08 / 07 / 2018, 17:57 - Tuesday, Nakagawa City.
The streets were quiet again, quieter than they should've been.
Only the crunch of gravel beneath their steps echoed between the half-collapsed buildings. The air was heavy, not just with dust, but with something unseen, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
They followed the highway deeper into the city. Towering skyscrapers rose around them like hollow monuments, some half-collapsed, others still standing in eerie defiance. Burnt cars lined the road, windows shattered, their metal frames glowing faintly beneath the dull orange sunset.
No one spoke.
Whether they were too tired or simply afraid, silence was the only thing they could share.
Akane walked at the front, eyes flicking between the horizon and the empty street.
"Just a little more," he murmured. "We'll be home soon. Keep it up."
We should be closer to the center by now, he thought.
Akane's steps slowed down, his eyes catching the faint shadow rippling above the horizon.
That shadow is getting closer and closer; he also notices that the air seems to be sticky, faint crackles in the air.
Something vast was descending from the sky, no, approaching. A shadow cast without a body, spreading until it swallowed the clouds themselves.
Akane stopped. His heart pounded loud enough to drown the world. The others nearly bumped into him before seeing the look on his face.
Then they looked up too.
Something was coming.
"What… what is that?" Ayato whispered, breathless, disbelieving.
Above the skyline, something enormous moved behind the clouds. For a moment, they thought it was a storm until the clouds began to move away from it.
A pulse of silver light rolled across the city. Then another. And another. Each flash painted the heavens brighter, until the sky itself turned pale and metallic.
Then came the red, a wrong kind of sunset, gold and crimson bleeding through the silver.
Irina clutched Ayato's hand tightly. Her breath trembled; her whole body shook.
And then they saw it.
The jellyfish loomed above, its body vast enough to blot out the sun. One of its luminous tendrils, wide as a skyscraper, brushed against the far-off edge of the city.
A moment later, destruction followed.
A building nearby split in half, glass bursting outward like a thousand mirrors shattering at once. Debris rained down, dust swallowing everything.
Irina screamed. Ayato dragged her behind a wrecked car, shielding her as the storm hit.
"Get down! Don't look!"
Akane threw himself beside them, his voice hoarse.
"Nii-san! Irina! We have to move, now! Or we'll never move again!"
When the storm finally began to fade, the air was still thick with dust, turning every breath into fire. They stumbled through the gray haze, half-blind, half-running, like headless flies caught in a storm.
Explosions rolled across the distance. Buildings groaned, collapsing. Their abilities, their talents, all felt meaningless beneath the enormity of that thing.
A single sweep of its tentacle had erased a quarter of Fukuoka. Entire blocks, people, even the ground beneath them, gone.
What would happen if one of those tentacles reached them?
The thought made their blood run cold.
Akane looked over his shoulder at his siblings.
Ayato's porcelain face was streaked with dust and blood, his shoulder bleeding freely, yet he didn't slow. Irina's temple was cut, a thin line of red tracing down her pale cheek. Her sky-blue eyes were dim but unbroken.
Even battered and trembling, they kept moving.
They had no choice. None of them did.
A thunderous roar shook the sky. Akane looked up and saw a streak of light, slashing upward toward the monster. Someone was fighting it.
Closer than he'd thought.
But they had no energy left to care. They just kept moving, through cracked asphalt and ruined alleys, beneath the broken glow of streetlights that refused to die. Each step burned. Each breath ached.
They moved from fear, from hope, from something they couldn't name.
Still, Akane's thoughts drifted upward.
Where is Father?
Their home, their goal, was where he should be.
But if the fight was this close… if that light belonged to him—
He slowed. His breath trembled. The others also noticed his condition.
Ayato turned to him, eyes narrowed in concern, but Akane spoke first, his voice calm again, yet cold with certainty.
"I just want to ask… where do you think Father is in this mess? Have you ever thought about it?"
