It hurts. A pain that crushes everything else and makes every thought thick. I spit blood onto the ground. Something hard drops with it. A tooth rolls in front of me and stops against a crack. I’m not going to smile right anymore. Oh yeah. Right. I never smile.
I close one eye to keep the world from spinning. Breathe. Inhale slowly even if it burns. My stomach snaps me back with every movement, a dull pulse that cuts the air before it can really get in.
Fortuna and Aris push Nora back with difficulty. Their movements lack precision. They control nothing. Every exchange forces them to give ground, centimeter by centimeter.
Nora screams. The sound slices the air. The black flames around her thicken, almost solid. She doesn’t slow down. She climbs again. Then she disappears.
I narrow my eyes. I look for an angle, a shift, a shadow. Any detail I missed. Nothing. A void. No. Nora’s claws go through Aris’s body.
Fortuna seems to scream. I see her mouth open, but the sound reaches me warped, like I’m underwater. My own breath covers almost everything. I try to push myself up. My arms shake. My stomach clenches. I can’t. If I stay here staring at my tooth on the ground, this won’t end well for us.
Fortuna is in danger in the way she moves. Too many constraints. She’s on the defensive. Every dodge costs her more than the last. The flames tighten around her like a jaw. She’s delaying the inevitable. Nora fades again, swallowed by her own speed. I understand before I see. The attack will land somewhere else. Move. I order my muscles. Nothing. My body is a husk that refuses to obey.
Then a presence cuts the trajectory. Ka?ro.
He’s appeared in front of Fortuna and he’s holding Nora’s fist in his hand. Little visible effort. Just dry authority. He says something, short, and the next instant Nora is thrown farther away, pushed back with a gesture that’s almost careless. He walks toward her without even checking Fortuna. At least he isn’t treating her like an enemy.
He just saved her. She doesn’t fall. Air returns to my lungs. Her hand stopped the blow. My tongue presses against the broken tooth.
Seeing Nora win. Seeing Ka?ro go down. If he can at least keep a few scars, that would already be something. And still, I feel a real easing. As long as he doesn’t turn his interest toward us.
My eyelids get heavy. The adrenaline dissolves and leaves behind a dense fatigue, almost pleasant compared to the pain. Sounds distort. My body doesn’t want to follow anymore.
Just a moment. Just long enough not to die stupidly while the others decide the outcome.
A brutal shock runs through my skull. Ow. A brick just smashed into my head. The pain is clean, almost insulting after everything else. Seriously. Even the ruins are joining in. I blink, but the dust still blinds me. I can barely make out shapes.
Let this be over. Let them patch me up.
The outlines return slowly. Fortuna is supporting Aris. They’re still standing. Aris is pale but conscious. Good. Ka?ro is upright, stable, like nothing really touched him. He’s staring at the ground.
I follow his gaze. Nora is at the bottom of a crater. The impact must have been violent. That’s probably what I took for an earthquake. Ka?ro is that strong.
No. A silhouette stands over the crater.
évra.
She’s standing above Nora with that controlled posture. Her voice reaches me, clear despite the distance.
“Too bad… but you won’t escape, little demon. And you too, you pathetic weakling.”
Ka?ro is already on his feet. Ready to run. Then he freezes. I force my eyes to focus. évra is holding someone. The mummy from earlier. No. Ka?ro’s sister.
He doesn’t move anymore. His posture changes. His center of gravity too. Running isn’t simple anymore.
I stay on the ground, spectator to an exchange that’s far beyond my condition. I keep my eyes open. I want to see the end.
Ka?ro moves in. He dodges évra’s kick with no visible difficulty, but I see the shift. He used his power right before contact. Time stutters.
Around them, everything goes normal for a fraction of a second. He slows only what matters. Ka?ro adjusts his angle, grabs his sister at the right moment, and steps back before évra understands.
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Everything goes normal again. He vanishes for a fraction. évra misses. It comes back. Then it skips again.
