The silence after Kuro's words didn't feel normal.
It felt… fragile.
Like if anyone spoke too loudly, something outside might hear.
Mika didn't move his hands from Kuro's shoulders.
Didn't loosen his grip.
Like if he let go, Kuro might disappear.
Lucien, for once, didn't joke.
"…So," he said slowly, "we're just ignoring the fact that a giant sky thing just claimed our friend?"
"No," the Guildmaster replied.
"We're not ignoring it."
He turned toward the window again, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion.
"We're going to understand it."
[That usually ends terribly, just so you know.]
Mika exhaled slowly.
"Then start explaining."
Lucien blinked.
"…Wait, you heard that one too?"
Mika didn't answer.
Kuro looked away.
Lucien pointed between them.
"Okay, that's it. You BOTH keep reacting to things I can't hear."
[Oh this is getting fun.]
"Elvastia," Mika muttered, voice low, "not now."
Lucien froze.
"…There it is again."
Kuro rubbed his face.
"It's complicated."
"You've said that six times today!"
The Guildmaster raised a hand, cutting them off.
"Enough."
The room settled immediately.
"There are records," he said, voice steady, "older than this guild… older than the kingdom itself."
Lucien blinked.
"…That's never a good start to a story."
The Guildmaster ignored him.
"They speak of something known as the Sky-Bound Origin."
Kuro felt the fragment react.
A faint pulse.
Like recognition.
"The Sky-Bound Origin," the Guildmaster continued, "was not a creature in the way we understand."
Mika's gaze sharpened.
"Then what was it?"
"A beginning."
The word hung in the air.
Lucien frowned.
"…That doesn't make sense."
"It wasn't meant to," the Guildmaster said quietly.
"It was described as something that existed before form. Before identity. Before separation."
Kuro's fingers tightened in the sheets.
"…Before people?"
The Guildmaster nodded.
"Yes."
A chill spread through the room.
[Yeah, I don't like where this is going.]
Lucien rubbed the back of his neck.
"…So how does that turn into the giant thing currently ruining our sky?"
The Guildmaster's eyes darkened.
"According to the records… it was divided."
Kuro's breath caught.
"Divided?" Mika repeated.
"Yes."
"Something— or someone— split it into pieces."
The fragment in Kuro's chest pulsed harder.
Pain flickered through him.
"And those pieces…" Lucien said slowly.
"…didn't disappear."
The Guildmaster looked directly at Kuro.
"They became something else."
Kuro's voice came out barely above a whisper.
"…People?"
The Guildmaster didn't answer.
But the silence said enough.
Lucien stared at Kuro.
"…No way."
Mika's hand tightened slightly on Kuro's shoulder.
Grounding him again.
"Then the thing outside…" Mika said carefully.
"…is what's left."
"Yes," the Guildmaster said.
"Or what has reformed."
The room went still.
Kuro felt like his chest was caving in.
"…And the fragment?" he asked quietly.
The Guildmaster didn't look away.
"It may be one of the pieces that never fully separated."
Kuro's vision blurred slightly.
[Okay. That's… really bad.]
Mika spoke immediately.
"That doesn't change anything."
The Guildmaster raised an eyebrow.
"It changes everything."
"No," Mika said firmly.
Kuro looked at him.
Mika didn't hesitate.
"Kuro is still Kuro."
The certainty in his voice didn't shake.
Lucien nodded quickly.
"Yeah! I mean—he's annoying sometimes, but he's still our annoying friend!"
Kuro let out a weak laugh.
The tension eased just a fraction.
But it didn't last.
Because the Guildmaster spoke again.
"There's more."
Lucien groaned.
"Of course there is."
The Guildmaster's gaze shifted slightly.
"To the one who sent you here."
Kuro stiffened.
Mika's expression hardened.
"That man," the Guildmaster said, "is not mentioned directly in any records."
Kuro frowned.
"…Then how do you know anything about him?"
"Because something like him has appeared before."
The room froze.
Lucien blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
The Guildmaster's voice lowered.
"Throughout history, there have been rare accounts…"
"…of a being that exists outside the laws of this world."
Kuro's heartbeat quickened.
"A being that appears at moments of imbalance."
Mika's eyes narrowed.
"…And does what?"
The Guildmaster looked at Kuro.
"Interferes."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Kuro swallowed.
"…You think he sent me here because of that thing outside?"
"Yes."
Lucien let out a breath.
"So basically… we're all stuck in some giant cosmic setup."
[Congrats, you figured it out.]
"STOP AGREEING WITH THE INVISIBLE VOICE!" Lucien snapped.
Mika muttered, "You're not helping."
"WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?!"
Kuro laughed weakly again.
But then—
The fragment pulsed.
Hard.
Kuro gasped.
His grip tightened on the sheets.
Mika reacted instantly.
"Kuro!"
The room flickered—
Just for a second—
And Kuro saw it again.
The storm.
The massive shape within it.
Closer this time.
Watching him.
"…Come back."
The voice was softer now.
"…You were never meant to be apart."
Kuro shook his head instinctively.
"No—"
The vision shattered.
He was back in the room.
Breathing hard.
Lucien stepped back slightly.
"…I really hate when that happens."
Mika didn't move.
"What did it say?"
Kuro's voice trembled.
"…It wants me to go to it."
Silence.
The Guildmaster closed his eyes briefly.
"…Then it's getting closer."
Lucien's eyes widened.
"Closer?! It's already right above us!"
"Not physically," the Guildmaster said.
"…But in connection."
Kuro's hands trembled.
Mika tightened his grip again.
"You're not going anywhere," he said firmly.
Kuro looked at him.
Mika didn't look away.
Not even for a second.
Lucien crossed his arms.
"Yeah. If anything tries to take you, we'll just… hit it really hard."
[Ah yes. Violence. The universal solution.]
"For once, I agree," Mika said.
Lucien blinked.
"…Wait, you do??"
"…Don't question it."
Kuro let out a small breath.
But deep down—
The pull hadn't stopped.
It was stronger now.
Clearer.
And far above the city—
The storm shifted again.
Because something had changed.
Not outside.
But inside Kuro.
And the entity knew it.
"Soon."