Lue's legs trembled as she stepped forward.
Maya watched from just a few steps behind, her heart pounding. She could feel the tension radiating from Lue's small frame. The girl looked as if a single breath might break her. Yet somehow, she moved. One step. Then another. Until she stood before the crystal.
It loomed above her like a sentinel, vast and still, glowing faintly with a pulse like a quiet heartbeat.
Lue hesitated.
Maya knew why.
They had all wondered, deep down, what would happen if one of them failed. What it would feel like to stand there and find nothing. No light. No spark. Just silence. Lue had always been the one to joke the loudest, laugh the brightest—but Maya had seen her steal glances at the others when they weren't looking.
Now, Maya couldn't even breathe.
Lue's hands lifted. Hovered. Touched the crystal.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then... light.
Twin beams shot upward, one gray and the other azure. They spiraled together, forming a twisting helix above her.
Gasps rippled through the group.
Maya's mouth fell open.
She recognized these colors.
Lue's shoulders jerked, as if she were being struck by something unseen, but she didn't pull back. Her eyes widened instead, filled with a kind of distant wonder. Maya had no idea what she was seeing, but it must have been beautiful.
Ezekiel stepped forward, and Maya's breath caught.
"High Metal Affinity," he declared. "And High Mind Affinity."
Lue didn't say anything.
For a moment, she didn't even seem to move. Then, a sound slipped from her: a hiccupped sob that somehow turned into a laugh. She pressed both hands to her mouth, shaking with disbelief.
Maya felt her own grin stretch wide.
That was perfect. Exactly what Lue had always hoped for. She remembered the way Lue would prattle on about inventions and runes, sitting cross-legged in the workshop with soot on her cheeks and excitement in her voice. She wanted to build, like her grandfather. Wanted to craft things that made people's lives better.
And now… she could.
Ezekiel's voice softened. "Lue."
The girl lowered her hands, blinking rapidly.
"You do not need to swear anything to me," he said. "You already have a place here."
Lue's lip wobbled.
"I promised," Ezekiel continued, "that no matter your result, I would support you. That promise remains unchanged."
Maya watched Lue drop to her knees, hand over heart. Her voice wavered. "I swear to—"
"Not yet," Ezekiel interrupted gently. "Speak with your Grandpa first. Then decide."
Lue froze, mouth half open. Then nodded, fiercely, as if worried the chance might vanish.
"O-okay!"
She sprang to her feet and half-ran back to the group, eyes glistening. She didn't care how ridiculous she looked. Maya doubted she even noticed. Joy radiated from her like heat.
And now, everyone was looking at Maya.
Her turn.
The crystal stood waiting.
She took a breath and stepped forward.
It felt like a hundred steps, even though it was only ten. Her bare feet brushed the smooth stone, the soft robe fluttering around her legs.
The moment she reached the crystal, the hush returned. Complete and expectant.
Maya lifted her hands.
She tried to still them, but they were trembling.
Zeke was watching her. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes gave him away. He was nervous, too, but he believed in her. Unconditionally.
Her fingers pressed against the crystal.
And the world changed.
Warmth flowed through her. Not the intensity of fire or the cold clarity of water, but something older. Slower. Steady. Like roots stretching through soil.
A memory rose.
The old oak outside Feldstadt. The one she and Zeke used to play around. She could see it in perfect detail: every knot, every groove in the bark. Its branches stretched wide, sheltering birds, squirrels, and even the occasional wanderer who once rested in its shade.
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Its presence filled her. She felt the pulse of life beneath its roots, the breath of wind rustling its leaves. Her heartbeat slowed, matching its rhythm.
She sank into that place.
It wasn't just memory. It was truth.
The tree had always been her sanctuary. And now, she could feel that sanctuary within her.
Zeke's voice brought her back.
"Greater Life and Nature Affinities."
Her eyes flew open.
He stood right in front of her, his smile brilliant.
She didn't think. She launched forward and crashed into his arms.
The crowd vanished. The world fell away.
Only her brother remained.
He caught her easily, his cloak wrapping around her like a second home. His hand stroked the back of her head, just like he used to when she was younger. His voice was low, almost lost in her hair.
"Well done," he whispered. "I'm so, so proud of you."
She clung tighter, breath catching. She hadn't known how badly she needed those words until now.
Finally, the truth set in: Greater affinities, two of them. It was an exceptional result, the best aside from Kieran, and nearly the highest one achievable below a perfect affinity. It was a testament to her effort, a badge of honor.
She didn't have the inborn talent that Kieran or her brother had, but she had persevered nonetheless.
Two Greater affinities. Just like Maximilian. Just like Leo…
Eventually, she pulled away, cheeks blazing.
"S-sorry," she mumbled.
Her brother chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Never be sorry for celebrating your achievements."
Still, Maya couldn't face him just yet. She stepped back into the group, flushed and dizzy.
Ezekiel let her go and then raised his voice, addressing the entire pavilion.
"It is done."
The words rang out like a bell across the platform, clear and final. The children stilled. The laughter died. The joy of celebration faded into a hush that swept over them like mist across the stones.
"You have done it."
He took a step forward, the dark coat rustling behind him, his crimson strands catching the ethereal light.
"You have proven Maximilian right."
