Divided by Dawn

The dining hall was a massive room with an enchanted glass ceiling that perfectly mimicked the sky outside. The roar of hundreds of students talking and laughing was a wave of sound that crashed into Henry the moment he walked in.

And then, silence.

Not total silence, but a sudden muffling, like someone threw a blanket over the sound. The wave of chatter turned into a sea of whispers. Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to the entrance. To him. And to the radiant figure walking one step behind him.

Henry wished the floor would swallow him whole. He grabbed a tray, feeling like he was under a thousand microscopes. Every item of food he chose felt like a monumental decision. *He eats stew? How odd. I figured cosmic anomalies only fed on souls.*

"Ignore them," Helia's voice was a low, firm command at his side. She didn't grab a tray. Apparently, reincarnated goddesses didn't do stew.

They sat at an empty table in the center of the room, creating a social vacuum around them. No one dared to sit close. Across the hall, Henry could see Lyra and her little fan club, watching him with smirks, making comments he was sure were cruel. He ate in silence, the sound of his silverware against the plate seeming absurdly loud. The food tasted like cardboard.

*"You're holding your fork like it's a dagger,"* Tsukuyomi commented in his head. *"Try to look less like you're about to stab your peas."*

Henry gripped the fork tighter.

Just then, a tray clattered down on the table opposite him. Henry jumped, nearly knocking over his glass.

A boy with messy brown hair and a goofy smile was standing there. He wore the same uniform, but his was slightly wrinkled, and there was a small smudge of ink on his cheek.

"Is this spot taken?" he asked, his voice cheerful and completely oblivious to the social exclusion zone around the table.

Henry looked at the dozens of empty tables surrounding them, then back at the boy, bewildered. "Uh... no."

"Great!" The boy plopped down across from Henry, setting his tray down noisily. He stuck out a hand. "I'm Kaelen. Affinity for Inanimate Object Enchantment. Basically, I make spoons sing and boots tie their own laces. Not very glamorous, but it's fun."

Hesitantly, Henry shook his hand. "Henry."

"I know!" Kaelen said enthusiastically. "You're the light-explosion guy. That was awesome! No one's ever made Master Kael sweat before. And you've got Master Helia as your personal tutor! That's like... legendary."

Henry glanced at Helia, who was watching Kaelen with an analytical intensity that could dissect a soul. Kaelen's smile wavered for a second under her gaze. "Uh... hi, Master Helia. It's an honor."

Helia just gave a slow nod, her golden eyes never leaving Kaelen.

"So," Kaelen continued, turning back to Henry, trying to ignore the deity three feet away. "Umbrakinesis and Photokinesis, right? What a combo! Is it true you came from the Cinder Wastes?"

"How did you—?"

"I've got a cousin in the registrar's office. He tells me things," Kaelen said with a conspiratorial wink. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. And everyone he has lunch with."

Despite everything, Henry felt a tiny, genuine twitch of a smile. It was the first time someone had talked to him without fear, hostility, or a hidden agenda.

*"Oh, how adorable,"* Tsukuyomi's voice dripped with sarcasm. *"The broken boy found a lost puppy. Are you going to keep him? Maybe he can teach you to wag your tail."*

"You don't look like a monster slayer," Kaelen said, taking a huge bite of his bread. "You just look... sad."

The words hit Henry in an unexpected way. Sad. He was sad. And tired. And scared. And no one, not even Joseph, had ever just said it so simply.

"I'm complicated," Henry mumbled.

"Everyone's complicated," Kaelen replied through a mouthful of food. "My last project was enchanting a teapot to tell jokes. Now all it tells are depressing jokes about the fleeting nature of hot tea. It's a real buzzkill."

Henry let out a small laugh. A real one. And the moment he did, he felt Helia's gaze intensify, not with threat, but with something he couldn't place.

Analysis.

He was being studied. His reaction to a normal conversation, to a moment of near-friendship, was being recorded and cataloged.

The realization hit him hard, and the small spark of warmth in his chest went out. He looked back down at his food, the weight of the surveillance returning tenfold.

Kaelen noticed the shift. "Hey, did I say something wrong?"

"No," Henry said quickly. "I just... I have to go." He stood up, leaving his half-eaten tray behind.

He didn't wait for a reply. He just turned and walked out of the dining hall, Helia's silent, warm presence one step behind him, the echo of Lyra's laughter and Kaelen's confused whispers following him out of the hall.

He could run from the monsters in the desert, but running from himself, he was starting to realize, was a whole different game.