The Crimson Waterfalls burned.
Flames swallowed what remained of the village, casting an eerie red glow across the ravaged landscape. Smoke twisted into the night sky like dark serpents, blotting out the stars.
Bodies littered the streets. However, they were not human bodies. Not anymore.
The blight had twisted the dead beyond recognition.
One of them still clung to life.
A former villager, now warped into a vampire spirit, dragged his broken body across the dirt. Deep sword wounds covered his chest and arms. Ash crumbled from his skin every time he breathed.
His trembling eyes fixed ahead.
Two figures walked through the inferno.
Untouched.
The flames bent around them as if afraid.
"Heh..."
The spirit coughed blood.
"And here I thought I was a monster."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"But you two..."
Fear entered his voice.
"You're the real monsters."
His gaze lingered on the woman leading them.
"Children of Kaos..."
The taller figure stopped.
Ember.
Fire danced across her dark skin, reflecting from the crimson lenses perched on her face.
Long black curls draped across the left side of her face while neat cornrows framed the right. Scars crisscrossed her toned arms and abdomen like trophies won in battle.
Behind the shades, orange dragon-like eyes glowed.
Beside her walked a young man with matching eyes and a casual grin.
Lawrence looked almost relaxed despite standing in the middle of a burning village.
Almost.
"Damn it, brother."
Ember rounded on him.
"I thought you said these were the correct coordinates."
Lawrence threw up his hands.
"They were."
"You said that twenty minutes ago."
"Because they were the coordinates twenty minutes ago."
Ember stared at him.
Lawrence sighed dramatically.
"Kelith's information said the Koajin we're looking for is connected to Gaia's heartbeat."
He gestured toward the burning horizon.
"My guess? This blight is interfering somehow."
Ember clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Excuses.
Always excuses.
Never answers.
Her gaze shifted toward the injured spirit crawling at her feet.
Immediately, the creature froze.
Fear consumed what little courage remained.
Ember stepped forward.
Her boot pressed against its throat.
The spirit stopped breathing.
A metallic hiss echoed through the fire as her katana slid free of its sheath.
"If I lose my chance to find the only other Koajin alive in this universe because of your incompetence..."
Her voice remained calm.
Dangerously calm.
"I'll personally send you to Hell."
The spirit trembled.
"P-Please..."
Its voice cracked.
"Have mercy..."
For a brief moment, silence settled over the ruined village.
Then Ember laughed, cold and merciless.
"Sorry."
Steel flashed.
"I'm fresh out."
The katana pierced straight through its chest as the vampire spirit dissolved into ash.
A gust of wind carried the remains into the burning night.
Lawrence winced.
"You know, you could at least pretend to be nice before killing them."
Ember wiped her blade clean.
"Why?"
"They keep asking."
"And?"
"Maybe one day someone will actually deserve mercy."
Ember slid her katana back into its sheath.
"Then I'll consider it."
Lawrence rubbed his face.
"One day your people skills are gonna get us killed."
"My sword skills tend to solve that problem."
"That is not how people work."
"That's exactly how people work."
Lawrence opened his mouth.
Paused.
Then closed it.
"Fair enough."
He glanced around the destroyed settlement.
The humor slowly faded from his expression.
"Seriously, though..."
He looked toward the dark horizon.
"This planet really went to hell while we were gone."
For the first time, Ember didn't have a sarcastic response.
"Tell me about it."
The siblings stood quietly.
Watching flames devour another rooftop.
Lawrence shoved his hands into his pockets.
"We were last here in 2012, right?"
"Correct."
"Only thirty-nine years."
His brow furrowed.
"What happened?"
Ember's gaze remained fixed on the burning village.
"I don't know."
And that irritated her more than she cared to admit.
Worlds didn't simply fall apart.
Something had happened here.
Something serious.
"Which is why we need to find the other Koajin."
Lawrence groaned.
"Again with that."
Ember shot him a look.
"What?"
"Remind me why we're hunting this person."
A vein twitched near Ember's temple.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Lawrence grinned.
"Maybe."
"Maybe if you spent less time stuffing your face with your brother-in-law's cupcakes, you'd remember important conversations."
Lawrence pointed a finger.
"First of all, those red velvet cupcakes are life changing."
"They are baked goods."
"They are art."
"They are sugar."
Lawrence placed a hand over his chest.
"How dare you."
Ember pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Olorun give me strength."
"You don't worship Olorun."
"Exactly. That's how desperate I am."
Lawrence laughed.
"Okay, okay. Explain it again."
Ember folded her arms.
"We need the Koajin."
Her playful irritation vanished.
"We need them because Kelith believes their existence is tied directly to Gaia's heartbeat."
"The spirit warrior?"
"We don't know if they're a warrior."
"A destroyer then."
"We don't know that either."
Lawrence frowned.
"And if they refuse to join us?"
Ember didn't hesitate.
"Then they die."
