"So, that was fast. Usually when you're assigned missions, it takes weeks — sometimes months — but you finished yours in just three days. How awesome is that," Yuma remarked, his tone light but his eyes sharp as he dropped into the chair opposite EJ in the Center's cafeteria.
EJ barely glanced up from his untouched plate. "I just got lucky," he murmured. His voice was flat, unmotivated, but he forced himself to keep moving, to keep working.
Yuma leaned back, grinning anyway. "Luck? No way. You're just that good. So, how about we spar today?" He rested his chin in one palm, leaning toward him. "You don't have anything else lined up besides guarding duty, right?"
EJ finally looked at him, frowning faintly. "You're asking for a fight again? Didn't you just spar with Taki this morning?"
The pink-haired boy made a dramatic pout, crossing his arms. "That doesn't count. He gets tired too easily. But you…" Yuma's golden eyes sparkled with something hungry. "You're different. You've got the best stamina, even Fuma gets tired of me eventually, but you? You keep up. Come on. Please?"
EJ's frown deepened, and he hissed under his breath, glancing around. "Yuma. We are in public. Address His Majesty properly."
Yuma only rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, please. No one here would dare lecture me about that."
He wasn't entirely wrong. All around them, Legacies and Celestials alike pretended not to hear a word of their conversation. No one dared to question Yuma, the Emperor's right hand and most ruthless general.
EJ knew better than most what Yuma was capable of. He didn't look like much now — lanky, grinning, lazy-eyed — but the first time EJ saw him on the battlefield, he'd been dragged along as a green Legacy recruit, barely able to hold his own sword.
And Yuma?
He was terrifying.
He fought like a storm, relentless and cruel. EJ had avoided sparring with him ever since, knowing he'd never walk away unscathed.
EJ's thoughts were interrupted when Yuma's voice dropped, low and serious now.
"I heard," Yuma began, leaning forward slightly, his grin gone, "you met a Shadower."
EJ froze.
His chest tightened as the words sank in.
He hadn't expected anyone, not even Yuma to say it out loud.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze to meet those golden eyes, now sharp as blades.
Yuma wasn't smiling anymore.
EJ gulped, he was honest, indeed he met one, but he never told anyone he was saved by one and on top of it, it was his childhood best friend. Of course, no one should know. But Yuma is different, he may appear giggly and naughty, but he is serious when it comes to the Underworld.
"I did," EJ did his best to be casual and calm. "But ran away after being held in a Celestial barrier,"
"Escaped? From a Celestial barrier? Must be someone strong enough to do that, I mean you are one of the strongest to build a barrier." Yuma's tone started to get more calm.
"That's what I say, strong. He was strong," EJ murmured because it was true. He felt it, the aura, Nicholas was strong, and felt like someone respected. When he recalled the way the other two Shadower lunged at him when he accused Nicholas, he knew Nicholas held some authority.
"I would love to spar at him," Yuma casually said while grinning.
The two continued eating in tense silence, Yuma trying a few more times to coax him into a spar, but EJ only shook his head every time. Finally, Yuma gave up with a resigned sigh and muttered, "You're no fun," before sauntering off with his usual swagger.
EJ stayed behind for a moment longer, staring at the faint reflection of himself in his water glass. Even the cafeteria's cheerful chatter around him sounded distant.
When he finally stood to leave and headed toward his post to change shifts with another Legacy, his celestial badge flared suddenly against his chest, a sharp, insistent glow that left no room for doubt.
He froze.
A summons.
Without wasting a second, EJ bolted down the jade-carved corridors, his boots striking hard against the polished floors as he made his way to Captain Will's office in the east wing of the palace.
When he arrived, the door was already open and two other Legacies stood outside, their faces tense, arms crossed, clearly just as confused as he was.
Inside, Captain Will stood behind his desk, flanked by a pair of aides. On the center of the polished desk sat a black iron cage, humming faintly with Celestial wards.
And inside it…
EJ stopped dead in the doorway, his breath catching.
A dark phoenix.
Its wings, though folded now, shimmered with that same ominous black flame, its crimson eyes fixed on him as though it recognized him. The air around it smelled faintly of smoke and ash.
EJ's hands curled into fists at his sides, his jaw tightening.
He was sure the phoenix had been killed. He'd watched it dissolve into the Abyss with his own eyes, felt the echo of its death throes when the two Shadowers blade struck it down.
Yet here it was.
Alive.
And caged.
"What…" EJ finally managed, his voice low, rough with disbelief.
"…what is going on here?"
"I asked the same thing," Captain Will said grimly, leaning back in his chair, fingers steepled beneath his chin. His sharp gaze didn't leave the phoenix in the cage, which gave a low, guttural hiss at being studied. "This one was captured in another city, far from Garrand. And," he added with a weary exhale, "we've already received reports from several more cities. The curse isn't isolated."
EJ's jaw tightened. He bit his lip, forcing down the sick weight in his chest.
"So it wasn't only one," he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.
"No," Will said bluntly. "No doubt about it now. There's more than one. Possibly dozens."
The Captain rose, his cloak rustling against the floor, and came to stand closer to the caged creature. His eyes hardened. "The Emperor has issued a formal order. Effective immediately."
EJ looked up sharply.
Will met his gaze, then sighed. "He wants me to dispatch a team of Legacies to investigate — contain, if possible, and eliminate the threat entirely."
There was a pause.
Then Will's lips curled into something faintly resembling a smirk, though it didn't reach his eyes.
"Looks like you're going back to the Mortal World, EJ."
–
Nicholas sat in silence, a half-empty glass of wine cradled in his hand, his ash-gray eyes fixed on the shadow-flame crackling in the hearth. The fire offered no warmth — it never did — yet he stood close, as though pretending it might chase away the cold pressing into his chest.
Since returning, his mind had been consumed by a single thought, a single name. EJ.
Not even the wine dulled it. Not even the flickering dark embers could smother the memory of amber eyes looking at him with hurt and disbelief.
He didn't notice K standing in the doorway until his confidant cleared his throat. K lingered there a moment, as if gauging Nicholas's mood, before finally stepping inside.
"Looks like we've been had," K began, his voice carrying an unusual edge of excitement despite the gravity of his words. "Phoenixes have started appearing in other territories. Several, at once. The Mortal World's already in chaos."
Nicholas's gaze sharpened, but his expression remained unreadable. He swirled the wine in his glass, watching the dark liquid catch the faint light of the flames.
"Do you have any idea who did it?" he asked evenly, though his jaw tightened with each word.
K gave a humorless chuckle. "Most likely the Death Order. Harua's wolves managed to capture one of their rogues. It's being held now, but we haven't interrogated it yet."
The sound of glass shattering against the cold stone floor startled even K. Nicholas had set the wine down too hard, the stem snapping under his fingers.
He stood abruptly, the air around him dropping several degrees as his shadow flared behind him, stretching across the room like hungry claws.
"Bring me to that rogue," he said coldly, his voice low but laced with fury. His ash-gray eyes glinted like steel. "We will make them talk. And then we will make an example of whoever dared to unleash this without my permission, whoever dared to tarnish the name of the Underworld."
The fire flared higher in the hearth, a faint hiss escaping the shadows as Nicholas's presence darkened the room.
K inclined his head, though he avoided meeting Nicholas's gaze.
"Yes, my King," he murmured.