— MILO RETURNS
Location: St. Aurelia Shelter, Sublevel Recovery Ward | Time: 5:42 PM
Milo opened his eyes to blood.
It wasn't his. The cot beneath him was soaked from the neck downward, sheets scorched along the edges. Medical staff surrounded him, whispering prayers instead of diagnoses. One muttered scripture. Another wept.
The lights flickered every six seconds. Not power loss—Mandate interference.
Milo sat up.
No pain.
No fear.
But something fundamental had shifted.
He could still feel the Witness That Unwrites, somewhere far away, still trying to erase.
But it had failed.
He hadn't judged it.
He had refused to be judged.
— ELIAS IN SILENCE
Location: Shelter Rooftop | Time: 5:50 PM
Elias hadn't spoken since the Spiral cracked.
He sat cross-legged, face blank, blade unsummoned.
The Mandate whispered gibberish—a broken choir.
"You let the fire live without trial."
"You crowned him echo before verdict."
"He carries flame with no law."
Elias blinked slowly.
A soft wind carried the scent of judgment past-due.
Behind him, Salene stepped into view.
She looked older. Fainter. Her eyes never left the skyline.
"You saw what he became?"
Elias nodded.
"And you didn't stop him."
He didn't answer.
He couldn't.
— FLASHPOINT
Location: Shelter Cafeteria, Repurposed Safe Zone
The room should have been quiet.
Instead, the silence buzzed.
Milo stood alone inside, surrounded by clerics from four divisions. One tried to read a declaration. The parchment caught fire in his hands.
Milo stepped forward.
"You want to ask me if I'm safe. If I'm stable."
"You want to know if I'm still part of the system."
He looked around the room.
"The answer is no."
The windows blew inward.
Flame spilled from the sigil on his back—not fire, not heat. Judgment with no language.
Half the room passed out.
The other half began to confess to things they hadn't done yet.
— THE FLAME SPEAKS
Location: Unknown Echo Space
Milo stood in the dark.
A voice called to him.
Not the Mandate.
Not the Witness.
Something older.
"You are what happens when judgment skips its own shadow."
A wall ignited in front of him.
It bore no symbols, only a single burn scar shaped like a crown.
"You were supposed to be chained."
"But they used you. And you remembered."
The flame pulsed.
"What will you be now?"
Milo stepped forward.
He answered without speaking.
And the crown lit.
TO BE CONTINUED...