Warm light brushed Rey's eyelids.
Not the flicker of torture-room lamps.Not the cold metal of restraints.This light was soft… gentle… almost unreal.
He inhaled shakily.
Fresh linen.Ocean breeze.A bed that didn't hurt his bones.
Rey opened his eyes.
A peaceful room.White curtains swaying.Clear sky outside the window.
For a second, he wondered if he had died.
"Ah… you're awake, little hero."
Rey stiffened.
A nurse stood beside him—beautiful, calm, smiling warmly as she fixed the blanket on his chest.
"You were dreaming," she whispered."You kept saying, 'stay away from me… stay away…'"
Rey froze.
Images of shadows, pain, and screams flashed in his mind.
"I… I'm sorry…"
"No need to apologize," she said softly."You've been through something terrible. Anyone would scream."
She checked the monitor by his bedside.
"Your friends were worried, you know. They've been waiting outside for hours."
Rey blinked.
"…friends?"
"Of course. Rio and Lilya."
Before Rey could ask who they were, the door burst open.
A blond girl with bright blue eyes ran in.
"Hiiiii! You're awake!"
A brown-skinned boy followed, waving with a relaxed smile.
"Yo! You scared us, bro."
Rey stared at them, confused, panicked.
"Wh-who… are you…?"
Lilya gasped dramatically.
"You forgot us?! We're your teammates!"
Rio nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, man. Unit 11. We train together now."
Rey shook his head.
"Train for… what? I don't know you. Why are you smiling at me? Why… why are you so kind…?"
Lilya stepped forward gently.
"Because you activated the Aydren Bracelet. That makes you part of us."
Rey's breath hitched.
Bracelet.Power.Screams.Zero's voice.His mother's pain.
He backed away from the bed.
"No… this is a trick… you're lying… all of this is fake—"
"Rey, calm down!" Rio tried to reach him.
Rey flinched violently.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
He ran.
He sprinted down the hallway, pushing past doctors, nurses, trainees. Panic drowned every thought.
"Mom!! Zen!! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
He burst through the exit doors—
And froze.
An island.
Blue ocean in every direction.Sunlit courtyards.Training fields.Children laughing.Palm trees swaying.
A paradise.A prison.
Rey staggered backward, collapsing to his knees.
"No… where am I? Why am I here…?"
Rey stood frozen on the white sand, the ocean wind brushing against his face.Lilya and Rio approached him slowly, their smiles warm and harmless — the complete opposite of the nightmare he had just escaped.
Lilya waved a sleek white device in her hand.
"Rey! You have… um… a call."She beamed. "It's from Uncle— I mean… Mr. Zero!"
Rio elbowed her sharply."Don't joke with that. Show respect."
Rey's stomach twisted.
Lilya held out the device gently, as if handing him a gift.
Rey didn't want to touch it.Everything inside him screamed run.
But his fingers wrapped around it anyway.
A soft click.
Then—That voice.
Smooth. Soft. Calm.
But sharper than a knife.
"Rey," Zero whispered."You've awakened."
Rey's throat tightened.
"You run well for someone who just survived a battlefield," Zero continued."A little too well, perhaps."
Rey trembled.Lilya and Rio were still standing in front of him — smiling, waiting, looking so normal, so kind — but Zero's words pushed needles into his chest.
"Tell me," Zero said gently,"why do you run… when everyone here welcomes you with open arms?"
Rey's breath cracked."I… I didn't mean to… I was scared…"
"Fear is a blade, Rey," Zero murmured."If you don't wield it… someone else will cut you with it."
Rey's vision blurred.
"You promised—I just want to see my mother—"
Zero chuckled softly, the way a surgeon might laugh before cutting.
"Your mother is alive.Your freedom… is a different matter."
Rey squeezed the device until his fingers shook.
"Why… why are you doing this to me?"
Zero's tone softened — too soft.
"You're special, Rey.""Even now, as I speak, I can see two young smiles in front of you."He paused.
"Do they comfort you?Do they make you feel safe?Good. I want you calm. A calm blade cuts cleaner."
Rey's entire body tensed.
"You belong to Unit 11 now. You will train. You will obey. You will become the peace you dream of."
Rey's tears finally escaped.
"I don't want to hurt anyone…"
"But you can, Rey," Zero whispered."And someday… you will."
The device buzzed once.
"And if you try to escape again… I will sharpen you myself."
The line cut.
The waves kept moving.Lilya tilted her head, confused by the terror on Rey's face.
"Um… Rey? What did Mr. Zero say?"
Rey couldn't speak.
The phone slipped from his hand and landed in the sand.
Two friendly faces in front of him…One monster behind the glass of a screen…
And Rey realized:
There is no escape from Avalon.