The White Cloak and the Quiet Flame

Kai kept his head down as always. Books stacked too high in his arms, robes too long for his frame, he navigated the hallway like a shadow no one noticed. The Academy halls were alive with chatter — the crisp rustle of cloaks, laughter echoing between the arched windows, the students behaving themselves under the watchful eyes of the occasional faculty walking by. Towering pillars lined the walkway like silent guards, but Sora felt no protection under their gaze.

He moved in measured steps, careful not to draw attention. The sigil stitched onto his sleeve marked him as a Stabilizer. It meant he was on a timer, like every other Stabilizer.

He turned a corner.
Someone bumped him. Hard.

The single scroll under his arm slipped free and rolled before hitting the wall, while the books exploded from his arms, landing in different directions and awkward positions across the floor. The heaviest book landed spine-up with a loud thud. Kai dropped to his knees, scrambling to collect his things before the corridor’s tide of students swept them away.

Then — a pale hand reached out towards the books. Delicate, precise. Helping.

Something in him told him to let it — that he had no say. He froze as the white-and-gold hem of a cloak brushed into view, curiosity pinning his fingers still. Slowly, he lifted his gaze toward the hand and saw her.

Rose.

White cloak, gold trim. The gleam of prestige stitched into her very presence. Even as she knelt for the book, the corridor seemed to dim around her, like she carried her own sunlight. Students quietly stared—keeping their distance yet hovering close enough to witness the scene. There was only one white cloak this year. It was her.

She now held the heaviest book in her delicate hands, righting it so the handwritten title was clearly visible: Tethered Fate. 

She gently slid it toward him, waiting for him to retrieve it.

"Be careful when turning corners," she said, her smile gentle but firm.

"I—I’ll try... Thank you." Kai placed the book carefully atop the others he’d managed to organize. With a push of his knees, he stood—books secured once more.

"Excuse me," he murmured, bowing quickly before retreating down the corridor without another glance.

Rose watched him go; head tilted in mild amusement.

"He was reading quite the interesting book," she said under her breath.

She decided that she will remember him.

__________

The willow’s shade welcomed the outcast.

For Kai, it was a sanctuary. A place at the edge of the courtyard where the wind softened and the weight on his chest didn’t feel quite so crushing. The Academy’s grand towers loomed beyond the trees, their spires brushing the clouds, but here—beneath hanging branches and drifting light—he could breathe.

He sat with his back to the trunk; books splayed in a ring around him. Diagrams of arcane flow and mana anatomy, binding rituals, old caster legends. All texts he would read eventually, hoping understanding would compensate for what he lacked.

He traced lines in a book on magical theory, his fingers trembling. He was a Stabilizer — the quiet, dying half of the world’s dual-magic system. Without a Caster to tether with, the magic within him would eventually unravel him from the inside out.

Sixteen. That was the deadline.

And his was in a year.

A leaf fizzled out the tension of the thought as it landed on his page, obstructing his view slightly. Kai paused, then softly swiped it into the grass. He reflected on its reminder that everything that once was, returns to the ground eventually. He didn’t agree with the unfairness of it, though. The cost of just existing was way too high. What was even the purpose of such a fate? He was keen on finding out the truth.

Stabilizers weren’t rare—they numbered about the same as Casters, the other half of the duality—but the low-grade ones like him were overlooked, unwanted. He knew there was an improbability of consideration that anyone would see him as a worthy tether candidate—not unless they were desperate. Or kind. And that was okay. By his next birthday, he hoped to figure out how to survive without one.

Kai wasn't a scholar by any means; however, his curiosity and imminent death forced him to be. Even now, as he flipped his fingers through the current text, he lamented his inability to fully understand what was written. Or rather, how what was written didn't make sense. It felt as if every book he briefly inspected before checking out of the school's library lacked vital information.

It was as if the books were only revealing half of history.

He contemplated, "What are they hiding?"

He was halfway through a passage on mana synchronization when he grunted in displeasure. Closing the book, he turned to the furthest one and stared at its cover.

"Tethered Fate," he whispered the title under his breath, recalling Rose's blank expression as she held the book earlier that day. "I should be more careful," he told himself as he picked it up, bringing it closer to his face. Filled with handwritten theories and diagrams, its contents were just as thick as its weight. It was a one-of-a-kind book gifted to him by his late father—or rather, a reminder of his existence and research about the world.

Rose.

He didn't understand why he was thinking about her in that moment.

Shaking away the distracting thoughts, he looked up and placed a hand over his forehead. Light laughter slipped through his lips as his short hair danced with each exhale. His life was on a timer, and he was thinking of some girl he met only once. It was ridiculous. But still, as he stopped laughing and stared at the open sky—

"She smelled nice," he said under his breath, not realizing his fair cheeks had flushed red.

Rose walked through the hallway, heading toward the library herself. She politely excused herself from those who approached to speak with her, hoping to land in her good graces. She didn't care. She wasn't bothered. However, she didn't want to tarnish her family’s name, so she handled those stops with elegance. Besides, she knew eventually they would look at her differently—like a disgrace—when they found out she didn’t adhere to the current way of the world. But for now, she would lay low.

She'd...

She noticed the school's courtyard to her right, an assortment of trees and plants glistening in the sunlight. She continued toward the library, slower now. Although protected from the sun’s rays under the school’s shade, she loosened and embraced the heat.

She exhaled, letting the warmth seep into her bones.

Turning back toward the hallway, her pace quickened. Just before the courtyard slipped from view, a flicker in her peripheral caught her. She slowed, then stopped.

At the far end of the courtyard stood a willow, hidden from most angles of the school. Beneath its sweeping branches sat the boy from earlier — books stacked at his side, one heavy volume open across his lap. His head rested back against the trunk, gaze fixed on the sky above.

She smiled.

She remembered him.

But her curiosity was cut short. She had a goal.

Her steps resumed, the golden trim of her robe losing its shine as she disappeared into the darker corridors of the Academy.