Faya leaned over the balcony rail of the dormitory, her hair catching the cool silver glow from the mana lamps below. The courtyard was nearly empty. Just the faint sound of a student's laughter echoing across the cobblestones. Alina leaned against the wall beside her, her spell notes forgotten in her lap.

"You're really going to study?" Faya teased.

"That depends," Alina said, raising a brow. "On whether you've actually found something better to do."

Faya's grin turned conspiratorial. "Maybe I have." She glanced around, making sure no one was nearby. "You heard about the unused former summoning building?"

Alina's eyes narrowed. "You're not about to suggest what I think you are."

"I heard it from one of the apprentices in the workshop. Apparently, a few of the senior students found a key to the backdoor last month. They turned the basement into a hidden party cellar. It's supposed to be completely soundproof to the outside due to some of the old security enchantments."

Alina's expression shifted from suspicion to intrigue. "Go on."

"They call it The Echo Vault," Faya whispered. "The seniors use it to practice illusion spells. Light distortion, sonic resonance, scent mirages, that sort of thing. But the interesting part is where they got the idea."

"Let me guess," Alina said. "Revenants?"

Faya nodded. "Exactly. Apparently, some of the revenants talked about parties they used to have in the outside world. Something called a rave. Loud rhythmic sounds, flashing lights, colors that move like liquid. The seniors tried to recreate it using illusion spells and enchanted instruments."

Alina gave a low whistle. "So, they're copying revenant culture? I don't know how I feel about that…"

Faya grinned. "You have to admit it sounds better than falling asleep over your enchantment rune notes. I'm sure I can find someone to let us in."

Alina hesitated for a heartbeat, then laughed. "Fine. But if we get caught sneaking into an abandoned building, you're explaining it to the prefects."

A chuckle sounded from one of the seemingly empty beds and both turned to stare at Lyriel, lying there, now lowering the book she'd apparently had read. "I actually forgot about that. I've got an invitation too. A few revenants were a bit too loud while talking about disco and rave music. I'm quite interested to find out how good they managed to copy our music."

Alina was the first to react: "How long have you been spying on us?"

"I didn't spy. I'm just reading here. Not my fault, if you didn't notice me."

Faya severely doubted that. She glanced at Sir Cloverton, who sat in a cozy pillow nest. The mage would probably be able to later tell her if and how much magic Lyriel had used to stay unnoticed.

Lyriel put down the book and stood up. "I can get you right in. As I've mentioned, I've got an open invitation."

Faya nearly squealed, darting to her clothes chest. "Then we have to dress appropriately!"

Minutes later, the dorm room looked like a storm had passed through. Fabrics, ribbons, and jewelry were scattered across every surface. Faya's white priestess robe lay discarded in a heap, far too modest for the evening's plans. In its place, she pulled on a short skirt Alina suspected she had shortened herself.

Faya laughed and swept her golden hair into a loose braid that tumbled over her shoulder. Then came her boots. Knee-high, soft leather, the kind worn by adventurers rather than priestesses.

"You look like a priestess who wandered into the wrong kind of ritual," Alina teased.

Faya smirked. "Or the right one."

Alina, by contrast, preferred subtler a flair. She wore a dark blue corset over a flowing underskirt that brushed just below her knees, patterned with constellations picked out in silver dust.

Lyriel exchanged her usual black robe with another of the same color, but with a much more open neckline and made of sleek and gleaming black leather. She left for a few minutes, then returned holding a black iron key and a triumphant smile.

Alina adjusted the clasp of her cloak. "Ready?"

Faya gave the verdant hare a final pet and left him with a full bowl of water and another of slightly magical herbs she'd begged from the kitchen.

She grinned, eyes bright. "Let's go make this cellar shine."

* * *

They slipped out after lights-out, moonlight shimmering over their cloaks. The academy around them was silent, but faint flickers of light seeped from the windows of the nearest building. They turned into a side-alley and from there down a short staircase to a side door. Lyriel went first and unlocked it. The trio entered and closed the door behind them. They followed a long corridor and down a staircase.

Inside, the air grew heavier. Pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat through the stone. They followed the corridor downward. Somewhere ahead, faint rhythms thudded in the dark. Like the heartbeat of the earth itself.

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At the bottom, a spiral rune glowed briefly across the stone wall, then unfolded into an open doorway.

Inside lay a scene of impossible sounds and colors.

Students danced beneath floating sigils that burst into waves of luminous dust. Light fractured across illusionary mirrors, refracted into shifting rainbows. One wall flickered like rippling water; another erupted in sparks that pulsed to the rhythm of conjured sound.

Alina froze in the doorway, wide-eyed. "They actually did it."

Faya's lips parted in wonder. "So that's what the revenants call a rave," she murmured.

Lyriel whistled. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

Faya only laughed, tugging Alina by the hand as the next wave of sound washed over them. "Come on," she said. "If they can bring a piece of their world here, we might as well see it for ourselves."

Together, they stepped into the light.

* * *

The sound hit like thunder. Thunder that repeated itself. Thunder, that didn't stop.

A dozen seniors had taken over a corner of the vaulted hall, beating enormous drums that sent tremors through the floor. Others strummed enchanted lutes and flutes, using mana-charged strings and illusionary echoes to mimic the strange, pulsing rhythm the revenants had described. The air inside the Echo Vault shimmered with layers of illusion and music that almost, but not quite, fit together.

The result was chaotic but mesmerizing… half dance, half fever dream.

The walls themselves seemed to breathe with color, each beat splashing ripples of green and violet across the ancient stone. Runes flared and faded in time, giving the impression of the whole cellar dancing with them.

