Henry followed Helia back to the Solstice Tower, the phantom pain in his chest a dull echo of the battle in his soul. The small, artificial sun she held aloft kept the encroaching twilight at bay, a temporary stay of execution.
As soon as the door to their quarters slid shut, she dismissed the light. The sudden plunge into the room's ambient glow felt like a trigger. The change came swiftly, the familiar cold tide washing over him.
Night-Henry stood, rolling his shoulders as if shrugging off a coat he despised. He looked at Helia, whose face was set in a grim, determined line, ready for the nightly confrontation. A wicked smirk played on his lips.
"So," he began, his voice a low purr. He wagged a finger at her in a playful, condescending gesture. "The new plan is for the weak one to train his little light, and for me to... what? Sit quietly in a corner?" He made a soft clicking sound with his tongue. "Tsk tsk tsk. Nuh uh."
Helia's golden eyes narrowed. "My plan is to give him the tools to fight his own war. Something you are incapable of understanding."
"She's so wonderfully prudish", Tsukuyomi's voice giggled in his mind. "Hates being treated as anything other than a divine, untouchable concept. You should try complimenting her. The personal things. She loathes it."
An idea, sharp and malicious, sparked in Night-Henry's mind. He let his gaze drift over Helia, slowly, deliberately, as if seeing her for the first time not as a warden, but as a woman.
"You know, for a goddess of order and blinding light, you are quite beautiful," he said, his tone shifting from mockery to a feigned sincerity that was far more unsettling. "Your face is... perfect. Symmetrical. Flawless." He took a step closer. "And you carry yourself with such... authority. A perfect woman, really." His eyes flicked down for a fraction of a second. "And your other... assets... are quite impressive as well. A testament to divine generosity."
A faint pink blush crept up Helia's neck, a crack in her marble facade. She stood straighter, her expression hardening. "This will not work on me. I know my sister is telling you what to say. Your empty words are meaningless."
"Pull her into you", Tsukuyomi urged, her mental voice giddy with anticipation. "You will see the face she makes."
Night-Henry's smirk widened. In a movement too quick for her to counter, he closed the distance, his hand shooting out to gently cup her arm, pulling her closer until they were face to face. The air crackled with tension. With his free hand, he reached up, his touch surprisingly gentle as he brushed a stray strand of golden hair from her cheek, tucking it carefully behind her ear.
Helia froze. Completely and utterly paralyzed. The blush on her cheeks exploded into a deep crimson. Her breath caught in her throat, and for a terrifying moment, Henry could hear her heart hammering against her ribs, a frantic, panicked rhythm.
Then, her training and divine will reasserted themselves. She slapped his hand away with a sharp crack, stumbling back from him. "T-that's it!" she stammered, her voice losing its regal calm for the first time. "You either stop, or I will contain you in a field of pure light until morning!" Her face was still fiery red.
"Hahahahaha!" Tsukuyomi's laughter was a cascade of triumph in his mind. "We should engage in some personal fun~
"Not in a million years," Night-Henry muttered, cutting her off, his amusement with the situation fading.
Meanwhile, inside the void, the battle was over, but the war was not. The essence of Day-Henry, a form of shimmering, unstable light, stood before the weary spirit of Joseph at the gate.
"I can't fight him forever, Henry," Joseph said, his form flickering. "Fusing my soul with your seal was the only way I could continue to protect you after my body gave out. I was getting old, weak. But even this is temporary. Soon, this will be your fight alone. You must be the one to stand against him at this gate."
The entity of light that was Henry nodded, a sense of grim purpose solidifying within him. He looked at his own shimmering, formless hands. He had to get stronger. He focused, recalling the feeling of balance from the labyrinth. He reached for his own essence, not trying to make a weapon, but just to give it form.
A tiny, pinprick of white light appeared. It was stable. He focused harder, and another appeared beside it. And another. Soon, a small cluster of tiny, glowing white balls floated around him, like miniature stars. It was a small progress, but it was progress.
The day came. The change was made. In the void, the tiny stars of light vanished as Day-Henry's consciousness was pulled away. Joseph sighed, raising his spectral sword as the darkness at the far end of the void began to stir once more.
Henry awoke with a gasp in his bed in the Solstice Tower.
"Get up," Helia's voice commanded. She stood by the door, her face back to its usual impassive mask, though a faint hint of pink still lingered on the tips of her ears. "You have a new class to attend."