Silence of the Senses

3

image [https://i.ibb.co/9gP5RS6/toppng-com-line-dividers-png-1000x200.png]

Natalia hugged her baseball jacket tighter, teeth chattering. "Cold! Cold! Cold!" Autumn nights were for cosy sweaters and hot cocoa, not dining under the stars with a menu of goosebumps.

"Maybe function over fashion for once, Nat?" Colette teased. "You've been dressing up so often lately, is there a special someone you're trying to impress?"

Natalia's cheeks flushed a rosy red under the starlight. "N-no one! Ugh, seriously?" she grumbled, sending a glare towards the distant, twinkling sky. "Cafeteria's locked down 'indefinitely'? Outdoor dinner in May? Thanks, but absolutely not thanks."

"But aren't you, like, a pyromancer or something, Robin?" Colette pressed, "surely a little cold isn't the end of the world."

Natalia scoffed. "Wasting fire magic on mundane things like staying warm? So last season.” Years of hiding her powers had made her forget the most basic perk of being a fire wielder.

Eydis, perched beside her on the weathered wooden bench, twirled a marshmallow on a stick, a mischievous glint dancing in her amber eyes.

"Think of it as a chance to cultivate your appreciation for the 'fresh air,' Natalia," she teased, poking Natalia's nose with the puffy treat. “Besides, I hear these marshmallow things taste even better with a little...fire!"

Natalia swatted at it reflexively, a playful groan escaping her lips. "Those things are the bane of my existence! Keep that sugary weapon away from me, Eydis!"

A silent beat passed, then under Eydis's expectant gaze, Natalia swallowed nervously. With a resigned sigh, she snapped her fingers, charring the marshmallow to a perfect golden brown in an instant.

“Oh wow!” Colette's jaw dropped. "But didn’t you just say —"

"Thank you, Natalia," Eydis interjected smoothly, effectively cutting Colette off. With a graceful movement, she popped the marshmallow into her own mouth. Natalia watched, mesmerised, as Eydis's tongue darted out to catch a stray bit of sugar clinging to her fingertips.

"Umm, so soft and warm," Eydis hummed. "No wonder you couldn't resist yesterday." She glanced at Natalia, whose crimson eyes were now transfixed on the Queen's glistening fingertips. A single, perfectly arched eyebrow rose on Eydis's face, a silent question.

Natalia stammered, cheeks flushing. "R-Resist? More like possessed by sugar!" she blurted, rubbing her stomach self-consciously. "And I swear, I haven't burned off a single calorie."

Birgit slumped onto the bench beside them, clutching a water bottle tightly. "Just one more sip of juice, please? Maybe cranberry this time?"

Colette nudged Birgit with a laugh. "Remember yesterday, Birdie? You couldn't get enough! Be thankful Astra and Theo vanquished that…smoke thing. Remind me to never get on Astra's bad side. Ever!”

Birgit snorted. “Bad side? Have you seen her face? There's no bad side…not from certain angles, or any angles," she countered, taking a slow, unenthusiastic sip of her bland beverage.

Natalia leaned in, her voice hushed with awe. "Obliterated, they're saying. Vanquished doesn't even cover it, according to the #StKevinsIcePrincess hashtag. But why are we still outside if it's gone?"

Pushing her glasses up her nose, Birgit replied, "Heard Dean Saito was practically foaming at the mouth all morning. Checking the cafeteria food, apparently."

Their conversation was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream. A plume of purple smoke erupted in the distance, rising malevolently above the cricket grounds.

Ms. May's voice boomed with urgency through the loudspeakers, "Everyone inside! Back to your dorms, now!"

“Again?!”

"Get Theo! Get Astra!"

Panic sparked like wildfire as students surged towards their dorms. Eydis, a glimpse of darkness swirling within her amber depths, used the unfolding chaos as a cloak to slip away unnoticed.

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Eydis winced as last night's events replayed in her mind: Birgit's convulsion, the synchronised vomiting, the unnatural food fight, the mass hysteria. It was undoubtedly Gluttony's doing. Yet, her senses had been strangely numb. Unprecedented. Drastic situations called for drastic measures. She hadn't anticipated acting so soon, but time was a luxury they couldn't afford.

Gluttony was an insatiable furnace – the more it burned, the hotter it raged, a ravenous beast with an endless appetite for… well, everything.

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Envy's voice crackled through their mental link, a tremor of unease lacing the question. 'Your Majesty, are you certain about this public display? Remember, subtlety has always been our…'

‘Not always your best forte, Envy,’ Eydis fired back mentally. A simple case of food poisoning wouldn't warrant a shutdown. These kids would be shovelling mystery pie down their gullets by noon, leaving her no chance to capture this Sin.

‘Every wasted minute fattens the beast. And trust me, this one's hungrier than your usual melodramatic tantrums. Mist form. Now.'

‘As you wish, Your Majesty,’ Envy materialised, a wispy shroud swirling dramatically near the ceiling. Then Envy added with a sly smirk, ‘Though I'm sure your ‘ever-so-cheery’ roommate would call you ‘your royal rudeness.'

Ignoring the soon-to-be-strangled gossip rag, Eydis sketched a binding sigil on the table, a single bead of water tracing the design. Forget elaborate, colossal crop circles for tourists – a cunning sorceress improvised. In her pocket, a cool quartz pulsed faintly in response to her silent chant, amplifying the sigil's energy and extending its reach beyond its usual size.

This would be enough to contain the gluttonous entity within the confines of the dining hall. But true binding required a deeper connection, a way to taste its essence, however unpleasant.

Every lure needed a tempting bait.

‘Target Theo,’ Eydis commanded mentally. ‘But don't harm him.’