Faya spun beneath the shifting light, her silver hair catching the glow like spun glass. She laughed as one of the senior spellweavers offered her a hand, pulling her into a mock dance step that had no rhythm at all but plenty of enthusiasm.

"You call that music?" she teased, leaning close so he could hear her over the thundering beat.

He grinned. "It's authentic… at least, that's what the revenants say!"

"Then their world must be loud," Faya said with a mock shiver, but she didn't let go of his hand.

Across the room, Alina stood near a bowl of glowing punch, watching her friend whirl from partner to partner with amused exasperation. A cluster of seniors had already gathered around Faya, clearly captivated by the priestess with the fearless smile and bare feet dancing across the runed floor.

"She's been like this ever since she turned eighteen," Alina muttered to Lyriel, shaking her head.

The revenant stealth mage was tilting her head, studying the way the lights bent and shimmered with each beat. She seemed uncertain if she'd liked the primitive beat. She turned to Alina, surprised. "Faya's already of age?"

"Mm-hm." Alina sighed. "Last year she was all discipline and devotion. Now look at her! Flirting with anyone who can cast Light without blinding themselves."

Lyriel chuckled. "Guess she's just making up for the lost time."

"Or testing her limits," Alina replied, watching as Faya laughed at something one of the seniors whispered to her. "She's the oldest of us three priestesses, you know. A full year older than me and Mirabelle."

Lyriel nodded, finally understanding. "No more Age Restriction."

Alina smiled faintly. "I heard she had quite a coming-of-age party. Couldn't invite us, of course. And the Age Restriction filter comes down hard every time she tries to tell us about it."

Down on the dance floor, Faya caught Alina's eye and flashed her a mischievous grin, as if she somehow heard the conversation. She twirled once more, letting the light wrap around her like threads of fire.

When the drummers switched rhythm, she leaned closer to her partner, a tall illusionist with copper hair, and said something that made him laugh loud enough to draw attention from the others. A dozen enchanted lights flared in reaction, shifting hues in time with the laughter.

Alina groaned good-naturedly and took a sip of glowing punch. "She's completely impossible."

As the music reached a crescendo, someone conjured a circle of floating light shards that pulsed like stars, scattering prismatic reflections across the cellar. The students cheered, the drums thundered, and for a moment, the boundaries between ancient magic and modern chaos blurred completely.

Faya raised her arms to the rhythm, eyes half-lidded.

Whatever the revenants had called a rave. This was the academy's version now: a symphony of magic, rebellion, and fleeting youth.

Lyriel had to lean closer to get Alina to understand. "Isn't she with the servant boy she's always flirting with?"

Alina couldn't help but smile. "She says Weylan's too young for her. She likes him more like a brother. Or a friend she can freely tease and flirt with."

Deep gong-like thunder added to the mix and golden waves of light emitted from a point of a wall and grew in concentric circles to then fade at the wall's edges. Runes lit up along their path, sparking colorful light. Lyriel looked for the source and found Kane rhythmically hitting the protective runic enchantments with a wooden mallet. The muscle mage clearly replaced musical talent with enthusiasm. She gestured Alina to follow her and joined the priestess on the dancefloor. Alina paused only a moment, gulped down a second glass of liquid courage punch and followed.

The crowd had thinned somewhat, though the air still shimmered with the pulse of illusion magic. The enchanted drums now beat a slower rhythm; the glowing runes dimming to softer hues of copper and rose. Students lingered in groups, laughing, drinking, and pretending they hadn't all just risked expulsion for a taste of forbidden revelry.

Faya, radiant beneath the fading light, stood at the heart of it all.

Around her, half a dozen male students circled like moths. Illusionists, battlemages, alchemy specialists, each vying for her attention with compliments or minor cantrips that fizzled into sparks before her eyes.

One conjured glowing petals that drifted up into the air; another shaped a miniature flame into her likeness. Faya only laughed, brushing her hair over one shoulder as if to test which of them might actually earn her time.

"You're all terrible flirts," she said, amused. "But at least you're entertaining."

The tall illusionist from earlier, copper-haired, confident, with a grin that seemed permanently carved into his face, offered his arm. "Then let us keep entertaining you upstairs. The observatory balcony is open tonight; you can see the stars through the glass windows."

"Or," said another, a dark-eyed student with the more muscular body of a fighter, "you could taste some of the mead we've made with were-bee honey."

Faya tilted her head, pretending to consider. "Hmm. Both sound tempting."

From her spot by the punch bowl, Alina watched, half amused and half resigned. She muttered into her cup, "By the goddess, she's going to walk out of here with an entourage."

When Faya turned, catching her gaze, the priestess smirked. "Don't wait up, Alina."

"You're unbelievable," Alina called, though she couldn't suppress a grin. "Try not to convert the entire upper class to Lieselotte's faith."

Faya only winked. Then, with theatrical grace, she slipped her arm through the copper-haired illusionist's, and the other through the warrior's. "Gentlemen," she said, her voice carrying like soft velvet over the drums, "lead the way."

Laughter followed her as they climbed the stone stairs toward the surface, her white priestess robe trailing light.

Behind her, Alina shook her head. "Eighteen," she murmured. "And already she's the high priestess of trouble."

Faya only smiled as the drums faded behind her. The night air of Wildeguard was crisp and bright with starlight, and the two students at her sides looked as if the world had briefly aligned in their favor.

Whatever tomorrow brought, lectures, scoldings, hangovers, it didn't matter.

For tonight, she was the star of the academy's first rave, and she intended to shine until the dawn burned the illusions away.

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