Latest / The Monster Catcher's Journal / Cloudburst

Transcript

Cloudburst · The Monster Catcher's Journal

0:27
Hello, travelers, and Monster Catchers abound.
0:30
I'm Stelliferous, and you've crash -landed on
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the Monster Catchers Journal podcast. Welcome.
0:37
It happened after the battle with Thorn Edgeglyph.
0:40
I was already emotionally and physically drained,
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trudging through the Silver Fault, curling around
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the outer cliffs of the Vapor Spires. That's
0:47
when I saw it, hovering like a thundercloud frozen
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in mid -roar. Whiff's - curled from its vaporous
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form and crystalline pressure spikes jut it out
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like frozen lights cloudburst not born from emotion
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not born from darkness or light cloudburst is
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a condensation glyph a being formed from the
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natural condensation of forgotten vapors drifting
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through the higher layers of the world not sorrow
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not joy just the unspoken the thoughts too like
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to anchor to faint too faint to remember. Over
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time they gathered, condensed, and birthed him.
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It didn't see me with malice. It didn't feel
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at all. But its presence stirred pressure. Rain
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began to fall, acidic and strange, a byproduct
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of its raw chemistry. It wasn't evil, just unstable,
1:42
a walking imbalance of elements looking for structure.
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I dropped to one knee, even Orabique bristled
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beside me. It wasn't words I heard, it was static,
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like whispers from books never written. But I
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remembered something Professor Orion told me
1:58
once. Some glyphs aren't trying to hurt you,
2:01
they're trying to make sense of what they are.
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So I stood up, drenched, trembling, but calm.
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I am Stella Ferris, I said. And I catch monsters,
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not because I control them, but because I understand
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them. The acid rain began to evaporate. Cloudburst
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pressure, waves slowed, its form destabilized,
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not in fear, but in surrender. I summoned a containment
2:24
ring, not with fire or light, but with a glyph
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of my own design. Hopebind. Not born of hope,
2:32
but shaped by it. A stabilizer, a bond. It latched
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around Cloudburst's limbs, like mist held in
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a perfect prism. The condensation calmed, storms
2:44
settled. When I opened the capsule, there he
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was, Cloudburst. You know, people always ask
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me how I managed to contain Cloudburst without
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destroying it. The answer? I didn't fight harder.
3:01
I used a Hopebind. Hopebinds are rare and can
3:04
be crafted. Not every glyph hunter has one and
3:09
even fewer understand them. They're not fighters
3:12
or elemental brawlers. They're glyphids. Not
3:15
full glyphids, but glyphids. Fragments of a veil
3:20
itself, shaped by deep intention. Some call them
3:24
harmony sigils. Others say they're echoes of
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the first glyphids ever drawn into existence.
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I just call mine... Holtbine. Physically, a Holtbine
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appears as a glowing, hovering ring. geometric
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symbols, runes that constantly shift shapes and
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language. It hovers like a halo, pulsing with
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soft, natural and neutral light. Not cold, not
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warm, just still. Around it spirals a faint hum
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-like wind, passing through crystals. Its center
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is empty, but when activated, the ring expands
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into a full circle, a containment seal that locks
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onto unstable glyphs. and dampens their surges.
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But it's more than a trap. A hopebind doesn't
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just suppress, it stabilizes. It harmonizes the
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chaotic energy around, inside the volatile, or
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unformed glyphs, allowing them to adapt, learn,
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and take form without hurting themselves or others.
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Cloudburst was unraveling when I met him, not
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because he was evil, but because he wasn't finished
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yet. His existence was like a half -formed cloud
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trying to carry lightning. He needed something
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to anchor him. Hopebine gave him that. Professor
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Orian used to say, hopebines are the unspoken
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answer to fear, not because you erase it, but
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because they give it shape, a shape you can grow
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from. He said this only after the fact that I
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created the hopebine. Hopines don't come from
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love, hope, or light, despite the name. They
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aren't emotional or anything like that at all.
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Their power lies in stability and providing structure
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where there's chaos. From where there's fog,
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silence where there's static. Sorry, form where
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there's fog. They don't fix the glyphs. They
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give them space to become whole. To bind is not
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to chain, it is to hold until balance returns.
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Anyways, as I was saying in the story, I summoned
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the Hopebind, a glowing ring of shifting runes
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orbiting me like a moon around a storm. The Hopebind
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expanded, radiating neutral pulses and circled
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cloudburst volatile core. The rain slowed, the
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spikes dissolved into mist for sixty seconds.
