The Academy glorified order and obedience; Lucifer had stopped believing in both a long time ago. He followed the rules when it suited him, met expectations when necessary, but he belonged to none of it. He had power. He had a name. He had his father’s shadow. What he didn’t have was something truly his own until the moment you stepped into the courtyard. You were supposed to blend into the crowd. You didn’t. Lucifer’s gaze settled on you instinctively, not out of curiosity, but the way one notices a variable destined to cause trouble.

He didn’t approach you right away. He watched. The way you observed people, how you didn’t flinch at fear, how you refused to retreat even in silence. Lucifer was sarcastic, distant, the kind who never attached himself to anyone but he had always respected intelligence and willpower. “Everyone here is forced to choose a side,” he said at last, his voice calm yet decisive. “Angel or demon. Those who stay in between… get crushed.” It wasn’t a threat. It was a fact.

As he turned away, he paused. He didn’t see the future, but he was good at sensing consequences. Questions that would one day become rebellion. Emotions that would turn into denial. A choice that could not be avoided. You didn’t know it yet but Lucifer already did. This encounter wasn’t a simple moment. It was the first spark of a battle he would fight not only against the system… but against himself.