving slowly across the cement and onto gravel near the grass line. The air grew colder the closer she got. The rain hovered inches above her shoulders, close enough to feel, but never touching.
"That spot," Stella uttered, quietly.
Yumi glanced at her, arms crossed. "Wow. You're really committed to this, huh?"
Stella didn't respond to the comment and squatted next to the faint glow.
"Cedric," Reyna murmured from behind him, her voice uncertain but steady. "There's… there's a story." She hesitated, glancing around like she wasn't sure she should be saying it.
Cedric turned. "Go on."
"…about a boy. He wished the rain wouldn't stop. So he wouldn't have to walk home alone. The rain listened and granted the wish, but ended up holding in place as a response. That's how the story goes. Or—how people say it does."
Silence settled as the spirit revealed itself, at least to Stella. It was no longer human.
It took the form of a snail, timid and hidden, holding the rain in place from fear of letting it go. Its shell was fractured in places, light leaking through the cracks as it trembled, trying to keep everything from falling at once.
"He's not blocking the rain," Stella declared. "He's holding it."
Cedric's jaw tightened as he looked at Stella. "Faculty will clear this." His tone left no room for alternatives.
Stella stood abruptly, "I know." She turned and ran.
"Stella!" Kai called, unsettled now.
"If they get here first," she said over her shoulder, "they won't ask what it wants. They'll end it."
She pushed through the doors and returned moments later, breathless, with an umbrella clenched in her hands.
"Devigne!" someone shouted.
She ignored them as she knelt beside the spirit again, slowing her breathing.
"You shouldn't be alone," she said softly. "You didn't do anything wrong."
Stella hesitated as her grip tightened, "this could either free him or crush him."
She opened the umbrella. For a second, the rain froze completely. Then the fall began, uneven at first, droplets slamming too hard against stone before settling into something natural. The droplets began to regulate themselves, feeling real again. The spirit shimmered, then faded, finally free to move on.
Reyna exhaled, "I think… you reached him."
"Or she almost made it worse," someone muttered. "That's how incidents escalate."
Stella closed the umbrella and sat back on her heels, heart still racing. A few late droplets struck polished leather shoes far across the courtyard as a man approached.
"Devigne," he asserted evenly. "You acted outside council protocol."
Stella opened her mouth to respond, but her motion was met with his index finger pressed against his lips, signaling her not to speak. He paused, eyes flicking briefly to the umbrella still clenched in her hand.
"Effective immediately," he continued, tone unchanged, "your access to council-restricted archives and incident records is suspended for thirty days."
Stella's breath caught.
"You will retain your position," he added without looking at her. "This restriction applies only to sensitive materials. Temporary positions carry temporary privileges."
He glanced at the wet pavement already beginning to dry.
"Procedure exists precisely so results don't excuse deviations."
He turned and walked away, recording the incident without looking back. Stella stared at the ground long after the rain slowed.