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He was still held stable, his body flickering
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between forms. Cloudstorms shimmered as if trying
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to decide who or what he was. But then the pressure
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returned. Holbein cracked. One glyphid shattered
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like ice. The containment rings sparkled, flickering,
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and then cloudburst broke free. The acid rain
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resumed, but now I understood it better. It wasn't
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hatred, it wasn't fear, it was disorder. Hopebind
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had bought me a moment not to win, but to witness
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that one minute gave me everything I needed.
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I stepped forward unafraid. I'm still a pharise,
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I said again, and I don't bind monsters to control
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them. I meet them in the chaos and bring them
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forward. This time I didn't use containment,
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I used connection. Cloudburst stilled again,
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not because I trapped him, but because he let
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me catch him. So I brought Cloudburst back to
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the sanctuary, contained, breathing mist inside
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his capsule like a dream, trying to escape. I
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thought they'd be proud. Professor Oren was already
7:18
waiting, his arms crossed, back straight, jaw
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tight, tighter than usual. Beside him stood Professor
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Ling, yes, that Ling, genius, prodigy, the boy
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who graduated from Glyphs Sciences at nine years
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old, and now teaches full -time. He's my age
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and already a legend. But the look on their faces,
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not pride, not even concern, disappointment.
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"'You shouldn't have gone into the Vaporspires
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alone,' Orion said flatly. "'I wasn't alone or
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a beak was with me,' I replied. Ling shook his
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head, voice sharp, but calm. Orabik isn't a stabilizer,
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and just because you created Holbein doesn't
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mean you're immune to risk. Cloudburst is unstable.
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You barely contained him." I swallowed the lump
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in my throat. But I did. He broke free of Holbein,
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yes. But I reached him another way. He let me
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catch him. He chose to bond. Lang raised a brow.
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And that makes him safe? Or you qualified to
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decide what happens next? He's not evil. I shout
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it, louder than I meant to. He's confused. I
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was confused, too, when I first, Orion, raised
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a hand, quiet. Felt like a log. Sorry. Quiet
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felt like fog. We're not angry because you felled,
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he said, softly. We're upset because you succeeded
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and you don't see the cost. Before I could protest,
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Lang stepped forward, his gloved hand extended,
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waiting. Sorry, Stella Ferris," he said, but
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Cloudburst is being transferred to the Containment
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Wing. You can't keep him. He's too dangerous.
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You'll understand some day. I stood there frozen,
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the capsule heavy in my hands. Please don't do
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this, I whispered, but they took him. The capsule
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left my fingers like steam dissipating into cold
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air. Cloudburst didn't make a sound, he didn't
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fight, he just stared through the mist with eyes
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like silent thunder. I shouldn't be recording
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this. Orion would call it evidence, Lang would
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call it grounds for expulsion. But if I don't
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tell the truth, who will? I was angry, no, furious.
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Lang loved seeing the glyphs I caught. He used
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to say I had instincts better than in any textbook.
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Every time I walked through those doors, he'd
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rush over with questions, theories, praise, but
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after Cloudburst, that joy was gone. All I saw
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in his eyes was fear. That night, I couldn't
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sleep. I stared at the ceiling of my dorm room
10:00
until the stars above me turned to fog in my
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vision. If I couldn't have Cloudburst, if they
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were going to lock him away like some wild mistake,
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then maybe no one should have him. I used an
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override key I wasn't supposed to still have.
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I snuck through the garden wing, slipped past
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the whisper vault, and into the lower labs of
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Luan Academy. The place was quiet. Too quiet.
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They had locked Cloudburst behind triple sigil
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seals. But I knew the code system. I'd studied
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it. I opened the capsule. Come on, boy, I whispered.
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We're leaving. But something was off. He didn't
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flow to me like before. He didn't swirl in that
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sleepy spiral. He always did when calm. He stared,
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his vapor pulsed dark at the edges. He was hurt.
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Not physically. Betrayed. And then the pressure
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dropped. He screamed a soundless internal scream,
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and suddenly the air was thick with acidic rain
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and steam. Lights burst. Glass shattered. His
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cloud form expanded, swallowing the room in the
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spiral of fog and static. Alarms welled across
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the academy. Cloud burst. No! Stop! I shouted,
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but it was too late. I'd let him loose without
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stabilizing him. I'd told myself he'd be happy
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that he'd want freedom, but all he wanted was
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to understand why I gave him up. He tore through
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three floors in under two minutes, smashed containment
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tanks, shored glyph stabilizers. I tried to reach
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him, but he wouldn't look at me. He was Cloud
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Storm Fury. And this time, he wasn't asking permission.
