I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow. The memory of that brief encounter in the garden replayed in my mind for what felt like the thousandth time. The way the world had gone silent. The way time had seemed to stretch and compress simultaneously. The way she'd looked right at me, as if seeing through my very existence, and then...
Hmph.
That dismissive sound still echoed in my ears. What was that supposed to mean? What had I done to deserve that reaction? Was it contempt? Disgust? Recognition?
"This is ridiculous," I muttered to myself, sitting up and running my hands through my hair. "I've seen hundreds of students here. I've been ridiculed by aristocrats and scrutinized by professors. Why should one stuck-up personification of luck matter more than any of that?"
But I knew why. It wasn't just that she was beautiful, though she undeniably was, in that otherworldly way that made my heart race. It was because, for my entire life, luck had been the invisible force that dictated the course of my existence. Luck had been my constant companion, my tormentor, my occasional savior.
And now luck had a face. A name. Liora.
I stood up and paced the room, my footsteps echoing on the floor that occasionally rippled like water beneath me. Through the window, I could see the twilight settling over Arcanis, turning the impossible architecture into silhouettes against a canvas of deep purples and blues. Somewhere out there, she was walking those same grounds.
The door to my room shimmered, and for a moment I thought it might be transforming into something else, a not uncommon occurrence in the ever-shifting Academy, but instead it simply opened, revealing Finn's lanky frame.
"You alive in here?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe. "Or has brooding finally achieved what countless magical accidents couldn't?"
"I'm not brooding," I lied, returning to sit on the edge of my bed.
"Right." Finn stepped inside, tossing a small leather-bound book onto my lap. "Notes from Elemental Theory. Professor Zephyr spent half the class talking about how different emotional states influence spell resonance. Thought you might find it relevant, given your current... state."
I flipped through the pages, noticing Finn's surprisingly neat handwriting. "I'm fine," I said, not looking up.
"So fine that you've worn a path in the floor?" He nodded toward the subtle depression that had indeed formed where I'd been pacing. "The room is reacting to your emotions, Ash. Even the architecture thinks you're obsessing."
I closed the book with a snap. "Did you come here just to mock me, or was there something else?"
Finn's expression softened slightly. "Actually, Gavril and I were thinking of sneaking into the Infinite Library tonight. There's a section on Personifications that might have some information about Liora."
My heart skipped a beat. "I'm supposed to stay in the dorms."
"Technically, you're supposed to stay in the dorms to avoid interacting with Liora," Finn corrected. "The library is on the opposite side of the Academy from the Personification quarters. Besides, it's after curfew. She won't be there."
I hesitated, torn between caution and burning curiosity. "Lady Althea was pretty clear about the risks."
"Lady Althea said she doesn't know what would happen if you interacted directly," Finn pointed out. "Reading a book isn't interacting."
The logical part of my brain knew this was a terrible idea. One day. That's all I had to wait. One more day of quarantine, and I could return to classes, learn about Liora through proper channels, maybe even meet her formally under supervised conditions.
But the part of me that had spent a lifetime at the mercy of an invisible force, that part needed answers now.
"Fine," I said, standing up. "But if my luck causes the library to explode or something, I'm blaming you."
Finn grinned. "That's the spirit. Meet us at the corridor junction in ten minutes. Gavril is figuring out which patrol routes to avoid."
After he left, I changed into darker clothes, not that it would matter much in a place where the walls sometimes glowed when you tried to sneak past them. The Academy seemed to have a perverse sense of humor when it came to rule-breaking.
As I pulled on my boots, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. The blue tint that had stained my hair after the dining hall incident had mostly faded, but there was still a faint azure sheen when the light hit it just right.
What would happen when my luck and its personification finally came face to face? Would the universe implode? Would one of us cease to exist? Or would nothing happen at all, proving that my "curse" had nothing to do with Liora in the first place?
I needed to know, even if knowing was dangerous.