The first thing Kevin felt when he opened his eyes was weight. Not physical, but spiritual. The Market's brilliance had faded, replaced by pale morning light pushing through clouds. He sat up slowly, realizing they were back in the cedar grove above Kyomisu.
Dylan groaned beside him, charred patterns still glowing faintly on his forearms. Kris rubbed his temples, dust and pebbles falling from his hair as the ground hummed beneath them.
"What happened?" Dylan managed. "Was it… real?"
Kevin stood. The trees swayed though there was no wind. Around them, the mist glowed softly, pulsing in rhythm with their breaths. "Yes," he said quietly. "And I think we brought something back."
Beneath the Surface
Far below the grove, deep within the Shrine of the Old Seals, a dull crack echoed through the chambers. Candles flickered out in perfect sequence. Lady Ai, kneeling in meditation before the sealed altar, opened her eyes.
Runes along the walls pulsed once, twice, then began to dim. "It can't be," she whispered.
When she reached for her binding charms, the stones sang—a low harmonic hum, almost melodic but wrong. The seals were answering something beyond her control.
Outside, Kyomisu's river shimmered as lines of faint light rippled across its surface. Children playing near the docks gasped, pointing at the rippling sigils reflected beneath the water.
The village was awakening with them.
Kelivin's Return to the Shrine
Kelivin felt it from miles away. The instant his sons' Ryuma signatures merged in the distant grove, his own energy flared in response. The pendant Maiko had given him vibrated with sudden force.
He moved before thinking, his speed almost inhuman, following the pulse down through the village. When he reached the shrine gates, Lady Ai already waited, her face pale.
"The Seals," she said. "They're reacting to something—the pattern matches your energy line but multiplied. You feel it too, don't you?"
He didn't answer, already descending the stone stairs toward the inner chambers. Each level echoed with low rumbles. Walls trembled softly, not with destruction, but with awakening.
At the heart of the chamber, the central Seal had begun to rotate. Its carved surface, dormant for years, now emitted faint rings of color: black, gold, and violet—the same colors as Kevin, Kris, and Dylan's elements.
Kelivin stared silently. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he drew a barrier rune across the air. Energy surged, pressing against the seal, forcing the hum lower.
"Contain it," Ai said sharply. "If it breaches, we lose the barrier between worlds."
"I can't stop it," he said. "It's not trying to break. It's trying to listen. They've touched the Market."
Her voice caught. "Already?"
He nodded, closing his eyes. "The moment they stepped through, their Ryuma harmonized. The seal recognizes them now. Maiko's call has reached them."
The words carried no triumph, only quiet dread.
The Brothers' Return
High above, the boys stumbled back toward the house through the mist. The world around them seemed sharper—colors brighter, sounds clearer, every breath carrying residual rhythm from the Market.
Kris pressed a hand against his chest. "The ground's alive."
"No," Kevin said. "It's aware of us."
When they reached the courtyard, the old training posts vibrated faintly, faint cracks glowing along their surfaces. Dylan lifted his hand, producing a thread of white lightning that flickered between his fingers before turning silver, almost shadowlike.
Kris exhaled slowly, splitting a pebble with a tap—it reassembled itself at once.
Kevin closed his eyes, extending his senses. Everywhere, he felt motion beneath the soil, like rivers shifting position far below.
Then his father's voice thundered behind them. "Stop!"
They turned at once. Kelivin stood at the gate, aura blazing dark and bright at once. His usual control was gone.
"What did you do?" he demanded.
Kevin faltered. "We didn't mean to—"
"The Market opened to us," Dylan interrupted, still shaking. "And it showed us what happened to you and Maiko."
Kelivin froze, every trace of movement locked in place.
"You saw?" he asked quietly.
Kevin nodded. "The war. The Seal. All of it."
For a moment, no one dared breathe.
The Father's Fear
Kelivin turned away, the strands of his aura pulsing violently. "You weren't meant to find it this soon."
"Then why did it choose us?" Kris stepped forward, defiant despite the tremor in his voice. "If we're part of it, hiding won't work anymore."
"You don't understand what that power demands," Kelivin snapped. "Every time the Seal awakens, the world redraws its balance through pain and loss. The war Maiko and I ended nearly tore the sky apart."
Dylan met his eyes, calm but determined. "Maybe the world doesn't need another war. Maybe it needs us to finish what you started."
Kelivin's expression broke—half pride, half terror. "You sound like her," he whispered.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, faint and slow.
Lady Ai appeared at the gate, breathless. "Kelivin—the Heart Seal has begun projecting energy beyond the shrine. The patterns are spreading through the village's foundations."
Kevin's shadow flickered against the ground. "It's connected to us now."
Kelivin's jaw tightened. "Then we seal it again—together."
The Rising Pulse
From deep below Kyomisu, a low note resonated through the bedrock. Windows rattled. Lanterns burst into light without flame. Villagers emerged from their homes in confusion as lines of glowing script crawled across the streets—ancient sealing runes awakening after centuries of silence.
Kevin, Kris, and Dylan stood side by side, each feeling the pull of the Seal like a heartbeat within their veins. On the horizon, clouds began to form—a spiral of light and shadow rotating slowly above the mountains.
Kelivin looked skyward, his voice grim. "The realms are listening again. Every element knows our names."
Dylan clenched his fists. "Then I guess hiding's over."
Kelivin gave one final look to the clouds, already knowing what would come. "No," he said quietly. "Now the real training begins."