The forest floor under his boots felt too soft, almost like walking on a layer of velvet, and the familiar sights of the campus walk felt alien. Jovan kept his eyes glued to his feet, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. Every fiber of his being screamed that he shouldn't be here, that he should be miles away, hidden in a dark room."Hey, Jovan! Earth to space cadet!"He jumped, his skin buzzing with that same erratic, humming energy. He turned to find Anisa jogging to catch up with him, her messenger bag swinging against her hip. She looked effortlessly normal—jeans, a faded university hoodie, and that look of casual concern she always wore when he spaced out."Oh. Hey, Anisa," Jovan said, his voice coming out a bit too raspy. He cleared his throat, trying to force his jaw to relax. "Sorry, I’m just... I didn't get much sleep."Anisa slowed her pace to match his, her brow furrowing. "You look like you went ten rounds with a bear, man. What happened to your face?

The gravel crunched under the tires of Anisa’s sedan as they veered away from the main road, but the silence inside the vehicle was heavy, suffocating, and thick with the smell of ozone. Jovan stared at his palms, watching the skin ripple like sun-drenched water.“How are you feeling?” Anisa asked, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror before snapping back to the winding, tree-lined path. “Don’t lie to me. I need the truth.”Jovan leaned his head back against the upholstery, his breath hitching. “It’s like… it’s like my bones are made of shifting sand. I can feel the weight of that staff behind my ribs, but it’s fighting with my marrow. It’s angry, Anisa.”“It’s not angry. It’s just awakening,” she said, her voice strained. “You haven’t even scratched the surface of what that artifact is capable of. It’s rewriting you. That’s why you felt the tail. That’s why you manifested the staff.”“I’m terrified,” Jovan admitted, his voice barely a whisper. “What if I turn into something else?

The cool air of the night felt like a reprieve against Jovan’s flushed skin. He stepped out of the apartment building, the silence of the street pressing in on him. Anisa was still inside, her mind likely racing with the implications of that strange, blue light. He, however, just wanted to reach his car, get home, and pray for a dreamless sleep."Don't push it," he whispered to his own reflection in the darkened glass of a nearby shop window. "Just be a normal guy. For five minutes. Just five minutes.""That’s a tall order for someone who just made a lamp explode," a voice rasped from the shadows.Jovan froze. His heart didn't just hammer; it stalled. He spun around, his sneakers scraping loudly against the concrete. The alleyway beside the building was a funnel of pitch-black darkness, save for the flickering amber glow of a distant streetlamp."Who’s there?" Jovan called out, his voice cracking. He tried to project confidence, but it felt thin, like paper."You’re jumpy, kid," the v

The melody was still echoing in his bones, a ghostly resonance that made the park’s evening air feel thin and fragile. Jovan walked with his hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, his fingers tracing the faint, pulsing warmth of his right wrist. Anisa walked beside him, her gaze scanning the tree line, her presence a steady, grounding force that kept the static in his mind from boiling over."You’re doing that thing again," Anisa murmured, her eyes flicking toward his hunched shoulders. "The 'I’m trying to keep the universe from collapsing' posture. Relax."Jovan let out a sharp, jagged breath. "Hard to relax when my veins are playing a symphony. Do you hear it? It’s quieter now, but it’s there. Like a distant radio station.""I don't hear anything, Jovan. But you need to learn to tune it out," she said, her voice soft but insistent. "If you focus on the music too much, you’re going to lose track of the pavement.""I’m not losing track," Jovan replied, kicking at a loose pebble. "

The air in the dormitory was heavy, smelling of ozone and the stale sweat of panic. Outside, the muffled sound of Sarah Jenkins’ knuckles against the door sounded like a death knell. Jovan’s heart was a bird battering its wings against the cage of his ribs, but as Anisa moved toward the window, he felt the world begin to tilt. The golden hum beneath his skin, usually a frantic, erratic buzz, suddenly deepened into a resonant, heavy thrum—a vibration that turned the room’s ambient noise into a slow-motion drone."Anisa, we have to go, now!" he whispered, his voice sounding like it was being filtered through a thick layer of silk."I’m moving, just stay low," Anisa replied, her movements jerky and erratic in his vision.But as he grabbed his backpack, the room didn't just blur—it vanished. The floorboards dissolved into a swirling mist of golden light, and the urgent knocking on the door faded into a sound like a thousand flutes playing a funeral dirge. Jovan’s knees gave out, and he di