Light returned to the Abyss.
Not sunlight.
Not starlight.
A softer, trembling glow —
the glow of someone who had been asleep for too long.
Arhaan opened his eyes.
For the first time since the First Era.
His breath shivered through the void. The broken sea of darkness recoiled from him like frightened animals.
The star-god blinked once, confused.
Then he saw Kael.
---
I. THE FIRST SIGHT
Kael lay crumpled at the base of the broken chain.
His body was becoming shadow —
unraveling into threads of void-stuff, dissolving like smoke.
Arhaan's voice cracked.
> "K–Kael?"
He drifted closer, wings made of pure light flickering weakly behind him.
> "Why are you… fading?"
Kael opened his eyes.
Barely.
His voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.
> "Hey. You're… awake."
Arhaan knelt beside him, panic rising.
> "What did you do?"
Kael tried to smile.
> "Set you free."
Arhaan's entire frame shook.
---
II. THE BREAKING
Arhaan touched Kael's dissolving arm.
The shadow recoiled, hissing.
Kael winced.
> "Careful. I'm… not really me anymore."
Arhaan's breathing went uneven.
> "Why would you do this?"
Kael's fading eyes softened.
> "Because you mattered to me."
Arhaan's expression shattered.
No one, in all his life as the Eternal Star, had ever said words like that to him.
Not the angels. Not the heavens. Not the gods who forged him as a weapon.
Only Kael.
Only this reckless, stubborn angel who didn't know how to walk away.
Arhaan grabbed his shoulders.
> "Do not leave."
Kael laughed weakly.
> "I don't get to choose anymore."
---
III. THE STAR'S CRY
Arhaan pressed his forehead to Kael's.
His voice broke into a whisper:
> "I felt everything."
Kael blinked.
> "…you did?"
> "Every chain. Every scream. Every time I begged someone to help."
Arhaan's hands trembled violently as he held Kael's fading form.
> "And now the only person who ever tried… is dying in front of me."
Kael exhaled, softer than a sigh.
> "Arhaan…"
> "Don't say my name like that."
Light burst from Arhaan's chest — bright, raw, desperate.
The Abyss roared in protest.
The Remainder recoiled.
Kael tried to lift a hand, but it dissolved into ash-like shadow.
> "Sorry," Kael whispered.
"Looks like I'm losing time."
Arhaan screamed.
A sound so primal the Abyss cracked.
---
IV. THE STAR'S CHOICE
Arhaan clutched Kael's fading face.
> "Then I'll save you."
Kael shook his head.
Or tried to.
> "Don't. The chain… it's already inside me."
> "Then I'll tear it out."
> "Arhaan—"
> "I SAID I'LL SAVE YOU!"
Divine fire exploded around them.
Stars ignited. Space warped. The Abyss shook violently, afraid.
Arhaan wrapped Kael in both arms.
Held him tight.
And whispered:
> "You saved me, Kael.
Now it's my turn."
His wings flared open.
Solar light poured from every feather.
The Remainder hissed:
> "If you do this, Star, you will awaken the thing beneath the Abyss."
Arhaan glared.
> "Let it wake."
"I am done being a prisoner."
He pressed his hand over Kael's dissolving heart—
And the Abyss split in half.