The night air was still, heavy with the weight of things unsaid. Duncan sat near the edge of the crumbling cliffside, the firelight flickering behind him. Mai and Tiffany had already fallen asleep, their bodies curled close, unconsciously drawn to each other for warmth. Duncan, however, could not sleep. Not tonight.
The journal lay open on his lap. The last words of Leo echoed in his mind like a ghostly whisper: "Your sun is still there."
His fingers trembled.
"I need to tell them," he whispered to the stars, as if the dead could hear him.
The next morning, the clouds had cleared, but the tension had not. As they packed up camp, Duncan cleared his throat. "There's something I need to tell you both."
Mai looked over. Tiffany raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't always like this," he said. "I used to be a soldier. Western Village Corps. Cold. Angry. Trained to kill and forget."
They stopped moving.
"One mission... we were ordered to raid a refugee camp. Families. Children. I refused. I couldn't follow that order. So they called me a deserter. They hunted me down like a dog. I ran through mountains, forests, and wastelands. I starved. I bled. And one night, I climbed a cliff to escape a search patrol. That's when I saw it."
He closed his eyes. "A violet flower. Glowing in the moonlight. I crawled toward it, barely breathing. The moment I touched it, I felt everything... all my guilt, all my shame, all the pain... fade. What replaced it was mercy."
He looked at Mai. "Your mother... I saw her. From a distance. She was fighting Gigel. I saw her fall. I saw her bleed. I wanted to help, but I was too far. Too weak."
Mai's expression hardened. Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.
Tiffany, however, stepped forward. "And you've carried all this alone?"
Duncan nodded. "But not anymore."
The path ahead was narrow and overgrown. It led to the ruins of an old temple, one of the last standing sanctuaries of the flower bearers. According to Yamora's maps, they were close to a relic that could react to the flowers' auras.
"Stay close," Mai ordered.
They moved silently until a sudden sound split the silence.
A barrage of kunai whistled through the trees.
"Scatter!" Duncan shouted.
From the shadows emerged a man in white. Hair white as snow. Eyes cold and white. His ninja garments shimmered in the broken light. On his back, a cloak stitched with the thorns of fallen flowers.
"Who the hell—?" Tiffany began.
"Ran Fuji," Duncan growled. "The Thorn Collector."
"You know him?" Mai asked.
"He used to train with flower seekers. But he never received a flower. His brother did. The power killed him. Since then, Ran's been harvesting the remains of dead flower bearers to build armor."
Ran's voice cut through the air. "I seek balance. You've tipped the scales."
Without warning, he attacked.
The battle was a blur. Duncan met him head-on, exchanging fierce blows, his violet aura colliding with Ran's thorned gauntlets.
Tiffany backed Mai, blasting golden bursts to distract Ran.
Ran twisted, nearly impaling Duncan with a spiked shoulder. Blood splattered.
"You're nothing but a thief of memories!" Duncan roared.
"And you're just a coward who ran from a fight," Ran spat back.
Mai tried to intervene, but Duncan raised a hand. "He's mine."
The two men clashed again, this time harder. Duncan's mercy-driven strength versus Ran's vengeful steel.
Finally, with a furious strike to the chest, Duncan shattered the thorned armor.
Ran collapsed. "Finish it."
Duncan stepped back. "No. That's not who I am."
Ran's eyes closed. He passed out.
Night fell again. The three sat by the ruins, bruised, bloodied, and breathless.
"You didn't kill him," Mai said quietly.
"Because I still believe there's a better way."
Tiffany didn't speak, but she looked at Duncan differently.
A flicker of respect.
The fire burned low, but something had shifted.
And from the edge of the shadows, far beyond their sight, a figure with blue glowing eyes watched.
Gigel had seen enough.
He turned, cape rustling.
"They still think this is about survival," he muttered. "They have no idea what's coming."
His marigold pulsed with fury.
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