Jade's breath caught in his throat as he stared at his brother, standing in the darkness, his figure almost ghost-like. The very air seemed to change, thick with the tension between them. His brother's eyes were cold, unreadable, a stark contrast to the warmth Jade had once known. The boy who had once been his protector now seemed like a stranger, consumed by something darker.
"Why are you here, Jade?" His brother's voice was almost a whisper, but it carried a weight that sent chills down Jade's spine. "Did you really think you could just walk in here, make it out alive?"
Jade remained silent, his hand instinctively tightening around the key hidden beneath his coat. He had trained for this moment, had expected the worst, but seeing his brother here, standing against him, felt like the ground beneath him was shifting. Betrayal. That was what this was, wasn't it?
"You've changed." Jade's voice broke through the heavy silence, raw and pained. "You were never supposed to be a part of this. You were supposed to be my family, my ally." His words faltered as the weight of it all crushed him. "Nebet isn't who you think he is. And you... you're not the person I knew."
A flicker of something passed across his brother's face, something fleeting, but it was gone before Jade could grasp it. His brother stepped forward, the shadows seeming to move with him.
"You don't understand," he muttered. "Nebet gave me purpose. More than you ever could. You were always weak, Jade. You think you can take him down? You're nothing compared to us."
Jade's heart thudded painfully in his chest. He wanted to yell at his brother, to tell him he was wrong, that there was still time to fix things, but the words felt hollow. The man standing before him wasn't his brother anymore.
With a swift motion, his brother turned and began to walk away, as if Jade's existence no longer mattered. "I'll give you one chance, Jade," he called over his shoulder, his tone cold, calculated. "Leave now, and I won't hunt you down. Stay, and... well, you know what happens."
Jade watched, heart heavy, as his brother disappeared into the shadows. The silence that followed felt suffocating. He had hoped for something—anything—that would make sense of the situation. But this wasn't about reason. It was about power, betrayal, and a path that had already been chosen for him.
Jade stood alone in the dark, the fortress looming ahead. It felt like the world was closing in around him. Nebet's gang. His brother. The truth that had been buried beneath lies.
He couldn't back down now.
With a deep breath, Jade moved toward the entrance to the fortress, his steps firm. He wasn't going to let this end in the shadows. He would find out what Nebet was really after, even if it meant facing his brother again.
The fortress gates loomed ahead, massive iron doors that seemed to mock him with their imposing size. Jade's heart pounded as he approached, his mind focused on the task ahead. The guards were numerous, but Jade's knowledge, his understanding of the world as Yuma, gave him an edge. He knew how to slip past, how to avoid detection.
As he neared the door, he paused, looking over his shoulder. The memory of his brother's words haunted him: "You were always weak, Jade."
Weak.
Jade clenched his fists. He wasn't weak. He had a purpose. And he was going to prove it.
Slipping through the gate unnoticed, Jade made his way deeper into the fortress. The walls seemed to close in around him, the air thick with an oppressive aura. Each step he took brought him closer to the answers he desperately needed, but the questions kept growing, multiplying in his mind.
Why had his brother joined Nebet? What was the true goal of the gang? And what did they want with Jade?
He didn't have all the answers yet, but one thing was clear: he wasn't walking away from this fight. Not this time.