Silence followed the shockwave.
It wasn't peace, no, it was the silence that came before the heavens cracked. The air felt thicker, like it carried the weight of a thousand storms, all caged inside a single breath.
Sera floated inches above the ground. Her eyes glowed not just with light, but memory. Anger. Pain.
Her voice, when it came, was layered with echoes, like a choir singing through shattered glass.
"You broke the seal… Why?"
Kael stepped forward slowly, electricity dancing around his arms like wary serpents. His voice was calm, but something flickered behind his eyes, guilt.
"I didn't want to. But they came for you."
Sera tilted her head, her gaze sliding toward Varn, who stood on one knee, blood trailing from his mouth but his arrogance untouched.
"Another one," she whispered. "Another leech with teeth too dull to bite."
Varn chuckled and stood tall. "You always did like theatrics, Sera. Let's see if you remember how to bleed."
Without waiting, he launched forward his shadow tendrils twisting mid-air, spiraling into a spear.
Sera didn't flinch.
She raised one hand.
The world stopped.
Literally.
The air warped, folding around her as her power bled out—pure, primal control over kinetic memory. Varn's shadow spear shattered mid-attack, its motion reversed, flung back at him with multiplied velocity.
Varn slammed into the wall, blood erupting from his mouth.
Lira, still reeling from the last blast, whispered, "What… is her power?"
Kael didn't take his eyes off Sera. "She doesn't just control energy or time. She controls cause and consequence. If she sees your attack… she can rewind it, accelerate it, or send it back harder."
Lira's jaw dropped. "She's a cheat code."
Kael smiled bitterly. "She's a broken one."
A Glimpse of the Past
Sera walked past the fallen soldiers, her steps leaving streaks of light that sparked and flickered like memory fragments. The room bent around her, whispering with old voices.
Lira blinked. For a second, she didn't see a glowing girl.
She saw a child trapped in a glass tank, screaming as energy ripped through her veins.
She saw a woman sitting alone in a steel room, staring at her hands like they belonged to someone else.
She saw… pain.
Sera turned to Kael.
"You said they were coming. You were right. But you came with them."
Kael's face didn't flinch. "I didn't bring them here. I came to stop them."
Sera stared at him for a long moment. Then nodded.
"Good. Because if you hadn't, I would've killed you first."
Her tone was flat. Honest. Lira shivered.
The Syndicate Retreats
Varn pulled himself up, bloodied but laughing. He tapped a device on his wrist, and a rift opened behind him—void-black, humming with unstable energy.
"This isn't the last time we'll meet," he sneered. "You may have awakened, Sera… but you've forgotten who the real enemy is."
Kael stepped forward, electricity crackling. "You want to find out right now?"
Varn stepped into the rift, smirking. "Patience, Kael. The real war hasn't even begun."
And with that, he vanished.
The room was quiet again, save for the soft hum of Site Epsilon rebooting its core.
A Broken Trio
Later, Kael stood outside the chamber with Lira beside him. Sera sat in the distance, alone, her energy dimmer now but still wild.
Lira whispered, "She doesn't trust you."
Kael nodded. "She shouldn't."
"You didn't betray her."
"I didn't stop what happened either."
They both watched as Sera looked up at the ceiling, at the cracked tank that had been her prison for years.
Lira asked, "What now?"
Kael glanced down at his hands, lightning flickering between his fingers.
"Now? Now we figure out how to keep her alive… without losing ourselves in the process."
Somewhere Far Away…
Varn stepped through the rift and fell to one knee. A pair of boots clicked against the cold floor, and a tall figure stepped into view, cloaked in silver, face hidden behind a porcelain mask with a crimson smile carved across it.
The voice was smooth. Patient. Ancient.
"So. The storm has awakened."
Varn coughed, then grinned. "She's stronger than before. We'll need more than soldiers."
The masked figure nodded.
"Then we bring the Obsidian Choir."