Natalia hugged her baseball jacket tighter, but it didn’t stop her from shivering. “Remind me why dinner is out here again? I signed up for fireplaces and hot choccy, not cold cuts and hypothermia.”

  “Hypothermia?” Colette, already wearing three layers beneath her thick mustard-yellow jacket, teased through a smirk. “Or, and hear me out, try a puffer jacket?”

  Natalia made a face.

  Black hair spilling over one side when Colette tilted her head. “Also, you look suspiciously cute these days. Who’s he? A hottie no?”

  Natalia flushed. “He? There is no he.” She jabbed a thumb at the sky to demand a change in topic. “And it is May. People eat indoors in May.”

  “But cold never bothered you, right? Pyromancer and all,” Colette teased.

  “Fire-affinity Gifted, not space heater.” Natalia stared at her own hands.

  In truth, years of suppressing her powers had made her forget to use them for anything practical.

  At the next bench, Eydis twirled a marshmallow on a stick. Amber eyes glinted. “Wouldn’t this be more authentic with a bit of… what’s the word? Controlled arson?”

  “Controlled arson?” Colette turned to Eydis.

  “Stop encouraging her,” Natalia groaned.

  Eydis smirked. “One might also call it a campfire.”

  “There it is,” Natalia sighed. “But no campfire, Eydis! Total fire ban!”

  Eydis touched the marshmallow to Natalia’s nose. “How disappointing. I hear these things taste amazing with a little… spark.”

  "Ugh, no more! Get that monstrosity away from me!" Natalia swatted half-heartedly, quickly lost the battle against the pout that followed, and snapped her fingers. The marshmallow blushed gold instantly.

  Colette’s jaw dropped. “Five seconds ago you—“

  “Thank you, Natalia.” Eydis rescued the treat, slid it into her mouth, then licked sugar off her fingertip slowly.

  Natalia sucked in a deep breath.

  "So soft and warm,” Eydis murmured. “No wonder you couldn’t resist them yesterday.”

  Natalia stared unblinkingly at Eydis’s glistening fingers, obvious enough for the brunette to notice.

  Sensing Eydis’s curious gaze, she blurted, “R-Resist? More like possessed!” She rubbed her stomach. “And I swear, I haven’t burned off a single calorie since.”

  Birgit trudged over with a tray and collapsed beside her. “I am banned from juice for a week.”

  “Well, Birdie, you did down half the supply yesterday. Be grateful Astra and Theo actually wiped out that… thing.” Colette shuddered.

  “Remind me to never get on Astra’s bad side. Ever,” Natalia added.

  “Bad side? Have you seen her face? There's no bad side…not from certain angles, or any angles," Birgit argued, taking an unenthusiastic sip of her bland beverage.

  Natalia leaned in. "Not just destroyed, Obliterated!”

  Birgit frowned. “How do you know? We left early.”

  “Check #StKevinsIcePrincess on the school intranet,” Natalia said. “But wait… if it’s gone, why are we still freezing out here?”

  “Word is, Dean Saito’s been losing it all morning, personally inspecting every piece of cafeteria food,” said Birgit.

  “Why would—“

  A scream tore across the quad. A column of purple smoke spiralled above the cricket pitch and whipped in the wind.

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  “Again?!”

  "Get Theo! Get Astra!"

  Following Ms. May’s authoritative instructions, the students hurried back to their dorms as her voice, amplified by a handheld megaphone, echoed around them.

  Eydis watched the crowd scatter and pretended to move with the flow before discreetly slipping away when she saw her chance.

  Eydis tasted last night’s memory like rancid milk. Birgit convulsing, students vomiting, tables up-ended as the cafeteria turned into a brawl. Classic Gluttony. Always hungry, always worse after the first bite.

  But despite the spectacle her senses were irritatingly muted. Drastic situations, therefore, called for drastic measures. She hadn’t planned to act so soon, but plans were for people who owned clocks.

  Envy’s voice from last night flickered in her mind.

  Your Majesty, are you certain about a public scene? Subtlety has always been our—

  Subtlety was never your strong suit, Envy.

  If the teachers wrote this off as just another weird Tuesday dinner, by lunch the kids would be lining up for second helpings of mystery pie. There would be no window to capture Gluttony, as the hall was never empty for long.

  And with Astra and Theo on nightly patrol…

  Eydis needed spectacle. Tiffany’s fallout had already turned public. It wasn’t like the mist monster was a secret anymore.

