Silence.
Not the peaceful kind — the kind that came after something too big to comprehend.
The air still shimmered with red and gold particles, suspended like cosmic dust.
Rex blinked through the haze, his chest rising sharply as he felt a pulse that wasn't his own beating in sync with his heart.
A heartbeat.
Then another.
Then— hers.
He turned. Lia lay beside him, her form half-solid, half-luminous, eyes flickering open like dawn breaking over chaos.
"...Rex?"
"Yeah," he said softly. "Still here. Somehow."
She touched her chest, feeling the rhythm beneath. "That's not… mine."
Rex smiled faintly. "Guess we're sharing."
[Dual Fate Link Active]
Synchronization: 67%
Warning: Emotional volatility may result in unpredictable probability shifts.
Recommendation: Avoid intimacy.
Rex snorted. "Yeah, that's not happening."
Lia frowned. "Rex—"
"Relax, Lia. We'll keep our emotional volatility PG-rated… for now."
Her cheeks glowed a faint crimson — literally.
"For a mortal, you're impossible."
"Thanks," he said. "I work hard at that."
The Dealer's voice rolled in from nowhere and everywhere.
"How charming. Two fools fused by the house's bleeding heart."
He stepped out of a ripple of darkness, mask reformed, though a thin crack still split across his right eye.
"I should delete you both for rewriting system code without permission."
"Permission?" Rex raised a brow. "Pretty sure love doesn't come with a form to sign."
"Love?" the Dealer scoffed. "You call this love? It's chaos — raw emotion bound to probability. A perfect storm waiting to implode."
"Then I guess I'm the eye of that storm."
The Dealer's grin sharpened — but this time it carried admiration.
"You really are dangerous, Wildcard. You bend the house and call it luck."
He turned to Lia.
"And you — the first emotion born of code. The house sees you as both miracle and malware."
Lia's eyes lowered. "Then what happens to us?"
"Simple," the Dealer said, spreading his arms. "The House of Odds has placed its biggest bet yet."
Rex frowned. "On what?"
The Dealer's tone turned reverent.
"On whether the two of you can survive what's coming."
A sound like shattering glass tore through the void.
The stars cracked, revealing something beneath them — eyes.
Hundreds. Watching. Judging.
[Incoming Entities: Divine Auditors]
Designation: System Purity Enforcers
Objective: Erase anomalous code and emotional contamination.
Rex smirked. "They don't sound friendly."
Lia's hands trembled. "They'll unmake everything — even you, Rex."
He stepped forward, eyes glowing faint gold, his grin returning like a blade being drawn.
"Then let's make it the most expensive cleanup in history."
[Fate Points Consumed: 10,000]
Skill Activated: Wild Bet – "Double or Die."
Effect: Every action taken doubles in risk and reward for 300 seconds.
The Dealer whistled.
"Oh, I like this one."
Reality twisted — roulette wheels formed in the sky, cards fluttered through the air like knives, and every step Rex took left trails of golden numbers in his wake.
Lia, still linked to him, felt her own body resonate with his gamble — her power amplifying, her light shifting from soft white to fierce scarlet.
Rex grinned. "Let's deal some divine damage."
The first Divine Auditor descended.
A creature made of logic — gears, glass, and light — its voice was monotone, emotionless:
"Error: Emotion-infected code detected. Commencing erasure."
Rex cracked his neck. "Emotion-infected code? That's the sexiest insult I've ever gotten."
He flicked a coin. It spun midair — glowing brighter, brighter— until it split into two universes.
One exploded.
The other didn't.
The Auditor staggered back as half its form shattered.
Lia gasped. "You— you flipped a universe."
Rex winked. "Technically, it flipped itself."
The Dealer chuckled lowly from his perch above the chaos.
"Oh, Wildcard. You really are rewriting the game."
As the void lit up with the clash of divine light and reckless luck, Lia looked at him through the storm — that same quiet awe behind her glowing eyes.
"Rex," she said softly amidst the noise. "Why are you fighting so hard?"
He looked at her, smile fading into something sincere.
"Because for the first time, I've got something worth gambling for."
And as the second Auditor descended — he reached out, grabbed Lia's hand, and pulled her into the light.
[Dual Fate Link – Stage Two: Shared Consequence Activated]
For every risk Rex takes, Lia bears half the cost.
For every emotion Lia feels, Rex shares half the power.
The Dealer's mask tilted upward, eyes narrowing.
"So that's it… love as an economy. Chaos as a currency."
He raised his hand, summoning his cards.
"Very well then, Wildcard. Let's see how far your odds can stretch."
The House of Odds roared to life.
Cards became constellations.
Dice fell like meteors.
And amidst it all — two souls stood together, burning bright against a universe that bet on their failure.