The fog didn't fade with the morning light. It thickened, like the world itself refused to wake up.Aoritsu lay silent. Not a bird sang. Not a flame flickered.
Akuzai stood in the middle of the square, his cloak torn, his fists clenched, staring at the empty space where Yukiko had vanished.Her absence was louder than any scream.
"She's gone…" Miyako whispered, her voice trembling. "He's taken her into a fold—between timelines."
Tanishk turned, eyes burning with orange fire. "Then we follow."
Anuj shook his head. "You don't understand. The folds don't obey time or law. Once you step inside, you may come out in a memory that was never yours."
"I don't care," Akuzai said, his voice cold. "If she's trapped in that nightmare, then I'll walk through every life to find her."
His father, Kaien, stepped closer, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Then remember this, son: when you walk through the void, it walks through you."
Akuzai met his father's eyes. "Then it will learn to bleed."
The ritual began at twilight.Miyako drew runes across the soil in golden light while Anuj stood beside her, hands trembling slightly.
"I can't heal anymore," he said quietly. "But I can still open the way."
"You'll do fine," Miyako said softly. "Just hold the memory of love, not fear."
When the runes connected, the air tore open like shattered glass. Behind it lay a gray realm — floating fragments of other times, other lives.Akuzai stepped forward, Tanishk right behind him.
"Don't look back," Tanishk muttered. "Regret follows those who hesitate."
They entered the fold.
The world twisted.
Akuzai blinked — and he was in Aoritsu, but not the one he knew. The streets were cracked, the sky bruised purple. His childhood home burned in the distance.And there, in the flames, stood Yukiko.
She turned slowly, her eyes hollow, her voice broken. "You left me here."
Akuzai's heart froze. "No… this isn't real."
She stepped forward, tears falling like glass shards. "You promised to protect me… but I died in your arms."
He reached out — and his hand passed through her.Then the illusion shattered.
Veyrix appeared behind her, his presence dark and regal. His voice was softer this time. Almost human.
"You keep chasing her through every dream, every death. But tell me, Akuzai… what if she's meant to be gone?"
Akuzai's flames erupted, golden threads dancing around him. "Then I'll rewrite fate itself."
Veyrix smiled faintly. "That's what your kind always says—before they become what they hate."
He faded into smoke, leaving a single fragment of Yukiko's voice behind."Find me… in the memory where we met."
Akuzai fell to his knees, the fog rising again, heavy with sorrow.Tanishk caught him before he could collapse. "She's alive, brother. Somewhere in this fold. We'll find her."
Akuzai's eyes blazed with a light that wasn't fire, but something deeper. "No matter how many worlds I have to burn."