The answer hung in the air, cold and final.
Lawrence's grin disappeared.
For once, he was completely serious.
"What if they're protecting Earth?"
Ember barked out a laugh.
"An actual Koajin protecting humanity?"
The idea genuinely amused her.
"That's the funniest thing you've said all week."
"I'm serious sister."
"So am I."
Firelight reflected in Ember's orange eyes.
"If they stand with us, wonderful."
She smirked.
"If they stand against us, I'll bury them myself."
Lawrence sighed.
"There it is."
"There what is?"
"The murder."
"Sometimes murder is efficient."
"No."
"Yes."
Lawrence stared with a glare as Ember stared back but eventually he groaned.
"You are impossible."
"And yet you keep following me around."
"Someone has to stop you from conquering planets incorrectly."
Ember laughed.
As arrogant as ever.
"As if there's a wrong way to conquer a planet."
"There absolutely is."
She turned away.
Their conversation was over.
"We move."
Lawrence followed her.
"One question."
"What?"
"If we conquer Earth..."
Ember narrowed her eyes.
Lawrence smiled.
"Can I have the West Coast?"
The Princess of Hell stopped walking.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She looked over her shoulder.
"...What?"
"The West Coast."
Lawrence pointed.
"I really liked the lowriders."
Ember stared at him for several seconds.
Then sighed.
"Fine."
"Really?"
"When we take Earth, you can have the West Coast."
Lawrence pumped a fist.
"YES!"
"I already regret this."
The siblings disappeared into the burning darkness.
Neither noticed the faint pulse that suddenly rippled through the earth beneath their feet.
A heartbeat. Ancient, powerful, alive.
Ember stopped for only a moment.
Her orange eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses.
Somewhere in the distance...
She felt another Koajin.
And for the first time since arriving on Earth...
She smiled.
Meanwhile...
Jahzara adjusted the sapphire bracelet around her wrist as she and Zhavia pushed deeper into Aki's corrupted outskirts...
The corrupted outskirts of Aki stretched before them like an infected wound upon the earth.
Twisted roots clawed their way through the soil. Pools of black sludge bubbled between shattered stones, releasing a foul stench that hung heavy in the air. Trees stood frozen in death, their bark cracked and blackened, their branches reaching skyward like skeletal fingers begging for salvation.
Jahzara adjusted the sapphire bracelet wrapped around her wrist.
The artifact pulsed warmly against her skin.
Every beat felt like a saddened heartbeat.
"We're getting closer," she murmured.
The bracelet's glow strengthened, illuminating the path ahead with soft sapphire light.
Above them, her three white-and-gold owls circled patiently, occasionally swooping low before returning to the darkened sky.
Beside her, Zhavia sliced through a wall of corrupted vines with a whip of shimmering water. The vegetation writhed before collapsing into the mud.
"Lord, niecey," Zhavia muttered as she surveyed the devastation. "This place is a hot mess."
Jahzara couldn't argue.
Everywhere she looked, the blight had consumed another piece of Gaia's beauty.
Sometimes she wondered how much longer Mother Gaia could endure.
Zhavia clicked her tongue. "Reminds me of some rivers I cleaned in the Congo. Water so polluted it'd make your stomach turn just lookin' at it."
Her expression hardened.
"All because somebody thought money mattered more than people."
Jahzara ran a thumb across the bracelet's glowing beads.
"It's warm."
Zhavia glanced over.
"The bracelet?"
Jahzara nodded.
"It feels like Gaia's heartbeat."
The words caught in her throat.
"But it also feels..." Lonely and... broken. The bracelet pulsed again.
A faint whisper brushed against her spirit.
Waiting.
"Every step we take..." Jahzara continued quietly. "The sadness gets stronger."
Zhavia's expression softened immediately.
"You thinkin' about your mama again?"
Jahzara lowered her gaze.
A flash of memory surfaced without warning. Her mother's laughter, her smile and her blood on the ground.
She swallowed hard. I keep wondering what she'd think if she saw me now."
Zhavia didn't hesitate.
"She'd be proud."
A bitter laugh escaped Jahzara.
"You don't know that."
"Actually, I do."
"No, you don't."
"Baby, your mama threw herself between you and death."
Zhavia stopped walking and planted both hands on her hips.
"People don't do that for somebody they aren't proud of."
The words struck deeper than any weapon.
Jahzara looked away.
For several moments, only the crunch of their footsteps disturbed the silence.
"The wrath still whispers," she finally admitted.
Zhavia immediately grew serious.
Jahzara rarely spoke about it.
Rarely acknowledged it out loud.
"I thought it might."
The Spirit Warrior stared at the blackened ground beneath her feet.
"I put people in the ground."
The confession came quietly.
Too quietly.
"I lost control."
Her hands clenched at her sides.
"And to this day... I still remember their faces."
The bracelet pulsed.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
"What if it happens again?" she whispered.
