Masaru sat in the abandoned dojo, legs folded, eyes closed in meditation. But the stillness wasn't real — his thoughts kept drifting. (Also, Torvak and Yoru were in the dojo with him.) Sereth hadn't returned since Torvak's last fight, and the longer the silence stretched, the more it gnawed at him.
"Where is that idiot?" Yoru muttered, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "He vanished without a word. It's not like him."
Torvak grunted, his brow furrowed. "Boy's restless. Maybe he just needed air."
"Air doesn't take this long." Yoru shot back. Her voice carried more edge than usual, though she tried to bury it.
Finally, Masaru opened his eyes. He had felt the same tug in his gut, an unease he couldn't explain. "We should ask Aeon."
The three of them found the angelic boy a short walk away, drifting near one of the city's crooked alleys. Aeon didn't seem surprised to see them.
"You're looking for Sereth." His tone was calm, as if he'd expected the question before it came.
"Yeah." Yoru's voice was worried. "Where is he?"
Aeon's misty eyes flickered with something distant, unreadable. Then he smiled faintly, almost like a parent humoring a child. "He is with Neil."
"Neil?" Masaru frowned. "Is that another fighter?"
"Yes." Aeon nodded. His voice softened, yet carried an odd gravity. "It is important that he remains with him right now. More important than you realize."
Torvak narrowed his eyes. "Important? What could be so important about some stranger?"
Aeon smiled gently, "Even I can't really tell, but Neil has answers that Sereth has been looking for. Those two were meant to meet, and there is something that they must do. It's probably best if we don't intervene."
"But..." Yoru's voice trembled slightly, "I'm so worried about him."
Torvak grunted, "Didn't you meet him like two days ago?"
"Shut it!" Yoru snapped back.
Masaru then spoke with such a calm, yet authoritative voice, that the two instantly yielded their bickering.
"Be quiet."
Yoru's lips pressed into a thin line, but she said nothing more. Torvak gave a little grunt and turned away, muttering under his breath.
Masaru fixed Aeon with a searching look. "If you're saying this meeting matters, then I'll trust your judgment."
Aeon tilted his head, misted eyes glimmering with that faraway light. "You don't need to worry. The bones have already rolled."
The words made Yoru shiver. She didn't like the way Aeon said it, calm but final, like a door closing.
Torvak cracked his knuckles, breaking the heavy air. "Tch. I don't like it. Leaving him with some stranger feels wrong. But fine. If this Neil tries anything, I'll knock him into next week."
Aeon only smiled faintly, as if Torvak's threat was less a possibility than a piece of an already-written story.
***
Sereth and Neil continued walking, Sereth's mind racing as he tried to pry more out of Neil's cryptic prediction.
"Is there any way I can stop the person from dying?" he asked, his voice tight with worry. Images of Masaru, Yoru, and the others flashed through his mind.
"There is absolutely no way the person won't die," Neil replied, a grin spreading across his face.
Sereth's temper snapped. He seized Neil by the jacket and yanked him closer."What the hell are you talking about!?" he shouted, barely restraining the urge to throw a punch.
Then came a sound — a low, electric buzzing that made the air vibrate.
Both of them looked up. One of the creatures was descending toward them.
But this one was different. Instead of the usual choppy, broken speech, its voice was smooth — almost human."Neil Fortuna... what is this you are doing?"
The world fractured. Crimson lines tore through the air, slicing through reality itself.
Sereth's vision filled with flashes — brief, incomprehensible images:
An eerie humanoid figure draped in a white cloak.More crimson lines.The arena of the tournament.More crimson lines.Himself, Masaru, and Aeon standing in a black void.More crimson lines.
When the distortion finally stopped, Neil was gone. The sun had vanished beneath the horizon, and a different creature hovered nearby, its wings humming like a swarm of knives.
Sereth looked around frantically, trying to figure out what had happened. Sweat ran down his forehead, his eyes felt heavy, and he thought he could hear a group of voices calling his name.
The last thing Sereth heard before everything went black was a voice — broken, glitching, and echoing inside his skull:
"S–Sereth Vae–ll–ll–wyn… You have another match…"