Raizen stayed frozen on the branch.
He stared through the wet glass and tried to make sense of what he saw. Elin walked into the Echelon hall like she was actually supposed to be there. Not as a member – she couldn't be one - but the moment she arrived, everything shifted anyway.
Hikari stood close beside him. Close enough that Raizen felt the edge of her sleeve brush his arm when she leaned in. She didn't speak. She didn't move much either. Her focus stayed locked on the room below, sharp and cold in a way Raizen wasn't used to from her.
The cloaked figure reached the center of the hall and paused.
Then she pulled her hood back. Dark red hair spilled out in a smooth wave - It was, indeed, Elin.
Raizen's stomach tightened. He saw her last in Ukai with the sphere in her hand, promising to leave at once. He watched her take off on her dragon through thick fog, and now she stood under a glass dome, surrounded by the most imposing scientists in the world.