The fight was a chaotic dance, a clash between raw power and Envy's tendrils. Theo's every swing was a declaration of brute force, undeniably effective, but lacking a certain...finesse. He was a prodigy with a sledgehammer, his blows resounding with wasted potential. Being a teenager with more heart than training, he fell prey to the Envy’s calculated movements.

Perhaps, Eydis mused, a crucible of real battles would refine Theo's power into something more… elegant.

‘Is this enough, Your Majesty?’ Envy hissed, a tendril meeting a premature end courtesy of Theo's enthusiastic swordplay.

‘Not even close. A foe easily dispatched is barely a gnat, wouldn't you agree? Darkness, please. Time to paint a more vivid picture for our true audience.’

Darkness swallowed the hall as Envy's tendrils lashed out, shattering the artificial lights in an explosion of glass. Crystal shards rained down, a relentless TING! TING! TING! echoing as they struck the floor and furniture. This provided the perfect cover.

With a silent incantation, Eydis poured a meagre stream of mana into Envy, empowering it despite her magic being a shadow of its former power. Brute force against Theo's raw mana reserves was a fool's errand.

But a Queen, by definition, was an adaptable creature.

Envy's true strength lay not just in malicious magic, but in its metamorphic nature. It thrived by amplifying negative emotions, seducing them into fuel for its own existence.

Through their mental bridge, Eydis could command Envy's movements as if they were her own, guiding its shapeshifting dance with precision. Squeezing her eyes shut, she relied on her heightened aura-sense to track her familiar’s movements.

Every flash of Theo's blade was met with a masterful shift, Envy dissolving into mist as he struck. This wasn't a mere fight; it was a calculated dance, conserving Eydis' resources while draining Theo's recklessly spent reserves.

The Queen rolled her eyes as Envy hissed with manic glee. 'Chaos! Oh, glorious, glorious chaos! He's a tinderbox of frustration, ripe for the taking!'

Subtle? Sure.

Envy, for its part, revelled in the chaos. This game of cat-and-mouse was its lifeblood. It swirled around Theo, a playful phantasm that mirrored his mounting frustration. Yet, it was far more than a mindless beast. Envy was a strategic partner, a living extension of the Queen’s will.

Then, like a Valkyrie bursting onto the scene, Astra arrived.

A smirk played on Eydis's lips as Theo, with a belated flash of insight, unleashed a torrent of ice. Sub-zero temperatures – the missing piece. Envy's aura vanished completely. Extreme cold. That was the key to severing her senses.

Her gaze darted towards the kitchen. Gluttony, oh Gluttony. It didn't form a bond with the cafeteria food – that was beneath a creature of such endless tastes. No, Gluttony had latched onto the very heart of the kitchen – the industrial freezer itself, using its frigid breath to contaminate the entire stock.

And that's precisely why she couldn't sense it – this world's technology operated on principles beyond her understanding. Extreme cold, well below zero – a test she'd hoped Theo could achieve.

There was another option, of course. She could attempt to use the freezer itself against Envy's mist form, but Gluttony was a bottomless pit of hunger. Unleashing Envy felt reckless, bordering on cruelty towards the serpent, even if Envy wouldn't understand.

Eydis watched, mesmerised, as Astra fought. Her swordplay wasn't just brutal; each movement a deadly poem etched in steel. Where had Eydis witnessed such control, such a chilling beauty in violence?

Astra was no teenager. Her movements held the confidence and deadliness of a seasoned warrior. Who exactly had the Academy placed amongst them?

Just as Astra's blade arced towards the few final shards, a flicker of triumph ignited in Eydis's golden eyes. With a silent mental command, the fragment vanished in a puff of frozen fractals, unseen by Astra's searching gaze.

Envy's essence, momentarily masked by Theo's frost, rejoined Eydis, cloaked in the darkness of her mind. Turning to leave, a hushed voice caught Eydis's ear.

Ms. May spoke urgently on the phone, "Yes… Lock down and… decontaminated. Understood."

A satisfied grin spread across Eydis's face. 'Good work, Envy,' she sent mentally. A hint of concern softened her voice as she addressed the exhausted serpent, 'Though next time, try not to be so…fragile.'

Envy's reply was a weak, sarcastic mental hiss. ‘Is that affection I hear from you, Your Majesty? I was under the impression you were content to let your... oh-so-serene-and-intuitive roommate silence me permanently. Such serenity, wouldn't you say?’

‘We both know, Envy, only I can vanquish you. Now, rest. I'll help you regain your strength.'

The Queen blinked, the memory fading for now. With a determined stride, she headed towards the deserted Dining Hall. Envy's diversion on the cricket pitch had bought her a precious moment – enough time, she hoped, to finish the job.

Her reserve of dark mana remained stubbornly low, a constant reminder of yesterday's gruelling battle. Every step echoed with the urgency of the situation. The bargain-basement quartz, a poor substitute for a proper conduit, wouldn't hold for much longer. The chains binding Gluttony, frayed and straining, threatened to snap at any moment.

Gluttony. An insatiable furnace, forever yearning. Every lure needed a tempting bait, and this time, the offering was a torturous one – the absence of sustenance itself.

A cruel amusement danced in Eydis’s golden eyes. 'Are you hungry now, Gluttony?' she thought, turning towards the central control box. ‘Well, you must be.’

With a firm click, Eydis severed the power. The high-end freezer hesitated for a beat. A faint whirring sputtered, then died altogether. In its place, a heavy silence settled, broken only by the faint, rhythmic drips of something…unseen.

Sub-zero Gluttony, near-zero magic reserves. A delightful uncertainty, wouldn’t you agree?