The crew rested on the island, the shattered Void Anchor's glow fading into the black sand. Echo sat against a jagged rock, tracing the etching on their blade—Echo—the name a bittersweet anchor to their past. Zeyn approached, his lyre quiet in his hands, his usual nervous energy replaced by a quiet sorrow. "I... lost my sister to the void," he confessed, his voice trembling as he sat beside Echo, his fingers tracing the strings of his lyre as if they could summon her back. "She was braver than me... always playing songs to keep our village's spirits high, even when the void storms came. I couldn't save her," he whispered, echoing Pakunoda: "I'll carry my echoes into the abyss—they're all that remain of what we lost." Echo placed a hand on his shoulder, their voice soft: "We'll carry them together, Zeyn. You're not alone in this." The shared grief bound them, a quiet understanding settling between them.
Veyra, repairing a torn sail nearby, overheard, her hands stilling as her bitterness flared. "You think you understand loss?" she snapped, her light runes flickering with her anger, her silver hair whipping in the wind. "My brother—he was my light, my anchor. The void storm took him, and I couldn't do anything!" Her voice cracked, raw with pain, echoing Sasuke: "I've lost everything once already—I'll raze every timeline before it claims me again!" She turned away, her shoulders trembling, the runes dimming as her emotions overwhelmed her magic. Raiven stepped in, his voice gentle but firm: "A Voidborn lives for their echoes—without them, I'm but a shadow," echoing Ling Yao. He placed a hand on Veyra's arm, his touch steadying her, the crew's bond a lifeline in her storm of grief.
The tension eased as Zeyn strummed a silly tune on his lyre, a playful melody that clashed with the island's gloom. "We're a mess, but a good mess, right?" he said, laughing softly, echoing Franky: "I'll craft a mark to outlive me—my echo against the void!" The crew chuckled, Korran's stoic facade cracking with a rare smirk, and for a moment, the weight of their losses lifted, replaced by a flicker of warmth and unity.
But the peace shattered—a void rift tore open in the sky, its edges crackling with blue energy, spawning a swarm of wraiths, their forms twisted and glowing with void light. Korran's blade crackled as he stood, his voice a growl: "I'll press on... even if the void remakes me into its own!" echoing Clare, his determination a fire that rallied the crew. They fought, Raiven's Eternal Pause slowing the wraiths, Echo's Memory Slash cutting through their ranks, and Zeyn's Chaos Note disrupting their movements. But Veyra hesitated, a wraith's whisper piercing her mind: "Your brother chose the void—he betrayed you for its power." The revelation hit like a blade, her light faltering as she whispered, echoing Reiner: "Right and wrong blur in the rift." Her knees buckled, the betrayal a wound deeper than any void strike.
Echo turned to her, their blade still glowing from the fight, their voice firm: "We'll forge our own right—together, Veyra. You're not alone either." The words pulled her back, her light flaring anew as she stood, the crew closing ranks around her. The rift sealed, the wraiths defeated, but the air remained heavy, Veyra's revelation a new fracture in their bond, one they'd need to mend as they sailed on.
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