Private Invitation

[Nyxira Valis]

Unknown Regions

Nyxira's smirk remained, but there was a flicker of something deeper behind her gaze — not amusement, not dismissal, but the kind of calculated certainty that came only from knowing something others did not. Serina's suggestion was elegant. Strategic. Corruption, after all, was the subtlest of knives — a slow, quiet death for those who clung to ideals. But Nyxira had studied Valery Noble for far longer than she let on.

And she had already made her judgment.

"A beautiful idea." She leaned forward, just slightly, the candlelight catching in her glowing violet eyes. "But I do not believe Valery Noble would ever fall. Not truly. Not willingly."

Her voice dipped lower, colder. "She would die first. Burn herself to ash before she lets go of the light she clings to like a lifeline. She is not like most." Nyxira let the silence stretch for a heartbeat, watching Serina's face carefully. "But that is why I intend to break her in another way. One far more permanent than death or corruption. You'll see soon enough."

She rose smoothly from her chair, the candlelight flickering across the dark folds of her robes. The air shifted around her as she moved — not with grandeur, but with the quiet certainty of someone who had already won.

"First, we send a message. Something that draws attention and lets him know that I've returned." She turned slightly, her gaze sliding back over her shoulder to Serina. "We leave soon." A faint smirk returned to her lips.

"You'll learn something valuable in the process. A power that will be of great use to your own plans." She took a step toward the shadows near the edge of the chamber, the storm outside rumbling as if echoing her will.

"Come. Your training begins not in solitude, but in action."

And with that, Nyxira vanished into the corridor beyond — expecting Serina to follow.

Serina Calis ​

 

[Serina Calis]

Location: ???, Unknown Location
Tag: Nyxira Valis ​

Serina watched Nyxira rise with the poise of a storm given form, her every movement deliberate, as though even the air dared not disobey her will. The flickering candlelight played across the folds of her robe, casting long, dancing shadows behind her as she stepped away from the obsidian table.

A beautiful idea. But not enough.

Serina's smirk remained, though it curved slightly into something quieter, more introspective. She did not flinch at Nyxira's words — that Valery would rather burn than fall, that she could not be corrupted. Serina knew that kind of fire well. She had once burned with it herself.

And look what she had become.

Her gaze lingered on the empty space where Nyxira had stood a moment ago, the candlelight still flickering across the untouched surface of her cup. She let the silence settle for just a moment longer, then stood in a single, fluid motion — a quiet elegance that mirrored her Master's certainty, though wrapped in her own, silkier brand of intent.

She didn't speak at first. Instead, she walked slowly around the edge of the table, one gloved hand trailing lightly across the polished obsidian surface as she passed it, as if collecting the final threads of the conversation they'd just shared.

As she reached the mouth of the corridor, where the shadows had already begun to swallow Nyxira's form, Serina paused. The storm's rumble echoed distantly through the walls — constant, relentless.

Her voice, when it came, was low, but laced with something rich and velvety — respect without submission, curiosity without doubt.

"Very well, Master. Then we shall break her on your terms."

A pause, her smirk returning, almost fondly.

"And I will be there to watch the fire leave her eyes."

She stepped forward into the corridor, the darkness closing around her like a velvet curtain. But as she moved through the passage — deeper into the fortress, deeper into Nyxira's world — she did not feel lost. She did not feel uncertain.

She felt ready.

Ready to learn.
Ready to act.
Ready to become something more.

Let the galaxy tremble, she thought. The storm has already begun.