Emilia (kneeling, clutching her arms as the wind howls): "…I'm not made for this peace."
The mist around her thickens—less a power now, more a defense mechanism, swirling from her skin like a shield she no longer commands. Her thoughts are louder than the world.
Emilia (whispers to herself): "I never left that world, did I?"
She closes her eyes, the flashbacks piercing through like a dagger's edge:
Years ago, Underworld sector: Velross Quarter in Neoterra Prime, the capital of the neon-futuristic country Neoterra, north of the Kagetsu Kingdom.
Neoterra has always been the capital of the Underworld. Corrupt politicians, misused power, and war have changed the futuristic country into the crime capital of the world.
A smoky club. Red lights. Hollow laughter.
The Boss sat on his throne of cables and iron.
Emilia, younger, stood before him with bloodied knuckles and eyes that had long stopped being afraid.
The Boss (calmly, almost fatherly): "Survival isn't a virtue, girl. It's a sentence. Welcome to the bottom rung."
He handed her a file. Names. Photos. A symbol she never forgot—a spiral with claws reaching inward. The Shadow Society.
"Your first job," he had said.
"Forget who they are. Just make sure they don't speak again."
She never opened the folder. She just burned it.
But the symbol stayed.
Present, Cliffside of the Nagar Valley:
Emilia exhales sharply, her fingers tracing the spiral symbol carved years ago into a small pendant hidden beneath her cloak.
And then the memory sharpens further. One name. A whisper from the underground she once overheard.
"The Society's dead. They shed their skin. Now they move as the Schatten Syndicate."
Her blood runs cold.
Suddenly, footsteps behind her.
Ichiro (panting): "Emilia! You're—!"
Emilia quickly masks her terror.
Emilia (stands, wiping her face, cold again): "…I'm fine."
Ichiro (suspicious but gentle): "Was it the aura again? Or…something else?"
She doesn't answer. Not yet.
Because somewhere deeper in the trees, the mist watches back.
Ichiro (quietly, watching the path ahead): "… You're not going to tell me, are you?"
Emilia (avoiding his gaze): "What do you want me to say?"
Ichiro (stops walking): "That the guy who tried to kill me wasn't after me. That he was watching you the entire time."
Emilia stops too. Her fist clenches slightly.
Silence. Just the sound of wind threading through pine needles.
Ichiro (pressing): "What do you know about the shadow society?"
Emilia (corrects him automatically, almost reflexively): "They don't exist anymore. At least…not under that name."
Ichiro: "…Then who was he?"
Emilia exhales slowly. Her voice, when it comes, is cold and measured like a blade drawn halfway from its sheath.
Emilia: "They call themselves the Schatten Syndicate now. The last time I heard that name, I was still under his roof."
Ichiro (quietly): "The Boss."
Emilia nods. Barely.
They resume walking, slower now. The dojo's lantern lights are flickering in the distance, but Ichiro keeps watching Emilia.
Ichiro: "Why would they come after you?"
Emilia doesn't answer right away. Then…
Emilia (a low whisper): "Because I'm a ghost with too many memories. I know where their bodies are buried… and who buried them."
She looks at Ichiro now—directly. Not with fear, but guilt.
Emilia: "They're not just hunting me. They're silencing what's left of the old world."
Ichiro (after a beat): "Then we won't let them."
Emilia (sad smile): "You always say that."
Ichiro (stepping ahead): "And I'll keep saying it until it's true."
Behind them, far out of view, a shadowy figure perches on a tree… watching.
Next to the dojo, fire crackles softly. The stars above are sharp in the cold sky.
Henry, Jack, and Lenny sit in silence around the low flames, waiting for Ichiro to return with Emilia.
Lenny (softly): "There you are. We were worried."
Jack, arms crossed but watching her closely, says nothing.
Henry (gently): "We don't need to push. She'll talk when she's ready."
Emilia (quietly, without looking up): "I served them."
Everyone looks at her.
Emilia (continued, voice trembling but steady): "The Schatten Syndicate… I was one of them. Not fully. Not like the others. But I ran missions. Smuggling. Infiltration. Information retrieval."
She breathes in the mountain air, her eyes fixed on the fire.
"I didn't know what I was stepping into. I was just… trying to survive. After he took me in—the Boss—I didn't have anyone. The underworld became my world."
Ichiro lowers his gaze. Henry's fist clenches.
"They used me. I used them. And when I escaped… I thought I had left it behind. But they don't forget."
(She meets Ichiro's eyes.)
"You said I was being hunted. You're right. The Schatten Syndicate—they don't just kill you. They erase you."
Jack (finally speaking, his voice deep): "Why didn't you tell us?"
Emilia (quietly): "Because I wanted to believe I could be someone else. I didn't want your pity. Or your fear."
Henry (firmly): "We're not afraid of you. We're afraid for you."
Emilia (voice cracking): "They know I'm here… The Syndicate. The Schatten Syndicate isn't gone—they just changed form. Adapted. And they're watching me. Watching us."
Henry: "You're saying…they've followed you?"
Emilia (nodding): "I saw the signs—whispers in the wind, shadows that don't belong. They're here. And if they're after me… they won't care who's in the way. That's why they attacked Ichiro."
Jack: "Then we fight."
Emilia (firmly, stepping between them): "No. You don't understand. You can't fight them. Not yet. They don't play fair. They don't come at you head-on. They dismantle you piece by piece—your mind, your allies, your will."
(She looks at Henry.)
"You've seen what Dravencourt did, what the Broker and the Boss did. The Syndicate makes them look like amateurs."
Ichiro (quietly): "And you were once with them."
Emilia (bitterly): "Not by choice. But that doesn't change the fact that my blood carries their scent."
Henry (soft but resolute): "You think we'd run from your past?"
Emilia (snapping): "This isn't about me! It's about survival! I care about you all too much to drag you into this."
Jack: "You don't get to make that choice for us."
Lenny: "Besides… if they're already here, it's too late for running."
Emilia (desperate): "Please… I need you all to live. If I go, they might stop—"
Ichiro (steps forward, placing a hand over his heart): "Master Kensei taught us to walk toward fear, not away from it."
Henry (voice rising): "You're not alone, Emilia. Not anymore."
She trembles, caught between the instinct to flee and the warmth of their words.
Emilia (softly): "They're not just enemies… They're monsters born in darkness and silence. I've seen what they do to the ones who resist."
Jack: "Then let's be the ones who don't die quietly."
Emilia's eyes glisten. For the first time in years, she feels the icy grip of the Syndicate loosen, if only slightly melted by the fire she sees in the eyes of her companions.
She lowers her head.
"Then we fight… together."