Location: Temple Outer Garden – South Balcony
Time: [Cycle 6 : 06:00 – 07:15 Local Drift]
Ren sat on the edge of the cracked marble balustrade, legs dangling over a drop that probably shouldn't exist.
The courtyard below shimmered faintly — echoes of Vein energy still haunting the cracks of this old temple. The sky was slowly brightening into a sunrise Ka'rath'Mar never deserved.
Frost stood nearby, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Blaze sprawled across a ruined stone lion like it owed her drinks and compliments.
No one spoke.
Until Ren broke the silence.
"…What if we destroy it?"
Frost turned.
"Destroy what?"
"The dimensional core," he muttered. "What if… we find one. And instead of using it, it… breaks. Or warps. Or reacts wrong. And Lira's curse stays anyway."
He looked down at his hands.
"She's resting. She's finally safe. And now we're about to shove her into another impossible journey. And I don't even know if it'll work."
(CORE, calmly — too calmly):
"Then the timeline may unravel. Or she dies. Or worse."
Ren froze.
Frost's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"
(CORE, now closer, darker):
"You asked 'what if it doesn't work.' I ask — what if it does. But not the way you expect."
Silence.
Then Core pulsed again — his voice echoing from the depths of Ren's soul, like a god murmuring through broken glass.
"I've been watching. Mapping. Calculating."
"And I must warn you: a betrayal is coming. It may already be in motion."
"I see a time fracture forming. A faultline beneath your footsteps."
"Something is pulling the past and future apart — stitching them into the wrong places."
"If you take this path… you will not return whole."
Ren stood slowly. His fingers trembled on Vey'stryx's hilt.
"Then what choice do I have?"
(CORE):
"Survive. Adapt. And stop hiding from what you are."
Ren blinked. "What I am?"
Core pulsed brighter — and Ren's eyes glowed in response. A memory rushed into his head — a blur of power from the last time he touched the Last Light and the Fallen Fragment…
And in that surge, something else was there. Something he never understood.
Something he never used.
"You absorbed three fragments," Core said.
"One of them, you've never tapped. Never even tried."
"It's the third resonance."
"The one that distorts time, matter… and reality."
Ren's throat tightened.
"…Gravity."
Frost's head snapped up. Even Blaze lifted her head.
"You're joking," Frost muttered. "You're saying he has gravity manipulation and didn't notice?"
(CORE, dry):
"His intelligence stat is average at best."
(BLAZE, laughing):
"This bitch out here running on three ancient powers and only using one like it's a trial subscription."
Ren groaned, hands in his hair.
"How the fuck was I supposed to know gravity was even a thing I could do? I don't feel heavier! I just… jump sometimes!"
(CORE):
"Untrained gravity resonance doesn't feel like weight. It feels like directionlessness. Like your body doesn't agree with physics anymore."
Ren paused.
"…That explains a lot of weird falls."
Before Core could respond, footsteps echoed behind him.
Lira and Riven emerged onto the balcony.
Lira's crystal orb hovered lazily beside her now — as if it had grown used to floating again. Her skin had color again. Her presence… commanded again.
She was still recovering — but the General had returned.
Riven kept close, but let her walk freely.
They stood by the railing, looking out across the city's ruins and slow sunlight. After a moment of silence, Lira finally spoke.
"I remember it all now."
Ren turned.
Lira glanced back at him with a gentle, bittersweet smile.
"And I still choose the path forward."
Riven looked at her. "You sure? You don't have to—"
"I do." Lira's voice was firm now. "I was broken. And Ren helped me stand again. But my curse still holds. If we don't find a dimensional core and cleanly realign it with my resonance structure…"
She glanced down at her hand, fingers twitching.
"…I'll collapse into a temporal fold. Permanently. No more memory. No more soul."
Ren opened his mouth.
Stopped.
He wanted to say, "I won't let that happen."
But Core's warning still rang in his skull:
"A betrayal is coming. A time fracture is near."
Lira looked at the others.
"I want to leave before the next Drift cycle. We head to the archive vaults in the Sundered North — they may have a map to Yxtrielle's Vein-paths. It's the only lead we've got."