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I remember the sirens. I remember the smell of
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ozone and burning paper. I remember cloudburst
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eyes, wide, confused, trembling with static.
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And then light. Like a bolt of sky piercing straight
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through me. Pain, not quiet. It was more like
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being unplugged from existence. I heard someone
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screaming my name. I think it was Lang or Orion.
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And then nothing but fog. Six months later, the
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fog began to lift. First sound, then light, then
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the weight of my own breathing. I opened my eyes
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to a quiet sterile room bathed in the glow of
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artificial starlight. Machines beeped in steady
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rhythm. My body was thin, my arms weak. I couldn't
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even lift my head, but I could hear them, Orion
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and Lang at the foot of my bed. You should have
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died, Orion said quietly. No warrant, no triumph
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at my survival. Just that. I blinked. Lang stood
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beside me, arms crossed, face pale and rigged.
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You broke into the Academy, he said. You released
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an unstable glyph into a populated research facility.
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You endangered everyone, including yourself.
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I tried to speak, but my throat was dry, like
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sand, and silence. and conspired to seal it shut.
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Cloudburst almost killed you, Orion, continued,
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and when we arrived you were already unconscious.
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Your nervous system overloaded from direct atmospheric
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shock. He didn't understand what he was doing,
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but you should have. Lang stepped closer, voice
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lower, now strained. I beg them to let you keep
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studying. I fought for you after the Thorn Edge
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hunt, but you crossed a line, Stella Ferris.
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You betrayed the trust we gave you. The air was
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heavier than Cloudburst's storm. But he's okay,
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I rasp, barely audible. Orion hesitated. We stabilized
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him, barely. He's in deep stasis. We're still
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studying him, carefully. Laying at it, he's not
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your partner anymore and you're no longer allowed
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near containment labs, without full supervision.
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Silence, just the beeping machines between us.
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You could have died, Orion said again, and for
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what? I couldn't answer because the truth was
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I didn't know anymore. Orion didn't leave the
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room for a long time after Lang stormed out.
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He just stood at the window, arms folded behind
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his back, staring into the artificial sky beyond
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the hospital glass. I wanted to curl into the
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sheets and disappear, but I had to say it, even
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if my voice cracked, even if it didn't fix anything.
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I'm sorry, I whispered. I don't know why I was
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so reckless. I can't even come up with an answer,
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I just... I choked. My thoughts burned, my eyes
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did too. I wanted to justify it, wrap it up in
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something smart, something statistic. But there
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was no strategy in what I did, only fear and
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desperation. Oyan finally turned to me, his expression
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was unreadable. Still the Pharisee said, his
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voice calm but cold, I've trained glyph catchers
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for over thirty years. I've seen arrogance, impulsiveness,
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greed. But what you did wasn't about pride, he
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paused. It was about pain. I looked down at my
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hands, shaking thin, still not healed. I thought
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he needed me, I murmured, that I could reach
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him, that if I didn't save him, no one would.
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Oran sighed, and the weight of it filled the
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room. He stepped forward, closer now, until he
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was beside my bed. You have potential beyond
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most of the students here. Maybe even beyond
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Lang, he said softly. But you have to stop acting
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like you're alone." I blinked, so I'm not expelled.
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His brows arched, you think. You get to sleep
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through six months of trauma and get expelled?
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No, Stella Farris, you're not done here. You're
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just on a very short leash. He sat in the chair
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next to me. Finally, the strictness gave way
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to something more tired, more human. Look, he
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said, you can keep studying at Luan. You will
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keep studying, just as you always have. But if
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you want to catch any more glyphs, you come to
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me first. You don't go out alone. You don't improvise.
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Containment protocols. You don't sneak into vaults."
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He held my gaze. It's the only way to ensure
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your safety. I nodded slowly, eyes welling again.