The fear she'd carried for years finally slipped free.
"What if I become exactly what everyone fears I'll become?"
Zhavia stepped in front of her and rested a hand on her shoulder.
Firm.
Steady.
Grounding.
"Listen to me."
Jahzara reluctantly met her eyes.
"You know what I see when I look at you?"
Jahzara shook her head.
"I see a girl carryin' everybody else's pain."
Zhavia gently poked her in the chest.
"But givin' herself none of the kindness she gives everybody else."
The older woman smiled.
"You ain't a monster, Z."
The simple nickname carried warmth.
"Monsters don't spend every day riskin' their lives to save strangers."
Jahzara felt her throat tighten.
"Monsters don't cry over people they couldn't save."
Another squeeze of her shoulder.
"And monsters sure as hell don't wander cursed forests tryin' to reunite broken families."
A small smile finally appeared on Jahzara's face.
Tiny. But real.
"Thanks, Auntie."
Zhavia grinned.
"Always."
Then she pointed ahead.
"Come on. We got a family to save."
Several minutes later, they arrived at what remained of Zafia's home.
Or rather, what the blight had left behind.
Corrupted vines wrapped around the crumbling walls like hungry serpents. Moss swallowed shattered furniture. Part of the roof had collapsed years ago, leaving the interior exposed to the elements.
Yet the moment Jahzara stepped closer, the bracelet flared brightly.
Her pulse quickened.
"She's here."
Closing her eyes, Jahzara expanded her earth sense.
The world shifted. Feeling the raw essence of the stone, roots, decay, corruption.
Then beneath it all...
Life.
Pure, untouched soil hidden beneath the blight.
A flicker of hope.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open.
Movement.
"Down!"
A bolt of blighted crystal exploded from the darkness.
Zhavia reacted instantly.
Water surged upward, forming a barrier just as the projectile struck.
The bolt shattered.
Another followed.
Then another.
Two armored figures emerged from the shadows.
Corrupted knights.
Once protectors.
Now servants of the blight.
Zhavia groaned.
"Oh hell. Here we go."
The knights charged.
Jahzara slammed both palms into the ground.
Stone erupted upward.
A jagged wall separated them.
One knight vaulted over it immediately.
Its crossbow fired.
Pain exploded across Jahzara's shoulder as the bolt grazed her arm.
And something inside her answered.
Red markings flickered beneath her skin.
The air trembled.
The earth rumbled.
A familiar voice whispered from the darkness within her soul.
Let me out.
Not again.
Her vision blurred.
Her tattoos glowed brighter.
The corrupted power pushed against its cage.
Hungry.
Ancient.
Patient.
Always waiting.
"I won't lose control."
The vow wasn't directed at the knights.
It was directed at herself.
The earth erupted.
A massive boulder launched upward and slammed into the corrupted knight with enough force to send it crashing through a wall of roots.
Zhavia handled the second.
Water blades spiraled around her arms before slicing through the creature's armor.
The corruption shattered causing the light to burst outward. The spirits trapped within emerged when freed from their soul prison.
The first knight slowly rose as well, its corruption crumbling away.
Both spirits looked toward the two women.
Then bowed.
A silent gesture of gratitude.
Moments later, they faded into the Aiyé Ẹ̀mí.
At peace.
For the first time in years.
Jahzara released a shaky breath.
The red glow faded.
The trembling stopped.
For now.
Zhavia immediately walked over.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine."
Zhavia raised an eyebrow.
"You suck at lying."
Despite everything, Jahzara laughed.
"A little."
"A lot."
The tension eased.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Then Jahzara noticed something buried beneath the moss.
A picture frame.
She carefully lifted it.
Dust fell away.
A smiling family stared back at her.
A mother.
A daughter.
A little girl and a little boy.
Frozen forever in a happier time.
The sight hurt more than the battle.
"By Olorun..."
Jahzara's voice cracked.
"How many families has this blight destroyed?"
Jahzara almost trips over a vine as a giggle echoed from somewhere deeper in the house.
Both women froze.
Then another.
Childish laughter.
Bright.
Alive.
Two young spirits stepped from the shadows.
One boy.
One girl.
The boy immediately pointed at Jahzara just as she nearly tripped over a vine.
He burst into laughter.
The girl closed her eyes and sighed.
"Sorry."
She pointed at her brother.
"He's a lovable moron."
"Hey!" The boy looked genuinely offended.
"I am not."
"You are."
"I saved a fish once."
"You nearly drowned trying to save a fish from a hawk."
Yuri crossed his arms, defending his choice.
"It was hurt! I couldn't just stand there and do nothing!"
"It was a fish."
"A fish with feelings!"
The girl pinched the bridge of her nose.
Zhavia let out a snort.
Jahzara found herself smiling.
For the first time since entering Aki, the house didn't feel haunted.
It felt alive.
And for the first time in days...
Hope didn't seem so far away.