It started during training.
Torian had Aiden spar with thread constructs — hollow figures made of solidified light and spirit. Easy targets.
Until they weren't.
Aiden lunged forward, Spirit Thread blade drawn.
The construct countered — and Aiden slipped behind it. A perfect move.
But just as he was about to land the finishing strike…
> His threads twisted.
The blade cracked into smoke.
And a new thread — black and thin as hair — snapped forward from his hand.
It cut the construct in half before Aiden even knew what it was.
Silence fell.
---
✦ Torian's Shock
Torian appeared beside him instantly, grabbing his wrist.
"Where did that come from?"
"I don't know," Aiden said, heart racing. "It… it just happened."
Torian narrowed his eyes. He didn't speak. But his grip was trembling.
Then he stepped back and whispered,
> "Void threads are seeping into you."
---
✦ Nightmares and Whispers
That night, Aiden couldn't sleep.
The dagger he'd bonded floated above his bed, trembling.
The room was still.
Then—
> "You're not broken. You're just… more than they understand."
The voice was inside his head again. The mask. The void.
Aiden clutched his chest — and for a moment, he saw threads unraveling from his fingers, spiraling into the shadows.
He blinked. Gone.
But the whisper remained.
> "Why let them teach you limits…
when you could teach them what happens when limits break?"
---
✦ Loss of Control
The next morning, during meditation training, the unthinkable happened.
Torian asked Aiden to channel Spirit Thread around his body — a calm, harmless weave.
Aiden focused.
The thread began to glow…
Then it spiked, like lightning, lashing out wildly.
A nearby wall shattered.
Another student screamed, dodging the blast just in time.
Torian leapt in and ripped the thread away, cutting the flow mid-air.
> "Enough!" he shouted. "You're not stable. You're not safe."
Aiden staggered, breathing hard, his own threads trying to strangle themselves.
"I… I didn't mean to. I swear."
Torian stared at him.
Eyes full of both fear… and pity.
> "You're becoming a conduit," he whispered.
"Not for Spirit. Not for Time.
But for whatever lives in the Void."
---
✦ Choice, or Curse?
That night, Aiden sat outside the Sanctum.
The stars above looked like threads too — frayed, scattered.
He raised his hand. A Spirit thread sparked between his fingers.
But so did a Void one.
And for a second, they danced together. Not in war — but harmony.
He thought:
> What if I'm not being corrupted?
What if I'm being changed… for something greater?
Behind him, someone approached. Quiet steps.
It was Lyra.
She stared at the black thread in his hand… and didn't flinch.
> "Whatever you're becoming," she said, "don't face it alone."
---