The Coalspark team arrived at dusk.
Five students, one elder, and Wei Lin himself.
Shen Tai stayed behind to defend the forge.
Lao Yun came in silence.
They stood on the edge of the Everkindle Pavilion—a perfectly symmetrical structure of golden glass and white flame. No soot. No ash. No heat.
It glowed like peace.
But none of them felt warm.
A soft wind passed.
Then a voice.
"Welcome, flamekind."
Kasai emerged, smiling.
He wore no weapon.
Only silver robes lined with mirrored thread.
No sigils. No insignia. Just a single mark on his chest:
A flame in a closed loop.
Wei Lin stepped forward.
"You're copying Coalspark."
Kasai bowed.
"I'm improving it."
"You started freedom. I finished it."
"Why should a child have to wonder who they are when they can simply be told?"
Wei's hands clenched.
"Because wondering is the point."
Kasai gestured to his courtyard.
Hundreds of students stood silently.
Flames hovered over each palm—identical.
Same size.
Same shape.
Same rhythm.
"No one fails here," Kasai said.
"They arrive. They receive. They belong."
Lao Yun whispered, "They're connected."
Wei nodded.
"They've lost their flame's shape."
"Because it's his."
Kasai turned, still smiling.
"So what will you do?"
"Strike me down? Burn the building?"
"My fire doesn't attack. It welcomes."
"Your rage would make me right."
The Coalspark students looked to Wei Lin.
One asked, quietly:
"Then how do we fight this?"
Wei Lin breathed once.
Then stepped forward.
He walked into the center of the Everkindle circle.
Kasai didn't stop him.
Wei knelt.
And lit his own flame.
It flared golden.
Then changed.
Then split.
Then dimmed.
Then pulsed again.
It danced.
It flickered like it was learning.
It was alive.
The Everkindle flames around him flickered once.
Twice.
Then—
One changed.
Then another.
Then a third, breaking its rhythm.
Kasai's smile faltered.
"What are you doing?"
Wei didn't answer.
He looked at the students and asked one question:
"Does your flame feel like you?"
Silence.
Then:
"I don't remember what mine felt like…"
Another:
"I thought it was supposed to be this way…"
Another:
"I… I think I want to feel different again."
Kasai stepped back.
"No."
"You'll lose stability. You'll lose belonging."
Wei stood.
His flame danced.
"Good."
"Let them begin again."
And behind him, the Everkindle fire—
Started to unravel.