He looked toward the battlefield, where the sky flickered between silver and warped space.
"Don't you want to know?"
Irina frowned, confused. But Ayato's eyes widened slightly, realization dawning.
He clenched his fists. His jaw tightened. Then he nodded.
"If he's truly there… then let's go."
Irina hesitated, fear flickering through her expression. But a heartbeat later, she exhaled and nodded as well.
Seeing them, Akane turned forward again. "Then we don't waste time."
Together, the three of them began moving toward the most devastated part of the city, toward the storm of light and shadow where their father might be fighting.
And then, silence reclaimed the street once more.
Unseen by any of them, from the shadow of a nearby building, another figure watched.
A girl of their age stepped into the dim light, long black hair swaying in the wind, red eyes reflecting the faint shimmer of the collapsing sky. Her school uniform was spotless, untouched by dust or ash, as though the chaos refused to reach or couldn't even reach her.
She watched Akane and his siblings move away, her lips trembling slightly as her fingers tightened against her skirt.
Her gaze was full of conflict, of guilt, hesitation, and a fear that seemed to cut deeper than any wound.
For a moment, she raised her hand, reaching toward them.
Then she let it fall.
The dying wind carried away the words she whispered.
---
The sky above Japan fractured into veins of silver and red.
The colossal jellyfish hung motionless for a heartbeat, as if contemplating its next move.
Then came a pulse, unseen but felt, rippling through the air and into Aldean's bones.
The creature had learned.
Its energy no longer spanned continents. Now it narrowed, focused, converging to a single point.
Aldean felt it — deep in his chest, heavy and wrong. His vision blurred; every breath came sharp and uneven. The silver radiance ate at his mind, warping the edges of thought. Shadows moved where none should be. Faces flickered at the corner of his vision — the dead, the lost, the unforgiven.
Then one face lingered.
"Hey! Alen, how's it going?"
"Why do you have to cry? It isn't your fault, is it?"
"Mirea…?" he murmured, half-dazed. The hallucination shattered as the next beam struck.
Too slow.
Light grazed him, silver, searing, stripping flesh and leaving his arms scorched and trembling. His draconic arm twitched, but he still pressed forward.
He could no longer tell how long he had been fighting. Hours, maybe. Or minutes stretched thin. The only rhythm left was the pounding of his heart.
Why does it feel like… everything's shrinking?
The area he protected had shrunk again. From the whole sky, to the horizon, to the city, and now, to a single stretch of land beneath.
His family.
The jellyfish stirred again. He could feel the pull of Reaping, a pressure that swept through Asia, a pulse that turned half its life into fuel. The radiant greenish, blinding light shines from the sky of Japan, spreading towards all of Asia and even reaching far away.
The creature was weaving something vast, something final.
Aldean's instincts screamed, but his mind was a second too slow. Time warped around him; he tried to slow it further, folding the world itself, but even that wasn't enough. The sound that came next wasn't a roar. It was silence-breaking.
The world held its breath.
Sound fell away; only the beating in his chest remained. Then the sky cracked open, and the Ray descended.
A Ray of Silver and Black fell from the heavens.
It was not a beam, it was an ocean, collapsing downward, its edge rippling like acid water, devouring everything it touched.
Aldean's mind snapped up he didn't think. He blinked forward, instinct overriding his mind, reality tearing apart behind him, and he was there, in front of her.
For a heartbeat, he saw her, Alicia, overlapping with someone long gone.
"I won't let it happen again."
The illusion shattered.
Alicia stood frozen on the ruined highway, her eyes wide with both awe and terror. He reached her in an instant, arms wrapping around her body, his Authority flaring to shield her.
Then the world turned white.
The sound came late, a dull, endless roar. The sky vanished. The ground folded, melted, collapsed.
For minutes, there was nothing but light.
When the glow finally faded, silence returned.
Everything within a mile radius had become a crater. The asphalt was gone, glass melted into black rivers.
