image [https://i.imgur.com/srcre86.png]

Carmen’s carriage emerged from the LaVeda portal and touched down on the pathway towards Castle de Belouis. As the horses trotted along the winding, white cobblestone road, the dark clouds above opened up. Rain trickled down little by little until thunder and lightning coerced the droplets to increase in volume.

“I hate rainy days.” Carmen said with a sigh, the pitter patter of rain sounding louder than usual thanks to her Boundless senses going out of control.

“Really? Hm, I find them quite calming.” Zalthia replied as she stared at the streaks of water racing down the carriage window.

The remainder of the trip was silent until they eventually arrived at the main courtyard. Once the carriage stopped, a guard quickly ran up to the door and opened it while holding an umbrella. However, when Carmen stepped out, he noticed that the rain had ceased around him.

He was amazed to see all of the droplets being deflected by an invisible barrier, having never seen such a phenomenon before. The guard stepped aside as Zalthia and Felicity exited the carriage, respectfully bowing his head to them. Once Zalthia motioned for him to escort the carriage away, she turned her attention towards Carmen.

‘I must say, Carmen has come an extremely long way in just a single school year’s time. To be able to have this much control over her power now is impressive. Just who the hell was teaching her at LaVeda?’

Zalthia couldn’t help but be curious as to how her baby sister grew so much in such a short amount of time. She continued to admire Carmen’s gravity field until they walked through the front entrance where they were greeted by Nadine.

“Welcome home, M’ladies.” She said with a smile and humble bow.

“Nadine! Good to see you!”

Carmen quickly rushed over and gave the head maid a warm hug. Nadine happily accepted the greeting and took a moment to look at her.

“Goodness child, why are you wearing sunglasses when it’s darker than midnight outside?” Nadine asked with a perplexed expression.

“Oh, no reason. I just thought they looked cool.”

“I see, well, I think you should remove them before lunch is served. It’s not healthy to have your vision impeded so unnecessarily.”

Nadine raised her hands and attempted to remove the glasses from Carmen’s face. However, within that same moment, Carmen forcefully swatted her hand and backed away.

“No! I uh, don’t want to. Sorry.”

“Oh, of course. My apologies.”

Nadine rubbed her hand as she watched Carmen walk away, wondering what had gotten into the young miss. She turned to Zalthia who simply shook her head, telling Nadine to just leave it be. Once Carmen entered the dining hall, Azhane, Graymoor, and Solana were already seated. Azhane looked over and her face immediately lit up.

“Welcome home, Carmen!” She exclaimed with a bright smile. “C’mon, sit down! We’ve got your favorite dishes being prepared to celebrate your return.”

Carmen greeted everyone before quickly taking a seat between Solana and Azhane. Zalthia walked inside shortly after and once she sat down, the dining hall doors closed and lunch was served. Conversations flowed from different topics, including Carmen’s time at LaVeda, until eventually circling around to her glasses again.

“So is sunglasses at the dinner table a new fashion statement these days?” Solana asked as she took the final bite of her sandwich.

Carmen shook her head and slowly raised her hands, gently removing the shades from her face. She opened her eyes and revealed the pale, yet piercing gray color that had taken over her once vibrant red gaze.

“What happened to your eyes, Carmen!?” Azhane asked with a worried tone.

“I don’t know. My eyes have been like this since I fought against Bridgette in our mock battle yesterday. They’ve changed colors before, but only for a short amount of time.”

“Does it hurt and has your vision been affected at all?” Graymoor curiously wondered.

“No, I feel fine for the most part. Although, my head feels a little spacey and fuzzy. Hard to explain.”

Suddenly, Solana reached over and gripped Carmen’s chin. When her head was turned, Solana pressed her thumb against Carmen’s bottom lip and moved it down. She briefly examined her sharper than usual teeth and gave a nod of confirmation.

“Seems like your Boundless half is trying to take priority over your Human half. The control you once had over it is quickly slipping away.” Solana said with a matter of fact tone.

“My control is slipping away?”

