Returned after 19 years

The whistle of the enchanted train echoed across the valley, a piercing call that sent birds scattering from the treeline. Its carriages floated just inches above the gleaming rails, propelled by currents of mana that shimmered faintly in the air.

Each rune etched along its metallic frame pulsed in rhythm, like the heartbeat of some ancient beast. The vessel that bore the brightest students of Narvalus toward the most prestigious magic institution in existence.

Lyra and elara heels clicked against the polished floor of the boarding platform as they walked the narrow hallway of the train. The corridor was already bustling with excitable students in their mismatched cloaks and robes, gawking at every magical fixture like children let loose in a toy shop. Lyra lowered her voice, though not enough to hide her displeasure. "Honestly… must I really endure this circus? To think, I am expected to ride with them." Elara let out a small giggle in response.

Lyra exhaled through her nose, the way one does when catching the scent of something unpleasant, and stopped before a cabin door. With a delicate lift of her chin, she peered through the enchanted glass. Inside, there was only one occupant, a person. sitting there alone. she frowned. The person was draped in the kind of robes that looked like they had been plucked out of a bargain bin at the outskirts of the capital, stiff fabric, poorly dyed, no crest, no embroidery, nothing.

Garbage.

Her lips curled into a scoff. "A nobody." The idea of sharing a cabin with someone of such obvious mediocrity was laughable. Still, it was better than crowding shoulder to shoulder with the noisy rabble in the hall. Elara said quietly "Oh it will be fine, we can just ignore them."

With a haughty toss of her hair, Lyra impatiently reached forward and slid the door open. She entered first, arms folding across her chest, her presence meant to command the room. Their gazes fell sharply on the person who hadn't even bothered to stand.

"It is already absurd enough," Lyra began, her voice smooth but laced with venom, "that I am forced to share a cabin with a commoner." She let her eyes drag over the figure slowly, deliberately, as though assessing a pest. Elara let out a soft, disdainful laugh, to which Aeloria smiled.

"A commoner. And worse, you don't even have the courtesy to rise when I enter, much less bow. Do you even realize whose presence you're in?" Lyra words hung in the air like a whip crack.

Then, with a tilt of her chin, she softened her expression, mockingly.

"But," Lyra drawled, "I shall forgive your ignorance. Just this once. One cannot expect someone of your… upbringing to understand proper etiquette." Elara lips curved into a smirk, sharp as a blade. She lifted one finger, pointing elegantly at the seat they occupied. "Now move. You're sitting in out spot."