Ren nodded slowly. "Then we go."
They all stood in silence for a moment.
Even Blaze.
Even Frost.
Each of them staring out at the broken horizon — where fate, danger, betrayal, and gravity-fucked bullshit waited.
The wind shifted.
The sun finally broke past the horizon — low, golden, kissing the temple's stones with light that felt almost sacred.
Lira stood by the edge of the balcony, her orb pulsing in rhythm with her heart. Riven stood beside her, breathing slowly.
"I know you want to move forward," Riven said gently. "But maybe we shouldn't jump straight into Yxtrielle."
Lira turned. "Riven…"
"Listen," Riven continued, voice calm but firm. "Solmerea's still our world. Our people. Our answers. If there's any trace of the dimensional core's location or how to align it with your curse signature—it'll be there."
She paused.
"I already sent the signal. Sky-ship's on the way."
Lira blinked. "You did what?"
"I called home," Riven said with a smirk. "Don't hate me."
Ren watched quietly, feeling the shift in air.
He was… nervous. Excited. Terrified.
Leaving the temple meant real shit was coming. No more sanctuary. No more practice arcs. No more cleaning staircases like a magical janitor with unresolved trauma.
Riven turned toward him.
"You're coming too. Right?"
Ren blinked. "Me?"
Lira smiled softly. "Of course you are."
He nodded. Slowly. Heart hammering.
And somewhere deep inside, he knew—this wasn't just the next arc.
This was the step into a new fucking chapter of the universe.
📍 Departure Gate – One Hour Later
The temple gates stood open for the first time in years.
The old moss cracked away as the stone creaked outward, revealing the rocky cliffside where the sky-ship would land.
And waiting near the exit?
Two familiar bastards.
The Old Priest.
And Arix Vel'Nara.
Ren blinked. "You two came?"
The priest grinned. "You think I'd miss the chance to mock your fashion choices one last time, boy?"
He reached into his robe — pulled out a flat crystal-bound device, palm-sized and pulsing with faint runes.
"Universal Communicator," he said. "Think… magical smartphone, but sassier. You can connect across any known world. Send pings, messages, locations… even holograms if you don't fuck it up."
He handed it to Ren.
"You're dumb as stone, but you're my favorite dumbass."
Arix stepped forward.
Same cold eyes. Same smirk. Same aura of professional murder with a twist of poetry.
"You're about to enter a nest of snakes wrapped in silk," she said. "The 10th planet? They don't play fair. Don't expect honor. Expect traps."
She handed him a wrapped cloth — inside: a needle-thin blade, near-invisible, barely a shimmer.
"One flick of this in the right nerve? Anyone with magic collapses. It's illegal, obviously. Which means it's essential."
She stepped close, whispered:
"And remember the trick I taught you. Shadow isn't what you hide in. It's what you control."
Then she flicked his ear.
"Don't die."
Ren felt it.
The weight.
Of all this.
The goodbye. The gifts. The responsibility. The journey.
It was overwhelming.
It was beautiful.
It was—
(CORE, yawning):
"Gods, I hope the new planet has snacks. I'm tired of emotional arcs."
(BLAZE, mock-sobbing):
"Is this the part where we all cry and hug? Because I'm naked and ready."
(FROST, deadpan):
"You're always naked. And no one's hugging you."
(VEY'STRYX):
"Is this truly the fool I'm soulbound to? I weep for my lineage."
Ren's left eye twitched.
"Can you guys shut the fuck up for one minute while I try to feel feelings?!"
Everyone turned toward him.
A beat.
Ren cleared his throat. "I was, uh… talking to myself. Normal brain stuff. Just guy things."
The wind shifted again.
And far in the sky — the shape of the sky-ship appeared, slicing through clouds like a silver shark.
It was beautiful.
Fast.
Powerful.
And heading straight for them.
Lira turned, eyes narrowed.
Riven stood taller.
Ren checked the communicator. The knife. The sword.
He looked back at the temple one last time.
Smiled.
And stepped forward.