“Yeah, sudden shifts in Core Energy can cause an imbalance that could affect you in a multitude of ways. Have you experienced some kind of emotional trauma or triggering event lately?”

Carmen took a moment before replying. Her face slightly contorted as images of Rivell’s death came back to the surface of her mind.

“Um, yeah… I lost a dear friend of mine not too long ago.” Carmen said before swallowing a lump in her throat.

Once she composed herself, Carmen proceeded to tell them about her fight against the Headmaster and how he took the life of Rivell, not sparing a single detail.

“And once I saw Rivell’s limp body on the floor, something changed about me. I transformed into something that wasn’t me… It was pretty terrifying, but I felt so good when I changed. I still vividly remember that feeling and right now, that haziness in my head, feels similar to that day. It’s just not as pronounced.” Carmen replied as she looked at her reflection in Solana’s shiny, silver cup.

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“Oh my, it seems like you actually entered your Boundless form that day. Bravo, Carmen!” Solana clapped her hands together, showing a proud smile.

“Boundless form? Is that the same as what you showed us when you demonstrated your abilities?” Graymoor curiously asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Yes. We Boundless have two separate forms that we can change to. One that is more human-like and the other being the one you all are more familiar with, horns and lines on the face. Most Boundless choose the latter form, but for those of us that don’t want to draw too much attention, our human form is more ideal.”

Solana then turned her attention to Carmen and posed a simple question.

“Mind if we see it?”

Carmen was caught off guard by the request, hesitating as she looked around the table.

“Uh, right now?”

“Yeah, the day is still young. Plus, I’m curious about something.”

Solana gave a firm nod before standing from the table. Carmen turned her attention towards Azhane and Zalthia as though she were wanting some kind of approval. They gave simple nods as well and stood from their seats, following Solana to one of the many arenas located on Castle de Belouis’ premises.

Once they entered the building, Solana hopped onto the center platform and instructed Carmen to go on the opposite end. Azhane, Zalthia, and Graymoor stood off to the side and waited patiently for everything to unfold.

“Alright Carmen, whenever you’re ready!” Solana yelled.

Carmen nodded and began focusing her Core Energy together. The air around her grew more tense as her resonance level continued to climb. It seemed like her transformation was inevitable until her show of power suddenly ceased.

“What’s wrong, Carmen?” Azhane asked with a concerned expression.

“I’m not sure. I tried to visualize what it felt like to change, but nothing happened.”

Carmen looked down at her hands, trying to figure out what she could do differently.

‘Hmmm, I wonder…’

Solana tapped her chin before getting a bright, yet dangerous idea. A devious smirk came across her face as she turned towards Carmen.

“That Rivell boy must’ve been incredibly weak if an old man could kill him. Geez, what a joke!” Solana yelled, staring at Carmen with a dark and cheeky grin.

“W-What did you say?” Carmen asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Maybe it’s good that he died, that way his weakness won’t hold you back anymore. Such useless sacks of skin don’t deserve the Core’s Blessing. You agree, right?”

Carmen couldn’t believe the nonsense coming out of her mouth. As Solana continued to belittle and disrespect Rivell, Carmen felt a terrifying rage come over her. She lowered her head and after a very brief moment of silence, Carmen exploded with Core Energy.

“YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” She yelled as her power grew more sinister with each passing second.

“Ah, there we go.” Solana muttered with a smirk, her plan finally showing the results that she wanted to see.

Azhane, Zalthia, and Graymoor were in shock as they witnessed Carmen’s Boundless transformation.

Carmen’s hair shifted from silver to a pure white, her skin was now incredibly pale, and two black horns emerged from her bangs. Lines raced down from her eyes to her chin and continued past her neck and chest. Her Boundless form was both elegantly beautiful and frightening at the same time.

She sent a sharp toothed scowl in Solana’s direction as her Core Energy rapidly increased, barreling her Resonance levels to new heights. The ground began to shatter and crumble under the pressure, standing no chance against the immense amount of gravitational power coming from Carmen.

‘This is just like what I felt during the war when we fought against the Holy Core Saints. So this is Carmen’s true potential?’

