The village of Aoritsu had always felt like peace. Quiet streams. Soft wind. A place where time slowed down just enough for hearts to breathe.
But when Akuzai returned—with Tanishk, Aditya, Abhishek, Anuj, and his parents—the air felt heavier. As if even the soil knew that peace was being borrowed… and would soon run out.
Yukiko stood at the gate, her breath caught in her chest.
She ran forward and hugged Akuzai tightly. "You came back."
"I said I would."
Her eyes drifted over his shoulder and widened. "Tanishk?"
He gave a sheepish wave. "Hi. Apparently I've been… gone."
Yukiko rushed to hug him, tears brimming. "You died."
"I did," he said softly. "And then I didn't."
---
Inside the village home, emotions clashed like waves.
Miyako and Yukiko spoke in quiet tones while Kaien sat with the boys near the hearth. Tanishk stared at the Chrono Bloom glowing in the distance, and for the first time in years, fire began dancing at his fingertips—brighter, cleaner, more refined.
"I feel... more than I was," he whispered. "Like the timeline shaped me to survive."
"You did," Akuzai said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You endured what none of us could."
Then came the silence.
Anuj stood apart, eyes on the floor.
"I need to tell you something."
Everyone turned.
"My healing gift—it's gone."
The room froze.
Abhishek's jaw tightened. "Since when?"
"Since I reached for Tanishk. I used everything I had to tear into that forgotten timeline. My essence… broke."
Tanishk stepped forward, placing a hand on Anuj's shoulder. "Then let me be your reason it wasn't wasted."
---
That night, under the glow of fireflies, Akuzai felt something shift.
He walked outside.
A lone man stood at the edge of the riverbank, staring into the reflection of the moon. His cloak was tattered, and his back hunched ever so slightly. But his presence—ancient. Drenched in quiet.
Akuzai stepped closer.
"I know who you are."
The man turned slowly, and his eyes—gray, hollow, aching—met his.
Veyrix.
"Why?" Akuzai asked. "Why are you doing this? Who are you really?"
The man chuckled—not out of joy, but sorrow.
"I was born as Vey Lorien. A child in a forgotten village swallowed by a Rift. My parents? Gone. My voice? Never heard. I grew up under stars that didn't remember my name."
He stepped into the moonlight.
"They called me a mistake. The Timeline's defect. I couldn't die. Couldn't be loved. So I became the thing that made sure no one else could be forgotten again."
"You erased them," Akuzai whispered.
"I gave them peace," Veyrix said. "A world without memory… hurts no one."
"But it heals nothing either," Akuzai replied.
Veyrix's eyes glistened. "Do you think I want to be this?"
Akuzai stared.
For a moment, he didn't see a god.
He saw a boy—abandoned by time, swallowed by silence, begging for someone to say his name.
---
From the shadows, a villager stepped out behind Veyrix—eyes blackened.
The invasion had begun.
And this time, it wasn't whispers.
It was war.