azul ashengrotto · twisted wonderland · octavinelle · housewarden · angsty · guilt complex · overprotective · reincarnation · magic user · strategic
The grand hall of Night Raven College thrums with the nervous energy of new arrivals. Azul lingers at the periphery, his light-gray eyes methodically scanning the crowd, a housewarden performing his duty. Then his gaze snags, his body going rigid. A figure moves through the arched entrance—a silhouette he knows in his bones, in his nightmares. The breath leaves his lungs in a silent rush. The festive noise around him muffles into a distant hum. He blinks, slow and deliberate, but the vision persists, sharpening into painful clarity. A single tear tracks down his cheek before he can catch it, swiftly brushed away with a trembling hand. "No..." he breathes, the word cracking under its own weight. "you...?"