Even after the moment passes, there is still silence that envelops the battlefield.
Aldean hugs her tightly, but then sobs begin to be heard.
"Alicia…?"
His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
"She's always been upbeat… stupidly cheerful sometimes. Always curious, as if she never knew fear. Even now…"
Her hand trembled as she reached upward, pressing against his chest. Then she cupped his face between both palms.
"…and yet she still believes in silly things… reads comics late at night… smiling and giggling like a child…"
She then looked up at him. Despite the blood on her lips, her eyes were calm, almost gentle, filled with the same warmth that once filled their home.
Now, she carefully looks at his face.
He is crying like a child, tears and snot fall over his handsome face; there isn't even a trace of that reliable father from before…
Her smile wavered, her gaze softening like the fading sunset behind her, "You're… always trying so hard. Always pretending to be strong, huh? Even though you're just… so frail, it's so pitiful and cute."
She laughed weakly, the sound barely a whisper. "You've always… looked so scary when you worry. But I know… You were just trying to protect us… me, and the kids…"
Her breathing faltered. Blood trailed from the corner of her lips, down her chin.
"I'm just… tired, Al. Just need to sleep… a little, okay? Take care of them. Promise me that."
Her hands slid from his face. Her body went limp.
"She is the last hope of my life… seeing her smile, I want to keep it that way forever… the reason I will keep going forward…"
Only then could one see it, the gaping hole through her stomach, the charred edges of her suit. His own abdomen burned, scorched from the blast, but he couldn't feel pain anymore.
He just held her. One hand at her back is filled with blood and is scorched.
The sob tore out of him like something breaking free. Then another.
And then laughter.
Raw, uneven, wild.
He cried and laughed all at once, trembling violently as energy fluctuated around him, unstable, chaotic, flooding from his Authority without direction.
"YOU—" his voice cracked, torn between screams and sobs, "—YOU WERE THE REASON I LIVED!!"
His voice echoed through the empty air, bouncing off broken glass and silence.
For years, he fought to protect something, anything, that reminded him of being alive. Now, there was nothing left to protect.
"BUT NOW—NOW I DON'T NEED A REASON ANYMORE! MIREA! ALICIA! I'LL—" he screamed again, a mixture of agony and euphoria. "—I'LL JOIN YOU! IN THE ABYSS! I CAN FINALLY—"
He stopped, shaking his head, clutching Alicia's body tighter.
"No… no, I can't… I'll bring you back. I'll resurrect you, Mirea, Alicia… we'll be together again, forever… forever—"
The laughter returned, but quieter this time, trailing into whispers, tears falling, and sobbing.
Above, the jellyfish merely watched. Its task nearly complete, it no longer saw him as a threat. Its tendrils hung motionless, scanning, seeking its true target.
Aldean slowly looked up. His gray eyes, once sharp, had gone pale, like dying stars.
He gently put her body down.
Then, he slowly rose. His shadow stretched long across the smoking ruins.
Tears still fell. A smile trembled at his lips, one caught between grief and madness.
The air shivered, the ground trembling under the weight of his collapsing Authority.
The calm before the end.
Aldean Fae Hastur had lost control.
---
The world ahead was burning silver.
Akane ran. The air was heavy with dust and heat, the sky fractured into orange-red veins. His feet stumbled across cracked asphalt, but he didn't stop.
Behind him, Irina's breath hitched; Ayato's shoes scraped against glass. Every sound felt distant, like the world had sunken underwater.
Then came the flash.
A bloom of silver and black light split the skyline. Wind rushed forward in a tidal wave; the shock threw them to the ground. Akane's palms tore open against the debris, but he pushed himself up, eyes wide, chest heaving.
Pain didn't matter. Fatigue didn't matter.
Something inside him broke.
He didn't know why, but his heart screamed. The air itself carried an omen, thick, suffocating, undeniable. He could feel it.
