Chapter 14: Voice (Arc 2 Begins)
The nexus stood like a graveyard at dawn, air heavy with the sour stench of burnt stone and lingering plasma, the clock ticking past 04:00 AM EDT, 2025.
Tobi knelt in the ash, Zara limp in his arms, her skin cold as river pebbles, breaths so faint they barely stirred the dust.
The Zuciya Kishi core pulsed in the cracked nexus heart, a dark orb oozing envy tendrils that writhed like living shadows, their reek a mix of rot and bitter almonds that clawed at his throat.
His domains iron, courage, plasma runned wild in his veins, tattoos glowing like embers under sweat-slick skin, the Crest a drumbeat threatening to crack his ribs.
She no fit leave me.
Yusuf's star-beast growled low, its golden eyes dimmed by wounds, blood dripping slow onto the stone with a drip-drip that echoed in the silence.
Nneka slumped against a wall, gauntlets smoking, her uli tattoos flickering like dying fireflies.
"Tobi, wetin we do? Zara down, core dey laugh at us," she muttered, voice cracked like dry kola nut.
Tobi's jaw tightened, cold rage simmering under his funny mask.
"Laugh? Make we see who go cry last."
He laid, Zara down gentle, her head resting on his agbada's torn hem, the jasmine scent fading fast.
Then her lips moved. A whisper, faint as wind through baobab leaves.
"Tobi…"
His heart leapt, hands trembling as he leaned close.
"Zara! You dey hear me?"
Her eyes stayed shut, but her voice grew, a spectral echo bouncing off the walls, laced with the curse's final toll.
"No see… but feel. One vision left. Zuciya Kishi core its heart in the Congo, under Kivu's black waters.
Tendrils feed on envy's root there. You must bind it, steal its soul… but hurry. My emi fades with each word."
Tears burned his eyes, salty tracks cutting through ash on his face.
"How I go save you?"
Her laugh was a ghost's breath. "Love. Courage. Threads. Bind my soul to yours and risk losing both, or lose me forever. Choice na yours."
The core pulsed harder, shadows thickening, a low moan rising like a thousand lost voices. Yusuf grabbed his axe.
"Kai, Tobi, decide quick them go return!"
Tobi's threads coiled, plasma crackling blue-white, iron hardening his resolve.
For her. He pressed a thread to her chest, feeling her heartbeat weak, erratic, like a drum in rain.
The nexus trembled vastly.