# Character State

**Mira (Fire Mage / Chancellor, Pyros Academy)**
*   **Current Location:** The Grand Atrium, Starfall Academy.
*   **Internal State:** Fraying composure. She is grappling with the visceral reality of "magical bleeding"—the uncontrolled mingling of her internal heat with Dorian’s cold. She feels an instinctive, territorial urge to dominate the space but is hindered by an unsettling physical attraction to her rival.
*   **Physicality:** Her skin is flushed; she describes the atmospheric shift as "thick, like molten glass." She deliberately uses her fire to dry the frost Dorian leaves in his wake, a silent act of defiance.
*   **Key Action:** She reluctantly accepts Dorian’s hand to stabilize a flickering "Harmony Core," a moment of physical contact that triggers a violent magical resonance (the "Flare-Freeze Effect").

**Dorian (Ice Mage / Chancellor, Glacis Academy)**
*   **Current Location:** The Grand Atrium, Starfall Academy.
*   **Internal State:** Calculating and guarded. He views the merger as a containment problem rather than a partnership. He is perturbed by the way Mira’s presence disrupts his molecular control, making his ice "jagged" and unpredictable.
*   **Physicality:** Pale, sharp features emphasized by the silver embroidery of his robes. His breath misting in the air acts as a barometer for his rising irritation.
*   **Key Action:** He initiates a "Stabilization Static" with Mira. His grip on her wrist is described as "iron and frost," revealing his desperation to keep the academy’s foundations from shattering under their combined power.

# World State

**The Starfall Accord (Legal/Political)**
*   The merger is now in the "Physical Integration" phase. Both student bodies have arrived at the neutral third site, Starfall Academy. Tensions are at a breaking point; the fire students have already "melted" several dormitory wards belonging to the ice factions.

**The Starfall Academy (Setting)**
*   A neutral territory built on a convergence point of ley lines. The architecture is sensitive to temperamental magic; the walls are shifting from marble to obsidian depending on which chancellor’s mood dominates.
*   The "Harmony Core" at the center of the Atrium is a massive crystal meant to siphon and balance their opposing magics. It is currently overcharged and hairline-fractured due to Mira and Dorian’s inability to find a rhythmic sync.

**Magic Mechanics (Flare-Freeze Effect)**
*   When fire and ice magic of this caliber touch without a dampener, it creates "Resonance Steam"—a blinding, high-pressure fog that can scald or flash-freeze a room. The chapter ends with the discovery that their powers are becoming "tethered"; using one's magic now causes a phantom sensation in the other. Mira feels Dorian's "chill" in her marrow even when he is across the room.