The dark shard didn't shatter. It didn't explode. It simply… dissolved. It was a shadow that couldn't exist in the warmth of that light.

"The dark shard amplifies emotion," Grachi explained, drawing the symbol of release in the dirt. "We can't fight it with force. We have to un-speak it. We have to fill this space with its opposite."

"Ugh!" she groaned, burying her face in her pillow.

"I know what I have to do," she said, her voice firming. "But I can't do it alone."

They formed a circle around Grachi. She closed her eyes and raised her hands, not to conjure a spell, but to feel. She didn't recite ancient words from her spellbook. Instead, she spoke from memory.

A soft knock came from her window. She looked up to see Matías, his silhouette framed by the dying light. He was holding a small, wilting sunflower in one hand and a worried smile on his face.

She remembered the first time Matías had made her laugh so hard she’d floated to the ceiling. She remembered Mia defending her from a bully, no magic needed. She remembered Daniel staying up all night to help her decode a difficult enchantment.

"Worse. I almost set off me ," Grachi sighed, extinguishing the last of the sparks fizzling in her hair. She told him everything—the toupee, the floating desk, the sudden bursts of fire when she only wanted a flicker.