The moon hung low, pale and sharp like a blade in the sky.
Fog rolled across the abandoned bridge, swallowing the path ahead in a ghostly haze.
The river below churned violently, hitting the rocks with a roar that echoed like distant thunder.
Emma stepped onto the bridge with slow, steady footsteps.
Every instinct in her screamed trap.
But she walked anyway.
For him.
For the truth.
For the closure she needed before this war consumed her completely.
A figure stood at the center of the bridge, half-hidden in the swirling mist.
Tall.
Still.
Waiting.
Liam.
Emma forced herself forward, fingers brushing the knives strapped to her belt.
Her voice cut through the silence:
"Take off the mask."
He didn't move.
Emma's jaw tightened.
"Liam."
This time, he lifted a hand—
and the mask slid away.
Moonlight revealed the face she knew.
The brother she loved.
The man she mourned.
But his eyes…
They were empty.
Hard.
Cold.
"Emma," he said quietly. "You came."
Her heart twisted painfully.
"I shouldn't have had to."
Liam stepped closer.
Not aggressively.
Not gently.
Just… coldly.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved with Darrick Hellsing," he said. "You should have stayed away."
Emma laughed bitterly.
"You disappear for nine years, join a crime syndicate, work for the man who murdered our parents—and that's your excuse?"
A muscle in Liam's jaw twitched.
"It isn't that simple."
"Then explain," Emma demanded.
"Explain why you left us to die. Why you never came home. Why you didn't tell us you were alive."
Liam didn't respond.
Not right away.
Instead, he turned to the river, staring into the violent current.
"When I joined the military," he began slowly, "I saw what real power looked like. What the world does to people who don't have any."
Emma's chest tightened.
"Liam—"
"I was weak," he said sharply. "Weak when Mom and Dad were murdered. Weak when James got shot. Weak when you and Sam struggled alone."
His hand curled into a fist.
"Victor offered me strength. Resources. Knowledge. A place in something bigger."
Emma took a step closer.
"And you believed him?"
Liam looked at her finally.
His eyes were dark.
Haunted.
"I still do."
Emma staggered back.
"You can't be serious."
Liam took another step toward her, his face tightening.
"You've always acted strong, Emma. But you don't understand the world the way I do. Victor is rebuilding it. Reshaping it. Cleaning out corruption."
Emma stared at him like he'd grown horns.
"Victor is corruption."
Liam's voice stayed calm.
Too calm.
"You're letting emotions blind you."
Emma's chest burned with fury.
"You're letting him brainwash you."
Liam's expression hardened instantly.
"Watch your mouth."
There.
A crack in his calm.
Emma pushed further.
"Did Victor tell you about the drone he fired at the cabin? How he tried to kill me? Kill Darrick? Kill James and Sam next?"
Liam glared.
"That drone wasn't meant for you."
Emma laughed in disbelief.
"No, of course not. Just everyone I care about."
"Emma—"
"No!" she snapped, stepping up to him.
Her nose nearly touching his.
"You don't get to play the protective big brother after working for the man who destroyed our family!"
Liam's breath hitched.
His hands clenched at his sides.
Then—
He whispered, low and sharp:
"I DID IT FOR YOU."
Emma froze.
The wind hissed between them.
"What… did you just say?"
Liam's voice trembled for the first time.
"Victor… he said he would protect you. That he'd keep you safe from the people who killed Mom and Dad. I stayed because he promised he'd spare you."
Emma's stomach dropped.
"Spare me? Liam, Victor has been trying to kill me from the moment I took Darrick's job!"
Liam's face twisted.
"No. He promised—"
"He LIED," Emma fired back.
"You've been serving a monster."
Liam's eyes filled with something raw—panic, denial, heartbreak.
"No. Victor wouldn't do that."
Emma stepped closer, voice breaking:
"Why do you trust him more than your own sister?"
Liam looked like she stabbed him.
He swallowed hard.
"I never wanted to be your enemy."
"You never had to be," Emma whispered.
The wind blew between them—cold and sharp.
For a moment, they were just siblings again.
Two broken people on opposite sides of a war neither asked for.
Then—
A gun cocked.
Somewhere in the fog.
Emma's instincts screamed.
Liam stepped forward suddenly, eyes wide.
"Emma—GET DOWN!"
A shot fired.
Emma dove.
Liam tackled her, shoving her behind him—
—and a bullet tore through his shoulder.
He gasped, stumbling back.
"LIAM!"
Another shot fired.
Emma kicked up, throwing a knife into the fog—
A scream. A body dropped.
But Liam collapsed to his knees, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
Emma grabbed him.
"Liam—stay with me—"
He gritted his teeth.
"Emma… run."
"No!" she snapped. "I'm not leaving you!"
Liam's eyes softened—just for a moment.
The brother she remembered flickered through the soldier he'd become.
Then he whispered:
"They're coming for you."
Emma looked up—
And through the fog, a dozen Syndicate soldiers materialized…
guns raised…
aiming at her.
Alone.
Trapped.
Bleeding brother in her arms.
And Victor Kane waiting in the shadows.
The real war had finally begun.
---