This time, it had gone deep.
Oceanic projections shimmered across every surface—floor panels flickering like waves, walls rippling with kelp, bioluminescent creatures swimming overhead. Even the air felt heavier. Saline. Alive.
The music didn't blast. It pulsed.
Low. Subsonic. Spine-deep.
Every surface responded—touch the wall, it bloomed with color. Laugh, and the floor glowed beneath your feet. No rank. No list. No performance. Just presence.
It wasn't a lounge.
It wasn't a club.
It was something in between—liquid atmosphere, designed to let you dissolve inside it.
Everyone was there.
The girls had even invited Aiden to join.
He'd declined.
Luc's voice still haunted the edges of his thoughts.
"You and your sister... interesting variables."
He hated how casually Luc had said it. Like the system already knew something he didn't—and was just waiting for him to catch up.
Aiden exhaled, gaze drifting toward the simulated sky as the constellations above shimmered in mythic formation. Then, quietly:
"Vox. Show me what's still on tonight."
A pause. Then the AI's voice responded—smooth, low-toned, unmistakably tailored.
"Of course, Young Master. Two twilight-tier events remain active. Displaying now."
The interface shimmered open, a translucent arc of motion-laced icons suspended midair—dimly lit against the night, elegant by default. Aiden scanned the feed. Two entries surfaced to the top, both marked with gold sigils of approval.
1. Celestique: A Sky Sonata — Cloudstage Atrium, Solara Sectra
A kinetic light opera composed live by motion-tracked performers and AI symphony conductors. Dancers suspended in orbital silks shaped the ambient sky into harmonic light and sound. The audience didn't clap—they attuned. Ethereal. Experimental. Beautiful, if you were in the right headspace.
2. Equinox Duel Exhibition — Skyward Arena, Vanguard Sectra
End-of-season exhibition matches. No rankings, no trophies. Just Avalon's most precise duelists in fluid motion under a simulated midnight sky—combat rendered as ritual. Every strike tracked by ONYX, every parry judged by rhythm, not brute force.
Aiden lingered briefly on the first.
Then chose the second.
Something about the duel felt cleaner. Less symbolic, more exacting. He didn't want to be moved tonight. He wanted clarity. Precision. Control.
And answers.
He arrived just as the third match began—motion already blurred into tempo, the clash of weapons mapped like choreography beneath sweeping lights.
But Aiden wasn't watching the platform.
He was watching the Sovereign Gallery.
Cassian Dantes stood just beyond the third tier—at the edge of the Sovereign Gallery, suspended above the duel floor and framed against Avalon's spectral skyline. No uniform. No house insignia. Just that obsidian coat, collar slightly upturned, hands in his pockets, gaze fixed on the arena below like he was watching something that hadn't happened yet.
YOU ARE READING
Valmont Series - Inheritance Code
Teen FictionWhat if your perfect life was just a rehearsal? On their twelfth birthday, Aria and Aiden Lancaster wake expecting luxury, freedom, and the future they were promised. Instead, they're given an ultimatum: Leave everything behind - their friends, thei...
Chapter 9.5 - The Ghost Tier
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