The world burned in silver and crimson.
Eclipsera's glow lit the ruins like a fallen star, its blade clashing against Daichi's soulsteel spear. Sparks rained around them, each burst echoing like a scream from the Realm itself.
Riku's muscles screamed in pain. His arms trembled. The raw power flowing through his sword drained his energy faster than he could keep up. Daichi was faster, heavier, more ruthless — and worse, he knew Riku's weakness.
"You still fight like a scared kid!" Daichi roared, striking with brutal precision. "Always hiding behind someone stronger!"
Riku stumbled backward, blocking another strike just in time. Each clash sent pain shooting through his body. Daichi's spear grazed his side, drawing blood that hissed on contact with the cold air.
"Riku!" Mina's voice cut through the chaos. "Get up!"
He wanted to answer. To stand. But his knees gave way. The ground met him with a dull thud, his sword slipping from his grasp. The world blurred.
Daichi sneered. "Pathetic. Some reincarnation. You don't even deserve that blade."
Riku's hand reached weakly toward Eclipsera, its light dimming as if responding to his despair.
But before Daichi could finish him, Ren's voice thundered through the air.
"Over my dead body!"
Ren lunged forward, his crimson blade blazing. He intercepted Daichi's next strike with raw power, sparks bursting like fireworks. Blood still streamed from the wound on his chest, but his stance was unshakable. His Relic glowed violently, the Tear of Aeloria's light spreading across his skin, sealing the worst of his wounds.
"Didn't your mom ever tell you," Ren growled, forcing Daichi back with sheer will, "to pick on someone your own size?"
Daichi grinned. "Gladly."
Their blades collided, shockwaves rippling through the ruins. Ren was fast, fluid, almost dancing through the fight — but every move came with a grimace. The healing Relic could only do so much. Its light was flickering.
Meanwhile, the other goons circled closer. Mina stood at the edge, trembling, clutching a small rock like a weapon she knew was useless.
"Stay back, girl," one of them sneered. "You're not even worth killing."
Her heart pounded. Riku was down. Ren was bleeding. She felt the walls of fear closing in, the hopelessness sinking like ice into her chest.
No.
Not again.
The same feeling — that helpless, crushing pain she'd felt when her grandmother was dying — surged inside her.
"I can't lose anyone again…" she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I can't!"
The ground beneath her trembled.
The air shimmered.
Her pendant — a small charm she'd always worn — began to glow.
⸻
Mina's Awakening
A radiant pulse burst outward, throwing back the attackers. The glow enveloped her entire body, her hair lifting as streams of golden light swirled around her.
"Mina!" Riku gasped, shielding his eyes.
Her pupils glowed white, her voice echoing with something ancient and ethereal. "I hear them… all the lost souls… crying out…"
Ren stumbled back, shocked. "Her aura— it's pure light essence!"
The ground cracked open beneath her feet as spectral petals — soft, luminous — drifted upward. Her small hands stretched forward, and from the air itself, light shaped into a delicate staff that shimmered like starlight.
One of the goons charged, screaming, but as he approached, a burst of blinding energy exploded from Mina's chest. It struck him squarely, and he disintegrated into dust — not violently, but peacefully, his soul dispersing like fog at dawn.
Riku's breath caught. "She… released him."
Mina's voice trembled as she spoke, both herself and something more: "These souls… they're trapped in pain. They just want to be free."
Another goon hesitated. "What… what is she?"
Ren smirked through the blood. "Our miracle."
⸻
The Turning Point
Mina lifted her staff, and soft golden light washed over the battlefield. The wounds on Riku's side began to close. Ren's breathing steadied. Even the shattered ruins seemed to hum with life again.
But Daichi only laughed. "Pretty light show. Too bad it won't save you."
He thrust his spear through the light — the darkness of his corrupted soul slicing through Mina's aura. The light shattered around her, forcing her back. She gasped, the staff flickering.
"Mina!" Riku shouted, catching her as she stumbled.
Daichi sneered. "You think some little ghost girl can stop me?"
Riku's gaze hardened. The fear that had weighed him down — the fear Daichi had planted years ago — began to melt away.
"No," Riku said softly. "But I can."
He rose slowly, gripping Eclipsera. The blade pulsed — brighter than ever before, resonating with Mina's fading light. For the first time, Riku didn't just swing the sword — he understood it.
"Eclipsera," he whispered, "lend me your strength."
The weapon answered with a surge of power that split the darkness like dawn breaking through a storm. Riku's aura flared deep blue, weaving with Mina's golden light into a spiral of energy.
Ren, still fighting off the others, felt the shift. "Now that's what I've been waiting for."
Riku charged. Daichi blocked, but this time — Riku didn't falter. He parried, dodged, struck with purpose. Every movement carried the weight of his resolve.
"For every time you made me afraid…" Riku shouted, slashing again.
"For every person you hurt…" another strike.
"And for every second of my life you tried to steal—"
Their blades locked, light and shadow grinding against each other.
"I'm taking it all back!"
With a final burst of energy, Riku's strike shattered Daichi's spear and sent him crashing backward into the ruins. The shockwave blew dust across the clearing, silence following in its wake.
When it cleared, Daichi knelt, his armor cracked, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Riku stood tall, breathing hard but unbroken, Eclipsera still glowing in his grasp.
Mina's light dimmed to a soft shimmer as she collapsed, unconscious but peaceful in Riku's arms.
Ren limped forward, clutching his wounded side, blood and light mixing down his armor. "Well…" he smirked. "Looks like the kid finally grew a spine."
Riku smiled weakly. "Thanks for the training."
Ren nodded toward Mina. "And her… she's something else. That wasn't ordinary power."
Riku looked down at her small hand. "She said she could hear the lost souls… maybe her power's connected to them somehow."
"Then she might be more important to finding the Fountain than we thought," Ren muttered.
A faint laugh escaped Daichi, weak but defiant. "You think this is over…? The Fountain isn't salvation. It's a curse. You'll see…"
Before Riku could answer, Daichi's form began to dissolve into black mist — the mark of the Realm reclaiming him. His last smile was twisted and knowing.
Then he was gone.
The silence that followed was heavier than victory.
⸻
Aftermath
Riku sat beside Mina as Ren tightened a bandage around his arm.
"She's stable," Ren said softly. "But whatever power she used… it drained her completely."
Riku nodded. "She saved us."
Ren leaned back, exhaling. "And she awakened. That means her journey's truly begun."
Riku looked out into the distance — where the mists parted just slightly, revealing faint lights far away, like stars scattered across the horizon.
"Then maybe," he whispered, "this world still has hope."
Ren's eyes narrowed, following his gaze. "Those lights… they're not stars. They're Relic markers. Someone left them there — like a trail."
Riku's grip on his sword tightened. "A trail to what?"
Ren smiled faintly. "To the next clue."
The wind stirred, carrying the scent of rain and distant thunder — as if the Realm itself was watching.
Riku rose slowly, eyes burning with new resolve. "Then we follow it."
And as the mist closed around them, the golden glow of Mina's still-sleeping form illuminated their path — faint, but steady.