évra, if you let him go, I’m filing a report.
She stays still half a second too long. Nora drags herself out of the crater with difficulty. Bad timing. She could’ve stayed down a little longer. She staggers.
Ka?ro is already pulling away. I stare at évra. What are you waiting for. She turns to Nora. Walks up to her. Her tone isn’t urgent.
I blink. Why now. Ka?ro is escaping. Go after him. We don’t care about Nora right now. Frustration hits harder than the pain. My stomach pulses. My head too.
Ka?ro got away.
I watch him vanish in the distance, a clean silhouette that dissolves into the ruins. His sister against him. évra could’ve chased him. She didn’t. It pisses me off.
The taste of blood persists. I don’t have the strength to analyze. I close my eyes. Let them handle it. They’ll bring me back. The dark returns slowly. Simpler than chaos. And this time, I let it come.
The smell of burning yanks me back. I open my eyes. The air is hot. The light attacks me. My skin pulls tight. Every breath scrapes my throat. It hurts. Again. Same place. Lying in the same place. Same useless body. I try to move. Nothing. Not a finger. Just my eyes.
They set it on fire.
Morgus is burning. Flames climb the structures. The sky is orange and black. Heat warps the air. Silhouettes run. Others fall. Wood cracks. Stone gives. The smell of flesh and smoke.
A smile stretches my face without me deciding.
That’s a clean wake-up.
Ka?ro is on his knees facing the flames. He’s crying. He reaches toward the fire. I don’t see his sister anymore.
“Keyti!”
He screams again. His voice breaks. It’s raw. Messy. Human.
Farther away, Nora is crying too.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Her voice shakes. She’s not in her demon form anymore.
There’s Fortuna.
Why is she crying.
Aris is lying on the ground. Motionless. Fortuna screams.
“évra, come heal Aris, he’s dying!”
évra is there. Upright. Intact. She watches the flames. She isn’t burning.
She walks toward Fortuna.
At least she’s going to save Aris.
She grabs Fortuna’s head. Her voice is clear.
“You lost once and now you refuse to use your power. You’re weak.”
She throws Fortuna.
Her body disappears into the flames.
My smile vanishes.
She picks up Aris.
“Even with your training, look at you. You’re weak.”
She throws him.
His body disappears into the flames.
I rub my eyes. The smoke stings. They’re not there anymore. I stare at the fire. Nothing moves. Aris and Fortuna are in the flames. I saw them vanish. évra threw them without hesitation.
No.
Aris and Fortuna are dead.
No.
No.
That doesn’t—
My chest tightens.
Nothing after that.
I sit up. I’m shaking.
Aris. He corrected me, always attentive.
Impact.
My forehead is bleeding. I feel it run. Good.
Fortuna. That smile. Always at the wrong time.
Impact.
Blood in my mouth. That’s manageable.
Aris. He spoke calmly.
Impact.
Fortuna. She pushed me to talk to Rose when I wanted to run.
Impact.
They’re—
Impact.
It cuts off. It comes back. Too much.
Tomorrow…
No.
Impact.
The burn tightens.
évra in front. Aris on the left. Fortuna on the right.
Impact.
The image cuts.
The red couch. The talks. The comfortable silence.
Impact.
The fabric fades.
They were here a few moments ago. Now there’s only fire.
Impact.
The scene dissolves.
We could’ve crushed the government. Together.
Impact.
With them—
Impact.
…
Impact.
Harder.
Impact.
Crush.
Impact.
Blood runs down my forehead. It gets into my eye. Vision shakes. The flames blur. The screams pull away.
Aris. He had that… that way of—
Impact.
Aris. He…
Aris?
Fortuna. She was so… I—
Impact.
Fortuna. She…
Fortuna?
It eases. I breathe.
Past.
Impact.
Present.
Impact.
Future.
Impact.
Memory.
Impact.
Before.
Simple.
…
Let go.
Okay.
