Cyrene felt the weight of the secret note in her pocket every day. St. Jude's was a beautiful school, but it had many scary secrets. Her meetings with Lysander Veylor were now tense. He knew about the note, and he watched her closely.
Malric did not know Cyrene was worried. He was still loud and funny. He was proud of his trouble during the first test. He was also getting better at his "glitching" magic, though he still made mistakes.
One afternoon, Cyrene was sitting on a stone bench. She was trying to read a hard magic book. Her fingers felt a strange tingle of frustration.
Suddenly, Malric appeared next to her with a loud whoosh. He was holding a bright rubber chicken and smiling.
"Hey, Scrappy! " he said happily.
"Are you bored? I have something fun to show you. It's a chicken surprise! "
Cyrene smiled, but she was still worried.
"Malric, we need to be quiet," she said.
"Remember our trouble? Lysander is watching us. No more chicken jokes."
Malric waved the toy chicken around.
"Don't worry! This is a classic joke. It's harmless and funny. Everyone will laugh."
He leaned in close and whispered, "I am getting better at my magic. I was trying to make this chicken appear right in your book! "
Before Cyrene could say no, Malric moved his hands fast. He pointed the rubber chicken at her book.
"Get ready for a surprise!" he shouted.
Cyrene waited for the usual magic pop. But this time, things felt wrong. There was a loud humming sound, and the air started to shake. It felt like the air was being squeezed and twisted. Cyrene felt sick, like she was being pulled through a tiny tube.
Suddenly, the bright sun was gone. The smell of flowers was replaced by the smell of old, dry paper and metal.
When the shaking stopped, Cyrene was in a giant, dark room. The walls were covered in huge bookshelves that went up so high she couldn't see the ceiling. It was very, very quiet.
Malric stood next to her. He was still holding the rubber chicken, but he looked very scared. "Whoa," he whispered.
"That was a big mistake. My magic glitched way too much."
Cyrene's heart was beating fast. "Where are we, Malric?" she asked.
Malric looked around nervously.
"I think... I think we are in the Restricted Library."
Cyrene felt her stomach drop. She knew about this place. It was where the school kept the most dangerous magic books. No students were allowed here. If they were caught, they would be kicked out of school forever.
"You glitched us into the Restricted Library? " Cyrene hissed. Her fingers were tingling with fear.
"It was an accident! " Malric said, looking very pale.
"I was aiming for your book. Maybe the chicken messed up the magic. My power must have taken a wrong turn."
They looked for a way out, but there was no magic glow to follow.
"I can't get us back," Malric whispered.
"My magic only works for short jumps. We are stuck."
Cyrene felt like she couldn't breathe. They were trapped in the most forbidden place in school. But as they walked past a shelf of dusty books, she saw something strange. Tucked away was a small leather book. It looked newer than the others. On the front was the alchemy jar symbol.
"Malric, look! " she whispered.
They opened the book. It was a diary written in the same beautiful handwriting as the note.
"The girl's power was a surprise," Malric read quietly.
"She can break their fake rules. She must be helped, not controlled."
Cyrene's heart jumped. "The Alchemist is watching me. They know about my nullification."
They turned the pages and found more secrets. The diary said the school tests were fake and meant to control people, not help them.
"The note was right," Cyrene said softly. "The ranking is a lie."
Suddenly, they heard a heavy thud of a footstep from the dark corner of the room. Someone else was in the library with them.
Cyrene and Malric were terrified. The stone monster stood up, its red eyes glowing. Malric tried to use his magic to teleport them away, but it wouldn't work.
"My magic is broken!" he yelled.
The giant creature moved toward them. Its heavy stone feet made the floor shake. Cyrene felt the same tingle in her fingers, but her power felt too small to stop something this old and strong.
Suddenly, she looked at the paper in her hand. The alchemy jar symbol was glowing with a soft light. Every time the monster's eyes blinked red, the symbol on the paper pulsed back.
"Malric, look!" Cyrene shouted.
"The note is talking to the monster!"
She realized the note wasn't just a letter. It was a tool. The Alchemist had sent the chicken to bring them here on purpose. "Seek the lock, not the key," she whispered.
She looked at the stone stand with the lock carved into it. The monster wasn't guarding the room. The monster was the lock.
As the guardian raised a heavy stone fist to hit them, Cyrene didn't run. Instead, she stepped forward and pressed the glowing paper directly onto the lock symbol on the pedestal.
There was a blinding flash of white light. The monster let out a roar, but it didn't sound angry anymore. It sounded like it was melting. The stone body began to turn into dust and old books.
When the light faded, the monster was gone. In its place, the rubber chicken sat on the floor, looking perfectly normal. But the pedestal had changed. It had opened up like a box, and inside was a thick, golden folder with a name written on it. The Missing.