Chronicles of the First Blood

**INT. VALENTINE MANOR - ENTRANCE HALL - NIGHT** A heavy, suffocating silence hangs over the space. The architecture is impossible—towering pillars of smooth, black stone that absorb the ambient light, etched with faint, geometric carvings that don't belong to any known human civilization. LEO (17) stands near the threshold, adjusting the collar of his tailored black coat. He has grown up around the country’s ultra-wealthy, moving through penthouses and sprawling modern estates without batting an eye. But this place doesn’t radiate wealth; it radiates *dominion*. AUNT ALICIA (40s) closes the massive iron-reinforced front doors. The deadbolt clicks with a sound like a distant thunderclap. She is visibly pale, her hands trembling slightly as she locks up. LEO (Looking around calmly, unamused by the scale) The modern security system we had in the city cost a fortune, Auntie. But this place... it feels like it’s built to keep out things that regular security doesn't even have a name for. AUNT ALICIA It is. This estate has been completely off the grid for millennia, Leo. The wards here are tied to the earth itself. It is the only place left where they can’t track you. Leo walks toward the center of the hall. He stops by a set of colossal, arched double doors made of petrified wood. He pushes them open a fraction of an inch. Inside, the space opens into a dizzying, multi-level library. Floors of ancient text rolls, codices, and stone tablets spiral down into a pitch-black abyss, and upward until they are lost in the ceiling shadows. Leo reaches out to touch the frame, curious. AUNT ALICIA (Sharp, grabbing his wrist) Don't. Not tonight. LEO (Pulling back, frowning) I just want to look up the registry. If the name *Valentine* is as massive as you say, our lineage must be cataloged here. The school's CEO uses it. The elite students use it. Why are we the ones living like ghosts? AUNT ALICIA Because *Valentine* isn’t just a family tree, Leo. It’s an imperial title from a 300,000-year-old era. The others carrying it—the Director’s kids, the foreign demon princes, the vampire lords—they belong to separate royal bloodlines that conquered pieces of the old empire. They are unrelated to us, but they are hyper-powerful, and they are ruthless. LEO And what are we? AUNT ALICIA (Looking at the towering library doors with deep dread) We are the direct line. The true heirs to the foundation of the Academy and this manor. To the rest of the world, our branch died out centuries ago. Tomorrow, you go to that school as a nobody from a distant, powerless branch. You blend in. You show zero potential. If those other royal bloodlines realize who you are, they won't just see a classmate. They will see a threat to their empires. Leo looks at his own hands, perfectly normal, completely devoid of the visible magical auras he’s seen the elite display on the news. LEO They won't find anything, Auntie. As far as I can tell, I don't have a single drop of power in me anyway. Alicia looks at him, a flicker of profound sorrow and fear crossing her face, but she says nothing. She merely closes the library doors completely, locking the secrets away in the dark.