Zalthia slightly flinched as Carmen’s overwhelmingly evil and eerie strength permeated throughout the arena. Azhane started to step forward, fully prepared to put a stop to this transformation. However, Solana looked back and shook her head, prompting Azhane to stand down.

“I’m going to kill you.” Carmen muttered through her sharp toothed snarl.

She summoned forth Graviton’s Eclipse and gripped it's now bone ladened handle tightly. In a single blink, Carmen dashed towards Solana with otherworldly speed. Her end of the arena platform was absolutely decimated from the sudden, visceral step, crushed and broken in every way imaginable. The burst of wind was enough to knock Zalthia and Graymoor off their feet, sending them flying back towards the edge of the room.

“What the hell, how much power does she have?!” Zalthia exclaimed as she summoned clones to catch her and Graymoor, slowing their momentum.

“I don’t know, but I had no idea the Young Miss was capable of such feats. This is absurd.” Graymoor calmly replied, calling forth his Manifest as a precaution.

As they stood by from a safe distance, they watched Carmen viciously attacking Solana. She slashed her Manifest like a woman possessed, completely blinded by her rage. However, despite her aggressive blows, Solana effortlessly dodged everything Carmen dished out. Her subtle, yet calculated movements were just enough to waste Carmen’s efforts.

Once Carmen missed yet another one of her rapier jabs, Solana retaliated with a swift kick to the stomach. Carmen’s body shot backwards, rolling and crashing into the debris filled arena floor from the sudden shift in her momentum. She eventually caught herself and shot a demented glare towards Solana, angrily baring her fangs for all to see.

The two stared at each other for a brief moment until the ground shook violently. Solana looked down and noticed the shadows all around her were becoming alive. The black shapes grew and warped, shifting into an inky substance that spread outwards in all directions. Within seconds, the shadowy ink took aim at her.

It raced towards Solana like a raging torrent, blasting through and consuming everything in its way. Solana simply sidestepped the attack before leaping into the air, prompting the ink to shift course and pursue her in the sky.

‘Oh my, now that’s interesting.’

Solana was fairly impressed by Carmen’s Dark affinity, making note of its seemingly self-aware characteristics. Before she could reach the peak of her trajectory, the ink increased its speed and fully devoured her. As it swirled and wrapped tighter, the ink crashed back to the ground and seemed to have completed its task with near flawless results. However, once the shadowy substance settled, it suddenly exploded outwards.

Solana stood at the center fairly unfazed while black ink rained down across the arena. Curiously, she now had a bone ladened tiara resting upon her head. It glowed a menacing black as she brushed ink off of her shoulder, looking rather annoyed by her stained outfit. However, before she could get too comfortable, Carmen was immediately back on the offensive.

She blasted towards Solana with Graviton’s Eclipse extended outwards, building up her gravitational power along its blade. The ink also gathered itself and came alive again, now skipping behind Carmen as she honed in on Solana’s location. Solana exerted her Core Energy and slowly held out her hand.

“Alright, that’s enough out of you.” She muttered with an annoyed glare.

Carmen reached Solana’s destination and thrust her Manifest forward, hoping to end this battle with a single decisive blow. Once her rapier entered Solana's space, a large shadowy arm burst through the ground in between the two combatants. It gripped the rapier's blade tightly and with a single squeeze, Carmen's Manifest shattered and dematerialized.

“What!?” Zalthia exclaimed, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.

“That’s exactly what she did to my Manifest when she first revealed her abilities to us. Just what kind of skill is that?” Graymoor replied with a concerned, yet impressed expression on his face.

They continued to watch with bated breath, wondering what other tricks Solana had up her sleeve.

Carmen's forward momentum continued until another shadowy hand caught her by the face. It gripped her forehead and with one swift movement, it proceeded to slam the back of her head into the ground. The arena floor shattered even further from the impact, sending out a shockwave of power that was enough to blow out every window in the building. Once everything was settled, the arena grew incredibly silent as Carmen’s Core Energy pattern ceased entirely.