The door gave its usual tired click, and Obi slipped through first, his mocking spirit gone.
Hikari followed, holding the black case. Raizen came last and shut the door with more care than it needed.
Takeshi was at the bench, adjusting something small - wires, gears, pieces Raizen couldn't identify. A cloth pouch sat near his left hand. As they stepped in, his flesh hand slipped it into his pocket with practiced speed.
"Welcome back," he said quietly. "Any trouble?"
"Define trouble," Obi said, trying to grin.
Raizen placed the sidearm on the workbench without a word.
Takeshi stopped mid-motion. His eye went to the gun, then to Raizen's face, then back to the gun. He didn't ask. He didn't need to. The weapon sitting there told the whole story.
After a long silence, Takeshi picked it up, checked the chamber - empty - and set it in a drawer. "We'll talk about this later."
Raizen sat on the floor close to Hikari, staring at nothing. The case sat on the table.
Obi couldn't wait any longer. "Permission to ruin the suspense?"
Hikari nodded, glancing at Raizen - still lost in his thoughts.
Obi dragged the case toward him and lifted the lid.
Sitting in dark foam were two gems. One was brilliant yellow, shaped like a perfect sphere no bigger than a fat cherry. Inside, light moved like golden lightning trapped in amber - living, breathing, coiling through the core in restless patterns.
The other was pale blue, thin as a shard and curved like a crescent moon. The light inside didn't crackle - it flowed, slow and patient, like water finding its way through stone. Both held light that pulsed softly, breathing in an uneven rythm.
Obi's jaw dropped. No jokes. No commentary. Just awe.
Raizen leaned in. The yellow sphere caught his attention. Hikari's fingers hovered over the blue crescent. The gems reacted, brightening as if recognizing them.
"Luminite," Takeshi said softly, and the word sounded like something he knew too well.
Obi's smile snapped back, wider than anything he'd worn since the Maw. He clapped twice. "Okay. Okay. I know I said I shouldn't get worked up, but—" He pointed, reverent. "That sphere definitely wants a socket. Blade core, for sure. The crescent? Hilt spine. Or a channel. Or - no, listen - a spear. Or a staff!"
"Calm down," Hikari giggled, eyes on the crescent. "We'll get to that part eventually."
Obi bounded to the door. "I'm getting Louissa! Nobody breathes on these until Granny approves."
"Obi—" Takeshi began.
But the young smith was already halfway down the short hall, door banging shut, laughter echoing like a promise.
Takeshi stood, poured juice - exotic aroma, sweet - and set a cup by Raizen's hand, pushing it closer. "Don't tell me what happened. You did what you had to."
Raizen didn't look up. "What if that becomes who I am?"
Takeshi took his own cup but left it untouched. "Then you learn when to put it down. Or destroy it."
"The Rust Room built it," Raizen whispered. "It made me into a weapon."
Takeshi's mouth curved slightly. "Weapons do what hands tell them. You're not lost, Raizen. You're just sharpened. It's not the same."
Raizen nodded slowly, not quite believing it yet. But he wanted to.
They sat in silence. Then Hikari's shoulder touched Raizen's, leaning slightly. "You saved me" she whispered, so quiet only he could hear. "That means this "weapon" you're talking about... is good."
Before Raizen could answer, the door swung open and Obi came through like a storm, Louissa just behind.
"Before you say anything," Obi looked back, "I didn't lick the gems."
"No one was going to accuse you of that" Louissa said, already stepping to the table.
She looked at the gems and her expression softened. "Ah. You were lucky."
"Skilled," Obi corrected. "Unbelievably skilled."
"Lucky," Louissa repeated. She reached into her basket and brought out a strip of clean cloth. "May I?"
Everyone nodded.
Louissa lifted the yellow sphere with the cloth and held it to the lamp. It shone brighter, reacting to the light. "Purity's excellent. High grade. It'll amplify a strong body without burning it away."
She set it down, picked up the blue crescent. The light inside rippled like a lake when you throw a pebble. "And this? Rarer in this shape. Good for control. Blade, staff, spear... this beauty can handle multiple forms."
Obi nodded, trying to look wise. "I said staff! I literally said staff!"
"The world is improved by your words," Louissa said dryly.
Then her voice dropped. "Now listen."
She took a breath.
"With Luminite, you don't just make a weapon. You let it become part of you. Where you cut with it, Nyxes can die. It becomes an extension of your own body."
She paused, making sure they were listening.
"But here's what matters: Luminite amplifies whatever you already are. It takes what's inside you and makes it better, faster, stronger. So you need to decide who you are before you forge with it."
Her eyes went to Raizen specifically.
"Rage obeys quickly, yes. But so does fear. They'll answer your call the moment you need them. But courage? Patience?" She tapped the case. "They're slower. Harder to hold. But they cut a thousand times deeper and last a thousand times longer."
She closed the case. "Take them. Use them. But choose carefully."
"Let's not talk about weapons until we actually have any!" Obi said, hands already sketching lines in the air. "So if I—"
"Not now, Obi. We'll decide later," Raizen interrupted.
Takeshi had stayed silent through the whole conversation. Under his desk, the cloth pouch sat hidden. Fine. Safe.
Hikari's palm hovered over the crescent again. The light answered. Raizen put one finger near the sphere and felt warmth climb his arm - not heat, but energy. He was still afraid of what he'd been in the Maw. The cold efficiency. The hunger for blood. The way violence had felt easy.
But this - his finger near the yellow sphere, warmth climbing his arm - this felt different. This felt like choosing who he'd become, instead of letting the world choose for him.
Obi clapped his hands once. "I'll start at dawn. And when I say dawn, I mean as soon as I wake up. I'll clear the forge, bribe the fan, kick the anvil, and hope for the best."
"Kick it twice," Takeshi tried to joke.
"Oh, I always do! You know me!"
He pointed at Raizen and Hikari. "And you two. Bring yourselves rested. I can hammer out metal, but I can't hammer out sleep. Or maybe I can... never tried!"
Behind the jokes, beneath the workbench, hidden inside the cloth pouch, an old red gem pulsed in the dark.
It had been waiting for years.
Patient. Silent. The secret Takeshi wasn't ready to tell.
Not yet.