Heli didn't say much when he found you.

He didn't have to. One look at his face, Heli, who was always the calm one, always the steady one, the one who smiled even when things were falling apart, and you already knew something was wrong. Badly wrong.

Heli: "Come with me," was all he said. Quietly. Like he was trying not to alarm them.

It didn't work.

you followed him through the Decelis Academy dormitory hallways at something close to a jog, matching his pace, heart already climbing

The door to Jakah's room was already open.

Shion was in the hallway just outside it, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his jaw tight, staring at nothing. He glanced up when you arrived. Something flickered across his face, relief, maybe, or something close to it, and he stepped aside without a word.

you walked in.

Jakah was on his bed.

Lying completely still. On top of the covers, fully dressed, one arm resting at his side and the other across his chest, like he'd simply sat down and tipped sideways. His white hair fanned slightly against the pillow. His eyes were closed. The lamp on his nightstand was still on, his phone beside it, screen dark, a half-finished set of notes still open, and on his wrist, barely visible beneath his sleeve, a thin tracery of dark veins branched like cracked ink under his skin.

His chest was still rising and falling. Slow and even and completely unresponsive.

Heli: "It's a sleep-bind." Heli's voice came from behind them, careful and measured. "Old blood magic. Someone placed a curse mark on him, we don't know when. We found him like this an hour ago."