The morning mist hung low, and the sky was a wound split open in gray.
Wind swept across the ruins, carrying dust and ash over scorched earth.
The war that had ended only days ago was ready to begin again.
The Flame Unit had reached the perimeter of their target —
E.DEN's northern defense division.
"Kane reporting," his voice came through the comm, low and tense.
"Five high-energy signals approaching. The readings are unstable."
Lane's eyes narrowed as he raised his scope. "Those aren't human."
The ground trembled.
A moment later, five silhouettes emerged from the smoke.
Silver light shimmered beneath their skin, eyes hollow and emotionless.
Their presence was mechanical—precise, lethal.
At the center of them, a single figure stepped out of the haze.
Her black hair whipped in the wind; her gaze was sharp as a blade.
Suri.
Her appearance froze the air itself.
Every member of the Flame Unit tensed, the battlefield falling silent.
Lynne met her eyes.
For a heartbeat, even the wind seemed to stop.
"We meet again," Suri said, her tone calm, distant.
"You've changed, little flame."
Lynne's brow tightened. "Are you here on their orders… or because of me?"
A faint smile curved her lips. "Both."
She lifted her hand. Frost gathered along her fingers, glinting blue in the light.
"Show me how much you've really grown."
---
[Confrontation]
"Flame Unit, defensive formation!" Lynne commanded.
Lane raised a wall of wind; Kane's lightning burst outward in a crackling arc.
Elena and Yuna fell back to the safe perimeter.
Suri moved first. Ice blades cut through the air.
The augmented soldiers surged forward behind her—
their motions mechanical, efficient, merciless.
Gunfire and energy detonations tore through the haze.
"Enemy intrusion!"
"Second defense layer is collapsing!"
The voices of E.DEN soldiers echoed in panic.
Fire collided with frost.
Lightning clashed with slicing wind.
The battlefield split between searing red and icy blue.
Lynne and Suri locked eyes again.
Time seemed to halt.
"You're still hesitating," Suri said coldly.
"Fire isn't meant for hesitation."
"I'm not hesitating," Lynne shot back.
"I just don't want to hurt you."
Flame and ice collided once more, scattering sparks and frozen shards.
---
[Elena × Suri]
At the edge of chaos, Elena stepped in front of Suri's path.
"Suri!" she shouted, her voice trembling but firm.
Suri stopped, her eyes glacial.
"You shouldn't be on the front line."
"I'm not here to fight," Elena said, clenching her fists.
"I'm here to tell you—"
She met Suri's gaze head-on.
"I won't give him up.
I don't care who you are, or what side you're on.
I won't step aside."
A faint, icy smile touched Suri's lips.
"You think a fragile emotion like that can hold him?"
She took a step closer, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"The reason you'll never have him… isn't because of me.
It's because his heart never left me."
Elena froze, her eyes reddening.
But Suri's tone softened slightly.
"If there ever comes a day when he forgets me…
maybe then, he'll see you."
She turned away. Frost shimmered once again across her palm.
---
[Truth Fragment]
By the battle's end, Lynne's flames had shattered the enemy's front line.
Suri raised her hand, signaling her augmented soldiers to stand down.
She walked toward him, step by step, the wind lifting strands of her hair.
Ash drifted in the light between them.
"You've changed," she said quietly.
"You can command fire now… and hearts as well."
"And you?" Lynne asked, voice low. "What have you become?"
Suri didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she reached into her coat and pressed a small data chip into his hand.
"Take it."
Lynne blinked. "What is this?"
"Fragments of E.DEN's research," she whispered.
"They're developing something called the Core Resonance System—
a way to erase the self completely.
If it's completed… this world is finished."
Lynne's pupils tightened. "Why are you telling me this?"
Suri looked up.
For a heartbeat, her icy eyes held a faint warmth.
"Because…" she said softly,
"I believe you can destroy them."
An explosion shook the air behind her.
Smoke flooded the field—white, blinding.
When it cleared, she was gone.
---
[Epilogue]
Kane approached, glancing at the chip in Lynne's hand.
"What is it?"
Lynne's voice was steady. "The key to the truth."
Elena lowered her head, her expression unreadable.
Yuna spoke quietly. "Was she… helping us?"
Lynne turned toward the frost-covered ruins.
"I don't know," he said. "But her fight isn't over."
The wind blew away the last trace of ice.
Flames flickered to life once more.
And far across the gray horizon,
Suri's silhouette appeared for a fleeting moment.
She turned her head, a faint, almost invisible smile on her lips.
"You've grown well…
my little flame."