  Every second fattens the beast. Mist form. Now. She commanded.

  As you wish, Your Majesty.

  Purple vapour coiled near the ceiling, Envy flickering into shape. Though I imagine your ‘ever-so-cheery’ roommate might call you ‘Your Royal Rudeness.’

  Eydis ignored the future strangled victim and traced a sigil onto the table. One bead of water, no larger than a tear, carried her magic across the wood. Forget elaborate, colossal crop circles, sorcery was as much improvisation as it was tradition.

  A quartz shard in her pocket pulsed, caught the signal, amplified and extended its reach beyond its usual size.

  This would hold the gluttonous Sin in place. But containment wasn’t enough. She had to draw it out.

  Every lure needed a tempting bait.

  Target Theo. But don't harm him.

  The fight started fast. Theo hit hard, but he lacked refinement, a prodigy with a sledgehammer. Envy flowed around him in ribbons of smoke, bleeding away his stamina with every miss.

  Is this enough? Envy asked, as one of its tendrils got shredded by Theo’s blade.

  Not even close. Darkness, please. Time to paint a more vivid picture for our true audience.

  The tendrils lashed out and shattered the artificial lights with an explosion. Darkness fell and provided the perfect cover for Eydis.

  Her mana ran thin. She dripped a sliver into Envy anyway. The Sin’s strength wasn’t power; it was manipulation. It fed on frustration and thrived on fears.

  Eyes closed, she followed the dance through aura alone. Theo’s sword flashed, and Envy dissolved an instant before each cut. Exhaustion spread through him, and she could hear his ragged breathing.

  This was no life-and-death battle, but a calculated tease, aiming to drain Theo’s mana while she conserved her own.

  She rolled her eyes as Envy hissed with manic glee.

  Chaos! Oh, glorious, glorious chaos!

  Subtle? Sure.

  For its part, Envy revelled in the game, swirling around Theo like a playful phantom, feeding off his growing frustration. Then, like a Valkyrie bursting onto the scene…

  Astra arrived.

  Theo, enlightened by her, finally unleashed a torrent of sub-zero magic. Ice frosted the walls, the floor, and Envy’s aura vanished instantly.

  That confirmed sub-zero was the key.

  Her gaze flicked to the kitchen.

  Gluttony had not possessed the food. That would be too unambitious. It had hidden inside the industrial freezer, marrying hunger to cold until even her senses slid past it.

  Tech ran on rules she had not grown up with. Extreme cold, well below zero; it was a test she'd hoped Theo could achieve.

  There was another option, of course. She could attempt to use the freezer itself against Envy's mist form, but Gluttony was a bottomless pit of hunger. Unleashing Envy felt reckless, bordering on cruelty towards the serpent.

  The second thing she had learned was…

  Astra.

  Eydis watched, mesmerised, as Astra fought. Her swordplay was elegant, precise, but nonetheless deadly. Where had Eydis seen such chilling control that bordered on poetry?

  She blinked the thought away.

  Regardless, Astra was no ordinary teenager. So who, or what, was Astra really?

  Just as Astra moved to shatter the last piece of the purple shard, Eydis dismissed Envy’s fragment. It dissolved into frozen fractals, and she folded the invisible mist back into her mind. The darkness cloaked its quiet return.

  On her way out of the dining hall, Eydis caught Ms. May’s hushed voice as the teacher spoke into her phone.

  “Yes… Lock down and decontaminate. Understood.”

  Eydis smiled. ‘Good work, Envy. Though next time, try not to be so… fragile.’

  Envy's reply was a weak, sarcastic mental hiss.

  Is that affection I hear from you, Your Majesty? I was under the impression you were content to let your... oh-so-serene-and-intuitive roommate silence me permanently.

  We both know, Envy, only I can vanquish you. Now, rest. I'll help you regain your strength.

  The memory faded.

  Eydis headed toward the deserted dining hall. Envy’s diversion on the cricket pitch had bought her just enough time, she hoped, to finish the job.

  Her reserve of dark mana remained low. But she couldn’t wait any longer to recover. The bargain-basement quartz wouldn't hold for much longer. The chains binding Gluttony threatened to snap at any moment.

  Gluttony. Oh Gluttony. Every lure needed a tempting bait, and this time, the offering was a torturous one: the absence of sustenance itself.

  She reached the central control box and severed the power. The freezer sputtered and died.

  The hush of night was broken by a slow, wet drip.

  Are you hungry now, Gluttony? Well, you must be.