Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series

The rest of the year passed in a strange, almost surreal sense of normalcy- or, at least, normal by Genvah Academy standards.

There were no assassination attempts lurking around corners, no deadly cliff falls, no betrayals disguised as friendships. For once, Aiden could breathe without feeling like the next step might be his last.

It was strange to wake up in the morning and have only classes and homework to worry about, and not surviving the day.

Strange, but good.

It wasn't perfect, of course. His body still twinged and ached, especially on rainy days when old injuries whispered reminders that he wasn't as invincible as he looked. But he could walk now- really walk- even if he still had to be careful about pushing himself too hard. Nights were quieter now and the darkness no longer brought the crushing weight of dread.

Instead, Aiden had started dreaming again.And not the cold, brutal dreams of falling, of blood, of Lopt.But dreams of the tree.

The same great tree he had dreamed of when he first arrived- its massive trunk rising into a blue sky, its branches wide and sheltering, its leaves whispering like old friends. He would sit beneath its boughs in his dreams and feel, for the first time in what felt like forever, at peace.

There were no more nightmares.

And through it all, Adrian and Sevan never left his side.

Adrian, in particular, seemed to have decided that near-death experiences were just another reason to live life twice as hard. With the crisis over, he had thrown himself headfirst into what Sevan now despairingly called "marauding season."

Detentions exploded to near-comical levels.

There were days when Adrian, Sevan, and Aiden practically lived in detention. Adrian would barge into the infirmary or classroom wearing an enormous grin, waving yet another detention slip like a badge of honor.

There was the time Adrian enchanted the common room fireplace to roar out commentary on everyone who walked by. ("Look at Sevan trying to pretend he's not carrying three extra pastries!" it had bellowed as Sevan turned a shade of red that could rival Aiden's hair.)

Or the time he and Sevan tried to "improve" the Great Hall's ceiling by charming it to project scenes from students' daydreams.

"Whose dream was that?!" Adrian had howled in laughter as floating pink hippos danced overhead.

It was all fun and chaos- at least until Professor Flinders got involved.

If the rest of the teachers had started turning a blind eye, giving Aiden a few extra leniencies as a quiet nod to everything he'd endured, Flinders was the exception.

The man tried- tried- to be nice to Aiden, grinding his teeth the entire time, but showed no such mercy to Adrian or Sevan. The moment Adrian so much as smirked during class, Flinders would swoop in like a hawk with another detention slip.

"Only Aiden is excused, not you two," Flinders said through clenched teeth after one spectacular explosion of magical glitter that Adrian had most definitely not intended to happen.

Adrian, naturally, had responded by mockingly clutching his heart and wailing, "Oh, the injustice!"- earning himself two more detentions.

Aiden tried his best not to laugh but wasn't very successful.

Sevan just looked dead inside, probably waving at his academics and good character award goodbye.

Despite it all, it wasn't bad. For the first time in a long time, Aiden felt like he had a life that was his. Not one that was hunted. Not one that was hated. Just his.

He was healing inside and out.

The girls had shifted too, though not completely back to what they were before. Morrigan still chattered like a songbird, but she was more careful now, especially when it came to Emmeranne. Hanako and Amihan had become even closer, often sitting by Aiden in study halls or slipping him sweets when they thought he looked too tired. Amihan, in particular, still apologized way too much until Aiden finally begged her to please stop before he got cavities.

Ivara kept to herself mostly, but there was a grudging respect there now whenever she looked at him- something silent but understood.

Even Emmeranne, distant as she remained, wasn't as unreachable. She would nod at him sometimes in passing, a small, fleeting gesture that felt like an entire conversation after everything they'd been through.

The map Lopt had given them- the map that had once led Aiden straight into danger- now became just another tool for late-night adventures. Aiden found himself wandering less now, but every so often, when he couldn't sleep, he would pull it out and trace the pathways with his finger, remembering.

Remembering that he had survived. That he had people now who would fight for him, laugh with him, and drag him into trouble whether he wanted it or not.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't a fairy tale.

But it was messy, alive, real, and Aiden was starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, that was better.

Even Shiloh had… tried, in his own stubborn way.

The boy still looked at Aiden like he was something unpleasant stuck on the bottom of his shoe, but the jeering taunts had lessened, replaced instead with biting remarks muttered under his breath that barely counted as insults anymore.

"Careful, Chase. Wouldn't want you tripping over air and breaking something else."

Aiden had learned to shake his head and move on, but deep down, he knew it was Shiloh's twisted version of an apology. As good as it was going to get.

And for now, that was enough.

The first year at Genvah Academy wasn't at all what Aiden had expected when he first arrived.

But as he looked around at his friends, his unlikely allies, and even his not-so-secret enemies, he realized he wouldn't trade it for anything.

The days at Genvah Academy trickled forward, each one blending into the next with a quiet sort of steadiness that still felt a little foreign to Aiden.

Classes continued.

Detentions continued.

Life, it seemed, was determined to move on.

For the first years, the Trials had been officially postponed until further notice.

Apparently, after the chaos surrounding the incident with Karro, the Council decided it would be safer- and, as Professor Flinders said with a stiff frown, "a wiser logistical move" - to postpone the first-years' participation until next year.

Aiden wasn't even sure how to respond to that.

Despite everything, it wasn't the Trials or the rankings that occupied his mind the most. It was the way the older students looked at him now.

Or rather- didn't.

Before, when Aiden walked the halls, he would feel the burn of their stares: the judgment, the disdain, the whispered accusations about who he was and where he came from. Now, they barely even made eye contact.

Their gazes would slide off him like water off stone, careful and almost fearful.

It unsettled him more than he liked to admit.

It was around that time that the news reached them: the Council had concluded their investigation into the Karro incident.

There was be no further threats.No more assassination attempts.No more conspiracies lurking in the shadows.

The matter was officially closed.

Sevan had been the one to tell him, sitting casually by the common room fireplace one evening while Aiden stretched his still-sore legs.

"Council's done investigating," Sevan said, tossing a pebble into the flames and watching it spark blue for a moment. "They questioned a few of us too. Me, Adrian, Lopt, Emmeranne, Amihan… some of the others."

Aiden blinked. "Wait, what? They questioned you guys?"

Sevan nodded.

"Yeah. Had to give statements about what happened. When we saw Karro, what he did, all that."

"But…" Aiden frowned. "Why didn't they question me? I was there too. I was the one he tried to kill!"

Sevan just shrugged, completely unbothered. "Dunno. Maybe they forgot. Maybe they already knew enough from the others. You were in the infirmary, remember? Maybe they figured it wasn't worth dragging you through it."

Aiden opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Forgotten? Brushed aside?

It didn't sit right with him, but at the same time, a strange part of him was almost… relieved.

He wasn't sure he could've stood there, retelling it all again, reliving every second of that horror while men and women in golden robes judged his every word.

Maybe, just this once, being forgotten was a blessing.

The common room crackled with warmth and laughter around them. Somewhere in the distance, Adrian's voice could be heard arguing with Rupert over a game of enchanted cards.

It felt like the world was trying- awkwardly, stubbornly- to settle back into normal.

Maybe it wasn't perfect.Maybe it still hurt, and maybe he still had scars that no one else could see.But Aiden wasn't the same scared boy who had walked into Genvah months ago.

He had survived.And he wasn't alone anymore.

And it wasn't long before Aiden's first year in Genvah Academy is now concluding.