***Another busy day tomorrow***
The first thing Helios felt was weight. Not on his chest, not on his limbs — but on his very soul, as though a mountain had been dropped onto it.
When his eyes opened, he stood in Scala ad Caelum, the city of spires and bridges, but it was wrong. It looked nothing like his memories of this place.
The towers leaned at broken angles, their reflections shimmering in an ocean of pitch that stretched endlessly below. The sky was a shattered mirror, every crack bleeding light that failed to reach the streets. The air tasted like ash.
He staggered forward. "What the hell…?"
And then he heard it.
"Hoder…! Don't leave me!"
The cry tore across the broken city, raw with desperation. Helios turned — and the world lurched, dragging him into a memory that wasn't his.
Hoder stood before him, silver hair glowing faintly in the dim light. Her keyblade clashed against the claws of a monstrous fairy, Maleficent, sparks flying. Beside her, Baldr — younger, wide-eyed, panicked.
"No!" Baldr screamed, lunging forward.
Maleficent's claw pierced her chest.
Hoder gasped. The world froze around her death.
Helios blinked. And then it rewound.
Again, he stood there. Hoder and Maleficent. But this time, Baldr's own blade slipped, cutting across his sister's ribs. Her eyes widened in shock as she fell.
Reset.
Again.
Again.
"No…" Helios whispered, teeth grinding.
The scenes kept repeating, sometimes Maleficent killing her, sometimes Baldr. And then—
It was him.
His hand held the blade. His strike pierced Hoder's chest as Baldr screamed in horror.
Helios stumbled back. "No—!"
The world didn't care. It reset again. Over and over. Each time, blood sprayed across the stones. Each time, Baldr fell to his knees in grief. Each time, Helios felt the weight of inevitability crush his heart and mind.
He tried to interfere. Tried to shove Baldr aside. Tried to block the strike. Tried to kill Maleficent first. Every effort dissolved into smoke. No matter what, Hoder always died.
And every time, the grief in Baldr's scream grew heavier.
The scene shifted.
Now it was the upperclassmen. Heimdall. Helgi. Sigrun. Helios stood helplessly as Baldr's darkness tore into them, cutting them down in sprays of crimson. Their bodies fell around him, their eyes wide with betrayal.
Helios fell to his knees, clutching his head. The screams echoed endlessly.
These aren't my feelings… these aren't mine.
But a voice slithered through the memory.
"You will be me. You've already lost everything once. You'll lose more. And when you do… you'll break, just as I did."
A shadow of Baldr stepped into view, his golden eyes gleaming with madness. His form flickered, sometimes Baldr, sometimes Helios, as if the corruption was merging them.
"You wear that smile. That arrogance," Baldr sneered. "But it's a mask. I know the truth. You're afraid. Afraid you'll end up just like me. A broken little boy unable to do anything but watch as those he loves fade away."
Helios' fists clenched. He wanted to deny it. But the thought crawled into his hearts, sharp and poisonous. 'What if he's right?'
Because wasn't there truth in it? He had lost his parents. His world. His heart had been carved hollow. He carried darkness, wielded it freely. He masked it with cockiness, with bravado, but inside—
Inside, he was terrified.
Terrified of breaking.
Terrified of losing Skuld, Zack, Sephiroth, Aqua, even Kurai — though he'd never admit it.
Terrified that one day, the weight would be too much and he would crumble into the same abyss he had seen Baldr fall into many times.
The memory pulsed, pressing harder, showing him Baldr in the infirmary. Isolated. Crumbling. Eyes hollow. Rage growing until the darkness devoured him completely.
Helios felt his chest tighten. His breath hitched. 'No. No. That won't be me.'
He staggered forward. The shadow-Baldr grinned. "You can't escape it. In the end Darkness always wins."
Helios snarled, forcing his legs to move. Each step was like pushing through tar. "Shut up."
"You lost everything once. You'll lose more. And when you do—"
"Shut up!" Helios roared. His voice cracked across the broken city like thunder.
The illusions froze.
He stood tall, his body trembling, but his eyes alight with fury.
"You think pain excuses you?" His voice was sharp, cold. "You think grief gives you the right to drown out the world? I lost everything too. My home. My family. My world." His jaw tightened. "And I didn't break. I didn't wallow. I kept moving."
The shadows writhed, but Helios pressed on, his words cutting through them like a blade.
"You call yourself tragic, but you're just pathetic. If you're so sad—then do something about it! Don't just sit here crying. Fight. Tear apart the chains of fate if you have to. If time doesn't let you change it—go back and change it anyway."
His voice deepened, becoming almost a growl. "And if the rules of the universe forbid it—then break them. Shatter them. To me, there is nothing — not light, not darkness, not fate itself — that will stop me from resurrecting my parents."
The spires of Scala cracked, white light spilling into the black ocean. The shadow-Baldr trembled, his golden eyes flickering silver.
For the first time, his expression softened.
"…You're right." His voice was quiet, almost fragile. "I wish… I wish I had been like you."
A smile ghosted his lips, faint but genuine. His form began to flicker. "But it's too late for me."
Helios stepped closer, unyielding. "It's never too late."
Baldr's eyes widened.
"If time doesn't allow it — then break time. If the laws of the universe don't allow it — then carve new ones. Nothing is absolute. Nothing is final." Helios' gaze blazed. "There is always a way forward. The real question is what are you willing to do to take that path?"
For a long moment, Baldr just stared. Then — to Helios' shock — he laughed.
Not the bitter, broken laugh of the darkness, but something lighter, freer.
"I forgot…" He smiled faintly. "…even in the deepest darkness, there's always a light."
The city shattered like glass, dissolving into a cascade of silver shards.
Helios fell backward into the void, his chest heaving, but his eyes still blazing with conviction.