The air stilled. Even the clouds below seemed to freeze in place, as if the very sky held its breath.
Maya's heart thudded once in her chest. Hard.
"He believed that a new world was possible. One where magic could be earned, not inherited. Where discipline mattered more than blood. Where the lowborn could stand shoulder to shoulder with the sons of kings."
His gaze swept across the group, not just seeing them, but taking them in fully. Thomen with his soot-stained hands. Marzell, still hugging himself in disbelief. Lue, flushed with joy, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The twins, standing tall beneath the weight of impossible expectations.
And her.
Maya bit her lip. The words of his earlier speech echoed in her ears like a drumbeat from the past.
Ezekiel extended both hands, as if offering them something unseen. His voice was softer now, more intimate, and yet somehow more powerful than ever.
"…You have done that. Every one of you. You've taken his final gift and proved that it was not a fantasy. You've shown the world that Maximilian Bombastus von Hohenheim was not a fool, but a visionary."
He paused.
And then, with slow, deliberate grace, he stepped forward. Past the crystal, past the pillar, past his own name, and lowered himself to one knee.
Then the other.
He bowed.
Not just his head. His spine curved forward, his shoulders lowered, his arms rested at his sides.
Ezekiel von Hohenheim, the Blood Dragon, bane of the Empire, and the embodiment of pride, knelt with reverence before a gathering of children.
"For that," he said, "I thank you."
Maya's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't the only one.
Gasps echoed around her. Several of the younger children simply stared, mouths agape, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
Even Kallen, who had seemed impervious to shock since her acceptance, took a half step forward as if to stop him, then froze, understanding dawning across her features.
Maya wanted to cry and cheer all at once. Her brother, this impossibly powerful figure who had stood unshaken through courtrooms, councils, and bloodshed, had bowed for one reason alone.
Because his mentor's dream had not died in vain.
Because they had made it real.
And in that moment, Maya saw the love and reverence her brother still carried for his mentor, even today, years after his passing. She saw a boy who had once stood alone, broken and desperate, and been lifted by the hand of another.
She saw a man who now gave that hand in turn.
When he rose, there were tears glistening in more than a few eyes.
But Ezekiel only smiled faintly and brushed the fabric of his coat straight once more.
"Let no one say," he said quietly, "that you were given your place."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"You earned it."
The silence that followed was not empty. It was full of pride, full of meaning, full of a hundred hopes finally given form.
Then, slowly at first, the children began to move again.
They didn't erupt into cheers.
They didn't dance or shout.
Instead, they turned inward. Reached for one another. A hand on a shoulder. A quiet hug. A look exchanged.
It wasn't just triumph they felt.
It was belonging.
And Maya, Maya just stood there, blinking fast, trying to memorize the moment.
Because she knew, with a certainty deeper than magic, that this would be one of the moments she carried for the rest of her life.
This was the day they awakened.
Not just their magic.
But something far greater.
Their exit through the portal-like door felt like a dream. There had been no calls to leave, no shouts to depart. Yet somehow, they had all felt that it was time. Soon, they found themselves back in that same, unassuming corridor from which they had come.
Still marching on, as if caught in a trance.
But Maya lingered.
Something tugged at her.
She glanced back. Back at that mystical door that led to the impossible realm they had just left behind. Driven by a flight of fancy, she once again opened the door, drawing the eyes of some of the others.
However, what awaited her was not the same space they had just left behind. Instead, it was a storage room. Dim and dusty, with crooked shelves and rusted hinges. No gleaming pavilion. No storm-lit clouds. No towering crystal pulsing with hidden truths.
Just cracked stone, old boxes, and cobwebs swaying in the draft.
Maya stared.
The air inside smelled of dry wood and mold. The sound of her heartbeat was louder than the silence beyond the threshold.
For a brief second, she half-expected it to change, expected the illusion to fall away and the splendor to return, as if she had caught the world mid-blink.
But it didn't.
And slowly, the truth set in.
That place, whatever it had been, was gone.
She closed the door without a sound.
No one said anything. They didn't need to. A few of the others looked at her as she turned back to them, eyes wide, unsure. Kallen gave her a small nod before catching up with her brother. Thomen looked away, lips pressed tight in disbelief or wonder, maybe both.
They walked the rest of the corridor in silence, like a procession departing a temple.
When they finally emerged into the estate halls again, the air felt heavier somehow. The walls more solid. The light less golden. Like the real world had remembered itself and resumed its weight.
But something had changed.
In her. In all of them.
She could feel it in the way they moved: more upright, more assured. No longer children waiting to be measured. They had already been judged. Already been chosen.
She reached up and touched her chest, just over her heart.
That strange warmth still lingered there, like a seed planted deep inside her soul.
She thought of the tree again, the one outside Feldstadt. Its roots had run deep. Its shade had been a sanctuary. But more than anything, it had stood through storm and sun alike.
She had never once seen it waver.
As they passed through the last archway back into the waking world, someone murmured behind her, "Was it all real?"
Maya didn't answer.
Whether it had been illusion or magic or something stranger still, it didn't matter.
In the depths of her heart, in that quiet, breathless space where magic had first touched her, she made a silent promise:
To grow.
To stand.
To shelter.
And to never forget.