Chapter 60: By the Hollowborn's Design
The halls of Astaria Academy had never felt so hollow.
It had been hours — or maybe days — since Headmistress Aragona’s return, since she stumbled through the shattered gates of the citadel, wounded and bleeding and half-dragged by her own will to stand. But the memory of her words still echoed through the academy like a bell tolling for the dead:
“The Celeste Kingdom is no more.”
“The Alliance leaders… gone.”
“The resurrection was successful.”
Even now, the phrases looped through my mind, cold and heavy and impossible to outrun. They clung to every corridor, seeped into every whispered conversation, and filled every breath with dread. It was as if the entire world had shifted — as if the ground we stood on was no longer safe, no longer ours.
I