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Not from shame this time, but relief. Okay, I
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said, I'll come to you every time. Orion rose
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again, giving a slow nod of his own. Good, because
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next time you might not wake up. And we wouldn't
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want that, now would we? That night, long after
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Orion left, he came back. Ling. I almost didn't
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recognize him without his lab coat, just a loose
17:06
black hoodie, hands shoved deep into his pockets,
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head down like he was still debating whether
17:13
he should even be here. He had flowers, nothing
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dramatic, just a messy bundle of sky blossoms,
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blue. Star -shaped, slightly wilted from the
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cold night air, he handed them to me without
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a word. I blinked. Um, thanks. Lang looked at
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the floor. They're from the gardening, the part
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that didn't get destroyed. Then he sat in the
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chair next to my bed and stared at his shoes,
17:39
like they were about to give him advice. We didn't
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say anything for a while, the room hummed with
17:46
medical machinery and moonlight. Finally, I broke
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the silence. You were really mad at me." He glanced
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up. I still am. Fair. He excelled through his
17:57
nose, half a laugh, half a sigh. But I'm also
18:02
glad you're okay. That stopped me. Lang never
18:05
said things like that to me before. He was always
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intellect first, emotion buried under facts,
18:12
charts, and containment models. I didn't think
18:15
you'd visit, I admit it. I almost didn't, he
18:18
said. I wasn't sure if I was ready to forgive
18:20
you yet, or if you'd want to see me. I looked
18:25
at him, really looked at him. For the first time,
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I didn't see a child genius or the youngest professor
18:31
at Luan. I saw Lang, awkward, quiet, and trying.
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For the first time, I realized something. I liked
18:38
him. Not the way I like stargazing or catching
18:41
glyphs. But in that weird stomach flipping, please
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don't look at me unless you're going to look
18:46
forever kind of way. He stood to leave. I'll
18:52
come by tomorrow, he mumbled. You probably won't
18:56
be able to sleep anyway. Lang, I said before
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he reached the door. He looked back. I'm really
19:03
glad it was you who was mad at me, I said. It
19:07
means it matters. His ears turned red. He didn't
19:12
say anything, just gave a faint nod and left.
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The flowers sat on my bedside tray, still a little
19:18
crooked. I smiled for the first time in six months.
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After Ling left, I stared at the flowers for
19:27
a long time. The petals were uneven. One was
19:30
torn. They weren't even the right color for recovery,
19:34
but they were mine, picked for me by him. And
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that's when it hit me. not like a lightning strike,
19:41
not like cloudburst, more like a quiet breeze
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through an open window I hadn't realized was
19:47
opened. I had a crush on Lang, a real one, the
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kind that makes your heart kick when you hear
19:54
that voice, the kind that rewrites the tension
19:57
between arguments and praise into something soft,
20:00
something that stays. I tried to laugh at myself,
20:03
I'd just caused a campus -wide disaster and nearly
20:07
died and broke a hundred Academy rules, and now
20:10
my brain wanted to flirt. But it wasn't a joke,
20:13
it was real. And it had been hiding there for
20:16
a while, between admiration and irritation, growing
20:20
slowly under the surface. The genus boy who always
20:24
challenged me, the professor who believed in
20:26
my potential, even when I broke every rule in
20:29
the book. The only one who brought me flowers
20:32
when I woke up, Lang. I buried my face in my
20:36
pillow and groaned so the sewing wouldn't hear
20:38
me. So, there I was, talking to myself like an
20:49
idiot after Lang left. I'd popped his flowers
20:53
up against the edge of the water cup. I was staring
20:57
at them like they were some ancient riddle. Still
21:00
yet I needed to solve and my brain just cracked
21:04
open I like laying I whispered at first and then
21:08
louder I like laying and then because I'm me
21:12
and because six months of silence made me forget
21:15
what volume is I Like laying I it echoed off
21:20
the hospital walls like a confession thrown into
21:23
a canyon. That's when I heard it a shift outside
21:26
my door The softest creak of a boot. I froze
21:30
as my heart stopped laying. No one answered.
21:33
I weighed it. Then I heard it. Quiet, almost
21:35
polite footsteps retreating down the hall. He'd
21:38
heard me. He was still there, and he walked away.
21:42
I buried my face in my pillow again, but this
21:44
time I didn't groan. I just stared into the darkness
21:46
and whispered, of course he left. I don't know
21:49
what that means. I don't know if he scared or
21:54
confused. Or maybe he doesn't feel the same.
21:57
Or maybe he does. And he's just laying brilliant
22:01
with theories, terrible with feelings. Either
22:04
way I said it, and I can't unsay it.