Rain still fell in thin sheets as the campfire remnants hissed beneath Mai's boot. The group had barely spoken since the revelations of the past night. Duncan kept to himself, and Tiffany's eyes avoided Mai's at every glance. Something between them had cracked open — a truth, a feeling — and none knew quite what to do with it.
They pushed through the forest, the trees swaying with whispers only they could hear. Duncan's hand remained close to his weapon, his expression dark. He had been having flashes. Not just memories, but sensations. The cliff. The violet light. The blood.
Ahead, the woods began to clear, revealing what looked like an ancient battlefield, long forgotten.
"This place..." Tiffany murmured, brushing her hand against the blackened soil. "It's scorched."
"A massacre site," Duncan said. "One of the first rebel uprisings against Gigel's forces. They burned it down."
Mai felt the pressure build behind her eyes. She looked up to see symbols scratched into old stones. Flowers. But none she recognized.
They moved onward.
Suddenly, a whistle cut through the air.
Mai jumped back just in time as a blade grazed her cheek.
Out of the shadows came a cloaked figure, swift and silent.
"Who the hell—" Duncan stepped forward.
"Finally," came the voice. Calm, smooth, cold.
He removed his mask.
White hair. Pale eyes. A long, white ninja garb. On his back — a strange sheath, adorned with thorns.
"Ran Fuji," the man introduced himself with no hint of warmth. "You carry flower power. I collect it."
Tiffany's eyes narrowed. "A Thorn Collector..."
Ran lunged forward, and the battle began.
He was fast. Faster than any of them expected.
Mai summoned her red energy, her hands glowing with passion-born flame.
Duncan stepped in, defending against the flurry of needles hurled from Ran's sleeve.
Tiffany leapt across him, spinning midair with a kick that nearly hit Ran's temple — but he ducked low and slammed her into a tree.
Blood flew.
Mai screamed.
Duncan caught Ran's arm mid-strike and threw him back, eyes blazing.
"Leave her alone!"
Ran grinned. "Ah, the violet one has heart. Let's test its limits."
The forest erupted in chaos.
For minutes that felt like hours, the fight tore through trees, stone, and memories.
Tiffany rose, blood at her lip. She dashed toward Ran with fury, her sunflower aura bursting into gold.
Mai launched a wave of flame that scorched the ground. Duncan ducked, flanked, and landed a punch that rattled Ran's jaw.
Ran retaliated with a whip of thorns that slashed across Duncan's chest.
They were being pushed.
"We're not strong enough like this!" Tiffany shouted.
Mai's eyes flared.
She stepped forward — past both of them — and let out a roar that shook the leaves.
Her aura exploded.
Ran paused.
"What are you doing?!" Duncan shouted.
Mai's hand trembled, then reached into her side pouch.
A second flower.
Orange.
Ixora.
"Mai — NO!"
Her fingers closed around the petals.
A scream, guttural and raw, ripped from her lungs.
The air went dead.
Her red aura vanished, replaced by something else.
Searing orange.
Eyes wide and empty.
She moved — and vanished.
In a blur, she was behind Ran — and before he could blink, her arm went through his stomach.
Blood sprayed.
Tiffany screamed. "MAI, STOP!"
Mai turned and smiled.
Not her smile.
Something colder.
Ran collapsed.
Mai stood there, hands soaked in crimson.
Duncan approached carefully. "Mai?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes glowed orange.
Tiffany ran toward her, grabbing her shoulders. "Come back. Please."
Mai didn't move.
Then, slowly, she blinked.
The orange flickered.
She stumbled backward, gasping.
"W-What did I... do...?"
Silence.
The others looked on in horror.
Mai collapsed to her knees.
Duncan turned to Tiffany. "That wasn't the red flower. That was something else."
Tiffany nodded, pale. "Ixora. A flower born of chaos. It shouldn't even exist."
Mai wept silently.
And above them, the rain began to fall again.
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