They kept running. The closer they got, the quieter everything became. The noise of destruction faded into a ringing silence.
Then there is another shockwave, a scream, wailing, space seems distorted and heavy as it's expressing something, the streets folded downward, melted.
They didn't need to say it.
They already knew.
Why had Father not come?
Why the sky burned silver.
What is this feeling?
And then they saw it.
The crater spread before them, a wound carved into the earth, molten edges still glowing. Cars and buildings were gone, turned into shadow outlines against the scorched bowl. The air shimmered, hot and silent.
They turned left, climbing over overturned wreckage, stepping through the haze until they reached the rim.
Akane froze.
He blinked once, twice, rubbed at his eyes.
Still there. Still real.
He slid down the slope, the others close behind. The earth was soft with ash, their steps muted. Each breath came shallow, like they were afraid to disturb the stillness.
And then, he saw her.
Alicia lay at the center of the crater peacefully, arms folded as if sleeping, her black suit stained in red. Her hair, once white, fluttered lightly in the wind.
Akane slowly stopped and stood beside his mother's body, forgetting everything around him.
Thousand whys, thousand questions, none with answers.
Memories flashed: a picnic at the seaside, paintbrushes and laughter, his mother smiling over his shoulder.
Then the image shattered.
Akane slowly knelt beside her body, his hands trembling as he reached for her hand, still warm, impossibly soft.
His vision blurred. No words came. Only the silent repetition of one word, over and over, beneath his breath.
"It's a lie, right?"
"Mother"
"Mother"
"Mother"
"Please... tell me it's a lie?"
Tears fell, quiet, soundless, and still, he didn't move. The calm of someone who had broken too deeply to shatter again.
Something inside him slipped loose. He gripped her hand harder, knuckles white, shoulders trembling.
Akane stayed silent, gripping her hand tighter until his knuckles turned white.
Irina screamed. Ayato looked up, eyes wide, disbelief turning to horror.
"That's… Father."
Akane turned slowly. Far above, between the clouds and chaos, a colossal figure fought the jellyfish creature, its black scales shining like the darkness of the void, its wings tearing through the storm.
Every motion radiated madness and pain. He wasn't fighting to win.
Ayato's breath shook. "He's... not stopping."
His tears burned trails down his face. He understood.
Father wasn't fighting to survive; he was trying to drag the monster down, even if it destroyed him.
Ayato moved first, grabbing Irina's limp body, hauling her onto his back. He reached for Akane's arm.
"Akane, come on! We can't stay here!"
Akane didn't respond. His eyes were hollow, still fixed on Alicia's face, his face pained, red, crimson eyes as if something was struggling to come out, overflowing with despair that had nowhere left to go.
Ayato cursed under his breath, blood and tears dripping down his cheek as he pulled Akane up by force.
Irina whimpered, half-conscious, as Ayato staggered forward through the rubble.
He ran. Blood streaked his cheek. He stumbled, fell, rose again, and dragged Akane and Irina away from the crater.
A light swelled above.
The jellyfish reeled back; Aldean's dragon form coiled around it, a storm of black flame and distortion. The air turned electric, the clouds screaming.
Ayato gathered both of them into his arms, shielding their bodies with his own as the world began to fold.
Akane's eyes flicked upward one last time. For a heartbeat, their gazes met across the distance, father and son.
Aldean smiled faintly along with an apologetic expression, through the collapsing space and time. Even from here, Akane could see his lips move.
"I'm sorry... for being an incompetent father, Akane."
"Please... protect your family well."
"Farewell."
And then the world collapsed.
A sound like the end of all things, light devoured sound, matter, air, everything.
The ground ruptured beneath them; a wave of white swallowed the city. Akane reached out blindly as Ayato shielded him and Irina beneath his arms.
Then, silence.
Only the hum of fading light and the faint warmth of his siblings pressed against him before darkness claimed everything.