Rain followed her home.
Not loud. Not violent.Just steady — like it had nowhere else to go.
Elaris stood alone in her office at DreamWare Corp, city lights bleeding through the glass walls. The Obsidian House still clung to her skin — the investor's smile, her brother's face, Kael's warning.
Her fingers hovered over the holo-desk.
Unread messages blinked patiently.Staff approvals.Simulation reports.Security pings marked low risk.
Life didn't stop just because the world threatened to fall apart.
She finally exhaled and moved.
With a few controlled gestures, she approved budgets, locked down access layers, rerouted sensitive data to cold storage. Every command was clean. Precise. Calm.
No one watching would guess her hands were trembling.
Her wristband pulsed.
Xyren.
"You're stabilizing," he said. "But not resting."
She leaned back in the chair."I can't afford to."
A brief pause."Neither can he," Xyren replied.
She knew who he meant.
As if summoned by the thought, the office doors slid open.
Kael stepped inside without asking.
Rain clung to his coat. City light carved sharp lines across his face. He didn't look at the room first — he looked at her.
"You're still working," he said.
She didn't turn."You're still breathing."
A corner of his mouth twitched. Almost a smile.
Kael walked closer, stopping just short of invading her space. His presence shifted the room — not louder, not softer. Just heavier.
"You should sleep," he said.
She laughed quietly."And let nightmares take the first shift?"
Kael studied her for a long second."You don't look like someone who sleeps."
She finally faced him."You don't look like someone who gives advice."
Fair.
Silence settled again — but it wasn't sharp this time. It was… cautious. Like two people standing on opposite sides of a fragile bridge.
Kael reached into his coat and pulled something out.
A rose.
Real. Deep red. Still wet from the rain.
He placed it gently on her desk.
Elaris blinked. "Is this supposed to distract me?"
"No," Kael said. "It's supposed to remind you."
"Of what?"
"That not everything here is metal and blood."
She stared at the rose. At the thorns. At the way water slid down its petals like it was alive.
"Crimson Coast is going to tear this illusion apart," she said softly.
Kael leaned in, close enough that his voice was meant only for her."Then remember it now."
Her throat tightened.
She hated how much she felt that.
Outside, the rain eased — slowly, reluctantly — until only faint drops remained.
Kael straightened."Rest. Even predators rest before a hunt."
"And you?" she asked.
He paused at the door."I don't sleep," he said. "I wait."
The door slid shut behind him.
Elaris remained still.
Her gaze dropped back to the rose.
She reached out and touched a petal.
Warm.
Somewhere far beyond Virelia, the Crimson Coast prepared its masks, its music, its knives.
And for the first time since the Obsidian House, Elaris allowed herself one fragile truth:
She was afraid.
Not of dying.
But of what she might become.