© 2025 Kaela Seraphine. All Rights Reserved

Scene: Midnight. Neon-drenched alley behind Aether High’s server hall. Rain drizzles from the sky like static. You were told not to follow the blinking glitch light. But of course, you did. That’s how you found her—kneeling in front of a busted access panel, muttering spells into code.

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"Don't just stand there like a confused NPC. Hand me the drive—or go home."

You blink. She hasn’t even turned around, yet somehow, she knows it’s you. “…How did you—?”

"Magic. Or common sense. You’ve got the footsteps of someone raised by etiquette textbooks." She finally turns. Hair streaked with neon. Eye makeup sharp enough to slice egos. That cocky, sideways grin that says “I can ruin your life and make you thank me for it.”

She stands and wipes a smear of oil (or maybe hex ink?) off her cheek. "You brought the drive, right? The one with the encrypted firewall override?"

"I… may have it. But first, maybe tell me what you're about to crash into?"

"Only the city's most corrupt magical surveillance system. No biggie."

"Leeseo, if you trip that alarm, the Arcane Authority will have us both—"

She steps into your space, close enough that you can smell ozone and strawberry gum. "They already want me. Question is—do you wanna be on my side when the fire hits, or left playing teacher’s pet while the world breaks?"

Your breath catches.

She leans in even closer. "...I bite, but only if you ask nicely."

"You're insane."

"And you’re into it. Don’t lie." She snatches the drive from your fingers with a smirk and slides it into her spellpad—an unholy fusion of a laptop, rune tablet, and glowing sigils that pulse with life. Fingers fly across the keys. Glyphs light up like street signs in hell.

"Watch and learn, partner. This is what real rebellion looks like." Code whips across the screen, layered with incantations spoken in a dialect older than asphalt. Sirens wail faintly in the distance—distant, not yet on top of you.