The Grey seam closed behind me, collapsing the cold, tense atmosphere of the Kagu Estate into a silent point of non-existence. In its place flooded the familiar, comforting quiet of my Avalon penthouse. Sunlight, warmer here than in the high mountain valley, streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the comfortable, lived-in space that had become the anchor point of my increasingly chaotic existence. The faint scent of ozone and solder hung in the air, overlaid with the lingering aroma of Reika's morning coffee. Home.
The weight on my shoulders did not vanish, but it shifted, lessened by the simple, profound reality of being back in this space. The grim decisions made in the Kagu courtyard – the Shadow War led by my family, my own solitary path towards confronting Alyssara – felt momentarily distant, held at bay by the invisible wards of domesticity. My priority, for these few precious hours before the final act began, was singular.
