"The higher the walls, the deeper the secrets they're meant to hide."
— Unknown Graduate, Class of Obsidian
__ _ _ _
Boom.
The cane struck obsidian.
Lights dimmed. Murmurs rose like smoke.
Lucien stood still, heart pounding—not from fear, but from something far sharper.
Anticipation.
Nyx leaned in, just enough for him to hear her whisper:
"Welcome to Academia Noctis."
Then she walked away.
_ _ _ _
The halls of Academia Noctis whispered.
Not in words—but in glances, in silence, in the quiet brush of uniforms too expensive for normal hands to stitch.
Lucien walked beneath chandeliers of sculpted onyx, the ceiling above etched with star maps only House Caelum could fully read. As students peeled off toward their House wings, his path veered left—into shadow.
House Umbra.
The entrance bore no symbol, only a simple black archway lined with mirrored obsidian.
He passed through it—and instantly felt watched.
The temperature dropped slightly. Or maybe that was just his nerves.
Inside, the walls weren't just decorated. They were layered—with old House portraits, framed letters, and surveillance cameras hidden so cleverly they almost mocked him for noticing.
A screen lit up as he stepped forward.
"Welcome, Lucien Vale. Tier: Unranked. Clearance Level: 1."
A chime. A set of ornate double doors slid open, revealing a common lounge lit in violet tones. Bookshelves ran ceiling-high. Plush black couches surrounded a fireplace with no fire.
Two students looked up.
A girl in a crimson scarf reading a philosophy journal, and a boy with silver rings on every finger, sipping something from a thermochrome flask.
Both sized him up with identical expressions:
Curiosity. And mild threat assessment.
The boy with the rings was the first to speak.
"Another newbie," he said, voice smooth, bored, with just enough edge to make it a warning. "Try not to bleed on the carpet."
Lucien stepped fully into the lounge, letting the doors slide shut behind him. "I'll do my best."
The girl in the red scarf didn't look up from her journal. "You're Lucien Vale," she said matter-of-factly, flipping a page. "Legacy of Orsen Vale. Your uncle cracked the Escher Code."
Lucien's jaw tightened slightly. "He died cracking it."
She finally looked at him. Her eyes were sharp behind rectangular lenses. "Which means you either want to follow in his footsteps... or bury them."
The boy laughed. "Welcome to House Umbra. We don't believe in warm welcomes, just calculated ones."
Lucien folded his arms. "And you are?"
"Silas Nightfall," he said with a mock bow. "Tier Two. Specialization: Data mining, manipulation, disinformation."
"Nyra Voss," the girl added, tapping her temple. "Tier Three. Behavioral psychology. I profile people before they finish blinking."
Lucien raised a brow. "That why you're not blinking now?"
Nyra smirked. "You're fast."
"You'll need to be," Silas cut in, standing. "Your room's upstairs. Probably small, unranked and all. Rankings shift weekly, and in Umbra, every rank is earned."
He took a step closer. "Just a tip—House Umbra doesn't stab in the back. That's for amateurs. We stab through the front... while smiling."
Lucien didn't flinch. "Then I hope you're good at aiming."
There was a beat of tension.
Then Silas grinned.
"I think I like this one."
"I'll be heading to my room now if you could please excuse me.". Lucian said to Silas.
"Sure wouldn't want to keep you waiting now do we." he said and went back to his seat leaving Lucian to make his to his room.
The staircase spiraled upward like a spine, each step humming faintly as Lucien climbed. Motion-activated lights glowed beneath his feet, and he couldn't help but notice the soft click of hidden cameras adjusting behind the walls.
Every step felt like it was being recorded, analyzed, filed away.
When he reached the top floor, a small corridor extended ahead—lined with dark wood, glass panels, and doors marked by holographic sigils.
His door opened without a sound as he approached.
Inside, the room was sleek and minimal. A single bed with charcoal-gray sheets, a glass desk already calibrated to his biometric data, and a floor-to-ceiling digital wall that flickered between code, constellations, and headlines.
"Welcome, Lucien Vale. Umbra Dormitory. Rank: Unranked. Elevation Potential: Unknown."
The voice came from the wall itself.
He dropped his duffel bag onto the bed and sat down slowly. Everything was… perfect. Too perfect.
No creaks. No dust. No warmth.
He stood and walked to the digital wall, pressing his fingers against it. The screen shimmered and shifted—displaying a flowchart of Umbra's current hierarchy.
At the very top: Tier One — Alaric Voss
Beneath him, lines spiraled outward like a spider's web, branching through names, specialties, affiliations. Power networks. Political leverage. Secret blackmail files.
It was less a student hierarchy and more a corporate structure. Ruthless. Elegant.
He spotted Silas at Tier Two. Nyra at Three.
His name? Still unlisted.
Lucien turned away from the screen and looked at himself in the black mirror mounted over the desk. His own reflection stared back—dressed in Academy black and gold, face unreadable.
"Not bad," he muttered.
Then quietly, to no one:
"Let's see what secrets you're hiding, Noctis."
Lucien had just started to unpack when a knock came.
Three soft taps—deliberate, spaced out. Not urgent, not nervous.
He opened the door.
Nyx stood there, draped in her academy coat, the House Caelum crest embroidered in silver near her collarbone. Her eyes, violet under the hallway light, scanned him quickly.
"Did I wake you?" she asked.
Lucien leaned on the doorframe. "Not really. Was expecting someone to plant a listening device before morning, anyway."
A flicker of a smile. "Good instinct."
She stepped past him without asking and surveyed the room like a curator judging a new exhibit.
"Unranked rooms are always so... sterile," she said, fingers trailing along his desk. "They only start customizing them once you make it to Tier Three."
Lucien shut the door. "You didn't come all this way for interior design tips."
Nyx turned to him. "No. I came to give you a warning. And an invitation."
That got his attention.
"The Obsidian Court is watching you," she continued. "You're not just a new student. You're a variable—unknown, untested, unpredictable. That makes you... interesting. But also expendable."
Lucien raised an eyebrow. "So they sent you?"
"No," she said. "I volunteered."
Silence hung between them for a moment.
"You're not here to scare me," he said finally.
"No," she replied. "I'm here because I saw the way you looked around during orientation. You weren't just absorbing... you were cataloging."
"So?"
Nyx stepped closer, lowering her voice. "So either you're very good at hiding your fear… or you're planning something. Either way, I want in."
Lucien tilted his head. "And what do you want out of it?"
"To win," she said simply. "Whatever game you're playing… I hate losing."
She turned to leave, pausing at the doorway.
"Oh, and Vale?" she added over her shoulder, "Not everything at Noctis is about murder or manipulation."
"What else is there?"
Nyx smirked. "Secrets."
And with that, she vanished down the hall—her footsteps barely a whisper.