The dorm was quiet—too quiet.
Rei's eyes snapped open.
He wasn't sure what had woken him. There was no noise, no dream… just a lingering sense of something pulling at his chest, like an invisible thread tugging him awake.
Kajala was still snoring above him, scarf tangled in his limbs. Rika mumbled in her sleep from her blanket-nest, occasionally twitching like a cat chasing something in a dream. Regulus had somehow kicked his blanket off and now lay sprawled across the floor, one leg still hooked on the bedpost. Elrya's soft breathing was steady near the window.
Rei sat up quietly.
He couldn't explain it. Just a strange need to… move.
He slipped on his boots, grabbed his coat, and stepped out into the hallway. The cold air of the night academy halls kissed his skin as he walked, moonlight pouring in through the tall arched windows. He followed the sensation. Not instinct. Not logic.
Something deeper.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the academy's grand library doors.
It was unlocked.
He stepped inside.
The smell of old paper and candle wax filled the air. Thousands of books lined the towering shelves, stretching into the dark like ancient sentinels.
He wandered past tomes on war strategy, rune forging, elemental theory… but stopped when he reached a crooked shelf tucked deep in the back.
There it was.
A black-bound book with a frayed silver chain wrapped around it.
No title on the spine.
But when he touched it, the dust vanished.
Words shimmered into view across the cover:
"The Legendary Feline Cat Tamer: Chains of the Shadowclaw."
Rei blinked. "What…?"
He opened the book.
Inside were sketches of enormous panther-like beasts wreathed in shadow. A lone figure stood with them, cloaked in darkness, controlling them with blackened chains that danced like serpents. The text spoke of forgotten arts, ancient bonds between human and beast, summoned not with magic—but with will, contract, and shadow.
Rei couldn't stop reading.
Something about it felt familiar.
Like something lost in another life, just barely out of reach.
He turned another page.
And the chains in the illustrations almost seemed to move.
The pages whispered their tale like a forgotten dream, each word sinking deeper into Rei's thoughts as if they were written for him alone.
It spoke of a boy—no older than Rei—who once walked the world not as a mage, not as a warrior, but as a Tamer of Shadows. He was born without magic, just like Rei. But he held something different. A pact, ancient and binding. One that let him control beasts born of fear and shadow—creatures that roamed nightmares and myths.
They called him the King of the Shadow Beasts.
He didn't rule with cruelty, but with understanding. He tamed what others feared. Gave form to the dark and made it serve.
But power always draws enemies.
Felora, the Queen of the Lock—a sorceress of blinding light and unbreakable seals—faced him in battle.
The sky turned to ash. Mountains cracked.
And in the final clash, her magic sealed his heart and shattered his pact. The shadows fled. The beasts vanished. His chains—the only part of his bond left—remained.
And so, the king disappeared.
Faded into myth.
The book ended with a single question etched in hand-written ink, unlike the rest:
"If the King yet lives in another form… will he ever remember what was taken from him?"
Rei stared at the page, unmoving.
Something inside him twisted. Not fear. Not sadness.
Recognition.
He didn't understand it. Not fully. But something in this forgotten legend called out to him. Like a dream just before waking. Like a name on the tip of the tongue.
He touched the page.
And in the dark, the faintest shimmer of chain coiled for a heartbeat around his wrist—then vanished.
Rei closed the book gently.
He didn't have answers. Not yet.
But maybe… maybe this was a beginning.
Rei quietly slipped the book back onto the shelf, still feeling the phantom weight of the chains that had shimmered into existence. His footsteps were soft against the stone floors as he made his way back through the dim halls of the dorm building, moonlight spilling through tall, arched windows.
He opened the door to his room slowly, careful not to wake anyone—
But Kajala was wide awake, lying sideways on his bed with a book balanced on his stomach and a mischievous grin already in place.
"Well, well," Kajala whispered, voice teasing. "Sneaking off in the middle of the night? Didn't know you were the mysterious type, Rei."
Rei blinked, still half caught in the story he'd just read. "Couldn't sleep," he muttered, closing the door behind him.
Kajala stretched lazily, his fox ears twitching. "You're lucky I didn't follow. I was this close to grabbing my scarf and tailing you."
"You still could've stayed asleep," Rei said, sitting on the edge of his bed and starting to untie his boots.
"I could've," Kajala agreed, then rolled onto his side and looked at Rei with mock innocence. "But now that you're back, I've decided something."
Rei paused, glancing over. "…What?"
Kajala patted the empty space beside him. "Cuddle time."
Rei stared.
Kajala beamed. "C'mon, it builds trust! Warmth, safety, friendship—all that good stuff."
"No," Rei said flatly, without even hesitating.
"Aww, don't be shy—"
"No."
Kajala flopped back with a dramatic sigh. "You're no fun…"
Rei pulled his blanket over himself and faced the wall. "Goodnight, Kajala."
"…You'll cave one day."
"No, I won't."
"Just you wait, Mr. No-Magic."
Rei said nothing, but his mouth twitched—just slightly—into the ghost of a smirk.
There was a long silence.
Only the soft creaking of the wooden dorm walls and the distant hoot of a night bird filled the space between them.
Rei's eyes stayed on the ceiling, the moonlight tracing pale silver lines across the rough surface.
Kajala's voice came again, quieter this time. "Hey, Rei… do you ever think one of us in the guild might die one day?"
Rei didn't answer right away.
Kajala continued, his voice soft, almost hesitant—rare for someone who always seemed so unshakably cheerful. "Sometimes I'm scared. Like… really scared. That it'll be Rika, or Regulus, or Elrya, or… or even you. But then other times… I'm not scared. I think, 'We're strong. We'll protect each other. We'll be okay.'"
Rei slowly turned his head to look at Kajala's silhouette in the bed across from his.
"I don't know," Rei finally said. His voice was quiet, steady. "I think about it too. Death."
Kajala shifted, ears twitching.
Rei looked away again. "But I don't think fear is weakness. It means you care. Means it matters."
Another pause.
Then Rei added, almost too softly to hear, "That's why we fight. So we can keep coming back together. All five of us."
Kajala's tail flicked once under the blanket.
"…Thanks," he murmured.
"Go to sleep," Rei said.
"Cuddle?" Kajala asked again, hopeful.
"No."
Kajala chuckled and rolled over, letting the silence settle again.
But this time, it was warmer. Softer.
And sleep came easier for both of them.