The air was thick with brine and tension as Kai Johan and his companions stepped foot onto the gleaming stone streets of Marinthar, the capital city of the Rabid Sea. The city, suspended across sprawling ocean pillars, shimmered with iridescent Aether lanterns and coral architecture, alive with bustling merchant ships and aquatic beasts swimming beneath its transparent floors.
Kai walked cautiously, his dark cloak fluttering as the salt-kissed wind ran past him. Beside him, Lysander Hutchman surveyed the scene with practiced precision, his golden Pure Aether reacting subtly to the city's unique energy signature. Rhea Solarin and Zara walked a few paces behind, their hands near the hilts of their weapons. Lynn Salisbury, the youngest yet most unpredictable among them, hummed a tune—likely to mask his growing anxiety.
Trailing behind them, hooded and quiet, was Fen Johan—Kai's estranged brother and former Number 4 of the World 5. Though his presence made Kai's blood burn, the necessity of the mission forced them to tolerate each other.
The capital was rumored to be neutral territory, but neutrality in the fractured realm was just a polite way of saying "controlled chaos."
"Keep your Aether signatures low," Lysander muttered.
"Too late," Rhea said, eyes narrowed as soldiers in gleaming turquoise armor marched toward them, bearing the sigil of the Rabid Sea Guild—a shark piercing a crescent moon.
The group halted as twenty guards encircled them, tridents and Aether spears drawn.
"You lot—identify yourselves," barked the lead guard.
Kai stepped forward. "We're travelers seeking audience with Kohakuu Hageshi."
The name carried weight, and the guards faltered for just a second before gesturing them to follow. "Any wrong move, and we'll gut you before you reach the Spire."
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The Spire of Tides was a spiraling fortress at the center of Marinthar, its blue crystal towers twisting like whirlpools reaching for the sky. Inside, Kohakuu Hageshi waited, seated on a throne of jagged coral and kelp-metal. Her presence was like the eye of a storm—calm but coiled with fury.
She was beautiful in a dangerous way. Long silver-blue hair flowed down her armored shoulders, and her piercing sea-green eyes scanned each of them with disdain. The Number 3 of the World 5 was known for her ruthlessness, and today, her expression promised nothing short of that.
"Kai Johan," she spat the name as if it poisoned her tongue. "Son of the Wretch."
Kai's fists clenched, but he kept his voice even. "We didn't come to fight. We came to talk."
"Talk?" Kohakuu laughed—a cold, echoing sound. "What could the spawn of him possibly say to me? And you..." She turned her venomous gaze toward Fen. "Traitor. Murderer. Coward. You stood at Jin's side when your father defiled everything we built in the Eclipse Syndicate."
"I stood where I had to," Fen said coldly, his Hollow Aether crackling slightly beneath his cloak.
"You stood by while we were humiliated in the Fracture War," she snarled. "Your father and his pet Jin tore everything down. And you, Kai—his final joke."
Kai took a step forward. "I'm not my father."
"No," she said darkly. "You're weaker."
Tension exploded like a wave hitting the cliffs. Lynn's Raw Aether sparked, Lysander's eyes sharpened, and Rhea moved subtly into a fighting stance.
Kohakuu raised her hand, and instantly, the guards leveled their weapons.
"I was once like you, Kai," she hissed. "A proud Eclipser. Loyal. I bled for your father's vision. Then he cast us aside—left us to rot while he, Jin, and Fen rose to power."
Zara, silent until now, stepped forward. "So this is about vengeance? Your pride?"
"Pride is all I had after I was cast out!" Kohakuu thundered, her Aether flaring violently. The room trembled with the pressure of her presence.
"I clawed my way back, joined Zerath's Hollow Blades, and replaced Razor as Number 3. I earned my seat. You—" she pointed at Kai, "—you carry the same arrogance he did. You think because you bear a Shard, you're untouchable."
"We're not here to prove anything," Lysander interjected. "We came to speak about the growing rift between the Eclipse Syndicate and the World 5. If you're truly loyal to peace—"
"Peace died with your Syndicate," she said flatly. "And this... this is your grave."
Her Aether exploded outward. The pressure collapsed pillars and sent lesser guards to their knees. Kohakuu's Pure-Hollow hybrid Aether glowed like storm-lit waters as she drew her glaive—Kairikō, the Flood Reaper.
"So be it," Kai growled.
Kohakuu moved first—fast as a current. Her glaive struck toward Kai, but Fen blocked with a shimmering Hollow barrier. The force shattered it, but gave Kai enough time to dodge and clash blades with her. The impact rocked the hall, sending shockwaves through the walls.
Guards swarmed Lysander and Rhea. Lynn unleashed a chaotic flurry of Raw Aether blasts, creating a cyclone of energy that scattered half a dozen attackers.
Lysander, fluid and elegant, danced through spears, his blade a ribbon of gold. "We have to disable her—not kill her!" he shouted.
Rhea deflected an Aether arrow, launching a fire-laced counterstrike. "Try telling her that!"
Meanwhile, Kai was locked in a brutal melee with Kohakuu. She fought like a tidal wave—unrelenting, powerful, but also full of rage. Her Aether-enhanced strikes split the air with sonic blasts. Kai countered with his Eclipse Shard-enhanced strikes, he used a sword he secretly found in the ship they travelled with, it glowed with unstable Raw Aether.
"You fight like him," she hissed.
"And you blame others for your pain," Kai shot back.
They clashed again—this time, Kohakuu twisted mid-strike and landed a heavy kick to his gut, sending Kai crashing through a coral wall. Blood ran down his lip as he rose, coughing.
Fen appeared beside him, his Hollow Aether forming black wings behind his back. "If we don't work together, she'll kill you."
Kai hesitated, then nodded.
The brothers surged forward—one with crackling Raw power, the other with void-born Hollow Aether. Kohakuu parried Kai's attack but didn't see Fen coming. He struck from above, driving her down into the floor with a blast that cratered the chamber.
She emerged moments later, bloodied, laughing madly. "Yes... this is what I wanted... to break you like your father broke me!"
"Kai!" Lysander shouted. "She's drawing from a Shard!"
Indeed, in her chestplate, an Eclipse Shard burned brightly—a Tidal Shard, amplifying her rage.
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll do what he never did…"
He held out his blade, whispering the words only his Shard could understand. The blade shifted, glowing white-hot.
"...End this with mercy."
He leapt into the air, his sword flaring with a Raw-Hollow fusion, and brought it down as Kohakuu screamed, her glaive rising to meet him.
The light consumed them both.