Olivia's POV
I don't tell anyone about the voice in the wall.
Who would believe me? The Null-Spark who can't even levitate a pencil is hearing voices. They'd think I was crazy. Maybe I am.
The next morning, I find my way to the basement for remedial magic class. The stairs go down and down into the oldest part of the castle. The air gets colder with each step. The walls are damp stone covered in moss. Light bulbs flicker overhead, barely working.
At the bottom is a hallway with one door. A faded sign reads "Remedial Magic - All Levels."
I push open the door.
The classroom is small and depressing. Six desks arranged in a circle. No holographic screens. No modern equipment. Just a chalkboard covered in dust and a single window showing the gray sky outside.
Four students are already there.
A girl with bright red hair sits with her arms crossed. She glares at the desk in front of her like it personally insulted her. Small wisps of smoke rise from her fingertips.
A skinny boy hunches over his desk, trying to hide his hands. But I see them—metal implants running from his knuckles up his wrists. They gleam silver under the weak lights. He notices me staring and pulls his sleeves down quickly.
A boy with dark hair sits perfectly still in the corner. He doesn't look at anyone. His eyes are closed but I get the feeling he sees everything anyway. Something about him makes my skin prickle.
And in the very back, a tall boy sits reading a book. He has sharp features and gray eyes—storm cloud eyes. My breath catches.
It's him. The boy I crashed into yesterday. The one who made that strange electricity happen when we touched.
He glances up, sees me, and his expression goes cold. He returns to his book without a word.
Great. We're in the same class.
"You the new reject?" the red-haired girl asks.
"I... I'm Olivia."
"Kira." She doesn't smile. "Welcome to the basement of broken dreams. That's Marcus." She jerks her thumb at the boy with metal hands. "That's Ash. He doesn't talk. And the prince of darkness over there is Sebastian Thornwood."
Sebastian doesn't look up from his book.
"Thornwood?" I repeat. "Like the founding family?"
"Disgraced founding family," Kira corrects. "His daddy asked too many questions to the Council. Got the whole family exiled. Now Sebastian is stuck here with us losers."
Sebastian's jaw tightens but he still doesn't look up.
The door opens. A tired-looking professor enters. He's old and wrinkled, wearing robes that have seen better days.
"Professor Wells," Kira mutters. "He's drunk half the time."
"I heard that, Miss Blaze," Professor Wells sighs. "Now, let's begin. Today we practice basic energy control. Work on your own. I'll be... observing."
He sits at his desk, pulls out a flask, and takes a long drink. Then he closes his eyes.
So much for teaching.
"Told you," Kira says.
Everyone spreads out to different corners. I stand awkwardly in the middle, not sure what to do.
"Just pick a spot," Kira says, not unkindly. "Pretend to practice. Wells won't notice."
I move to an empty desk. Marcus is at the desk next to mine. Up close, I see his implants more clearly. They're beautiful in a strange way—intricate metal work that looks like art.
"They're cybernetic enhancements," he says quietly without looking at me. "My parents were scientists. They believed magic and technology should work together. The Council disagreed."
"I'm sorry."
He shrugs. "At least I still have them. Most augmented kids get theirs removed."
I watch him try to channel energy through his hands. Sparks of electricity dance across the metal but then fizzle out. He grits his teeth and tries again.
Across the room, Kira attempts a simple fire spell. A small flame appears in her palm. She smiles. Then the flame grows. And grows. Her smile vanishes.
"No, no, no," she whispers.
The flame explodes into a fireball.
"Watch out!" Marcus shouts.
The fireball shoots toward him. He throws up his hands. The metal implants spark and create a weak shield, but the heat is too much. He cries out in pain.
Suddenly, Ash moves. One second he's sitting in the corner. The next, he's beside Kira with his hand on her shoulder.
The fire dies instantly.
Kira gasps. Her whole body relaxes. "How did you—"
Ash doesn't answer. He never does. But his dark eyes meet hers and something passes between them. Understanding, maybe.
"You felt my panic," Kira whispers. "You calmed me down through... through touch?"
Ash nods once, then returns to his corner.
"He's a telepath," Marcus says, rubbing his singed arm. "A strong one. The academy medicates him to suppress it but it doesn't always work."
I stare at Ash with new understanding. He doesn't talk because he hears everyone's thoughts. He doesn't need words.
"What about you?" I ask Sebastian, who's still reading in the back. "What's your story?"
He finally looks up. Those storm-gray eyes pierce right through me. "I don't have a story. I have a name that everyone hates and magic I'm not allowed to use. That's all you need to know."
"Sebastian's a Level Seven shadow mage," Kira says. "One level below 'dangerous.' The Council watches him constantly."
"I said that's enough," Sebastian snaps.
"Touchy," Kira mutters.
I look around at these four broken people. The fire girl who can't control her power. The tech boy with illegal implants. The telepath who's been silenced. The exiled noble.
And me. The Null-Spark who hears voices in walls.
We're all rejects. All unwanted. But sitting here with them, I feel something I haven't felt since arriving at Thornwick.
I feel less alone.
Professor Wells snores at his desk, his flask empty.
"Does he always sleep through class?" I ask.
"Every time," Marcus says. "It's actually better this way. When he's awake, he's mean."
We spend the rest of the hour talking quietly. Well, four of us talk. Ash listens. Sebastian pretends to read but I catch him watching us sometimes.
When class ends, we all stand to leave.
That's when it happens.
The floor beneath us glows.
We all freeze. Blue light spreads across the stone, forming symbols. The same symbols from my wall.
"What is that?" Kira breathes.
Marcus drops to his knees, running his hands over the glowing marks. "It's old magic. Really old. Pre-Council old."
The symbols pulse brighter. They form a circle around the five of us.
Then a voice speaks. Not from the walls this time. From everywhere.
"Five gathered. Five needed. The countdown begins."
Professor Wells jolts awake. "What— what's happening?"
The symbols vanish. The light dies. The floor is just stone again.
We all stare at each other.
"Did everyone hear that?" I whisper.
Four heads nod. Even Sebastian looks shaken.
"Five gathered," Marcus repeats slowly. "It was talking about us."
"Five needed for what?" Kira demands.
No one answers because no one knows.
But deep in my chest, I feel something click into place. Like pieces of a puzzle I didn't know I was solving.
This isn't a coincidence. The five of us meeting here. The voice in the wall. The symbols appearing.
We were meant to find each other.
And whatever is coming next, we're going to face it together.