The room fell silent after her words.
"The Nine Core."
The name lingered in the air, heavy and foreign. Aryan's mind spun, trying to piece together what it could mean. The girl's calm, silver eyes didn't waver. It was as if she had dropped a truth too big for the small, broken room to hold.
Aryan finally spoke, his voice rough."What… is the Nine Core? And how is it connected to my family?"
The girl crossed her arms. "Even I don't know all of it. But I know it's what your family was hiding from. And if you truly want revenge, we can find the answers together."
Revenge.The word dug deep.
Aryan looked down at the photograph again. His father's proud eyes, his mother's soft smile, his little sister's carefree grin. His brother's hand on his shoulder. All gone. Burned away by a lie no one dared to question.
For a long moment he said nothing. The blade still lay on the floor beside his bed, faintly catching the light — a reminder of how close he'd come to ending everything.Now, for the first time in two years, a new path stood before him.
He clenched his fists."…Alright," he muttered. "I'll do it. I'll find out what really happened. I'll find whoever did this."
The girl nodded, expression unreadable."Then we have the same goal."
He glanced at her warily. "You still haven't told me why you're helping me. I don't even know your name."
"You may not know me," she said quietly, "but I have a duty. And that duty is to uncover the truth behind the Nine Core."
"Duty?" Aryan frowned. "What kind of duty—"
"Forget it." She shook her head. "We should start by finding traces of the Nine Core. Someone else might already be looking for it."
Before Aryan could press her further—Knock. Knock.
The sound came again, sharp and unexpected.He froze. She stiffened instantly, her hand twitching toward the small pouch at her waist.
"Don't open it," she whispered, voice low but firm.
Aryan blinked. "Why not? It's probably just—"
"Someone's following me," she said. Her silver eyes narrowed. "If it's them, opening that door could get you killed."
Aryan's brow furrowed. He'd already had enough of secrets and half-truths. "This is my house. I'm not hiding in it like a coward."
Before she could stop him, he turned and walked toward the door.The girl cursed under her breath, stepping back into the shadows.
Aryan's hand hovered over the handle. The knocking had stopped. For a moment, there was only silence — and then a faint, familiar voice.
"Oi, Aryan! You awake, or are you still sulking like a ghost?"
Aryan blinked. He knew that voice.
He opened the door.
Two figures stood outside, squinting against the morning light. Both looked like they'd run straight from bed — messy hair, mismatched coats, and grins that tried to look confident.
"Raj? Alice?" Aryan muttered.
Raj smirked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, well, look who's still alive. You weren't answering your comms, man. We thought you finally jumped off a cliff or something."
"Would've saved me the trouble," Alice said dryly. He was the quieter of the two, thin glasses slipping down his nose as he scanned Aryan's expression. "You look like death. Again."
Aryan sighed, stepping aside. "What are you two doing here?"
Raj grinned. "What kind of question is that? We're your friends, remember? If you don't come to us, we come to you. That's the deal."
Before Aryan could protest, Raj stepped inside — and immediately froze.
There, sitting calmly on his couch, was the white-haired girl.Her silver eyes flicked toward him, cool and sharp.
Raj's grin widened instantly. "Well, well, well. Aryan, you sly dog. Didn't think you had it in you."
Aryan groaned. "It's not what you think."
Alice entered behind him, glancing between them with quiet suspicion. "So… who's she?"
The girl said nothing, simply watching them.
Aryan turned to her. "Right. I still don't even know your name."
Raj raised an eyebrow. "Hold up. You let a random girl into your house without knowing her name? Damn, man. You have changed."
The girl finally stood, dusting her coat lightly. "My name is Sora."
Raj gave a low whistle. "Pretty name."
"Shut up," Aryan muttered.
Alice pushed his glasses up, studying her carefully. "Sora, huh? And what exactly brings you here, Sora?"
Sora's gaze flicked to Aryan before settling on Alice. "The same thing that brings him nightmares. His family."
The air grew heavier.
Raj's joking grin faltered. "You mean the explosion two years ago?"
Sora nodded once.
Alice's eyes narrowed. "You've been investigating that too?"
Aryan crossed his arms. "Wait, you knew about her?"
"No," Alice said quickly. "But I have been digging through what's left of the records. There are… fragments. Things that don't add up."
Sora tilted her head. "You help him with the investigation?"
Alice met her gaze. "I tried. But every lead ends in a dead file. Whoever's covering this up has reach."
She gave a small, knowing smile. "Then maybe you're not as smart as you think."
Raj chuckled nervously. "Ouch. She's got a mouth."
Alice frowned. "Do you really think you can outsmart me?"
Sora stepped closer, unbothered. "If you were that smart, you'd already know what caused that explosion."
Aryan's eyes flicked between them. The tension in the room was almost tangible — Sora's calm defiance against Alice's calculating stare.
Raj sighed, scratching his head. "Alright, before someone throws something, can we not turn Aryan's house into a war zone? It's already a dump."
"Thanks for the reminder," Aryan muttered.
Alice turned to Aryan again. "I didn't come empty-handed this time. I found something."
That caught everyone's attention.
Sora straightened. "What kind of something?"
Alice walked to the cluttered desk, brushing aside a few empty bottles. He pulled a small data chip from his coat and placed it carefully on the table."It's a security feed from one of the restricted research sites near the old district — timestamped the night your family died."
Aryan's heart skipped. "You… you found footage?"
Alice nodded. "Not complete. Just fragments. But in one of the frames…" He paused, his expression darkening. "There's something there. Something that doesn't belong."
Sora's eyes glimmered faintly. "Show us."
"I can't access it here," Alice replied. "The encryption is layered — I'll need a proper console to decode it. But if I'm right…" He looked straight at Aryan. "It might prove the explosion wasn't an accident."
Aryan's pulse quickened. Hope — fragile and dangerous — began to stir inside him. For the first time, there was proof, not just whispers.
Sora turned toward him. "This could lead us to the Nine Core."
Raj blinked. "The what now?"
Sora didn't answer, only looked at Aryan. Her expression said enough — a silent pact forming between them.
Alice glanced between them, frowning. "the Nine Core I think i have heard it before "
Before Aryan could answer, Sora's eyes widened. For the first time, her composure cracked."You… you know about the Nine Core?"
Alice blinked. "So that's really what it's called?"
Sora stepped closer, disbelief flashing across her silver eyes. "How could you possibly know that name? It's a mystery known only to a handful of people in this world. Even most of the Council doesn't know what it is."
Raj whistled softly. "Whoa, what's with the sudden tension? You look like you just saw a ghost."
Sora ignored him, still staring at Alice. "Tell me. How do you know it?"
Alice smirked slightly, pushing up his glasses. "You think I'm not smart enough to figure it out myself?"
"Don't get cocky," Sora snapped. "Answer me."
Raj raised his hands between them. "Okay, okay, calm down. Alice, stop poking the scary white-haired girl, and maybe tell us what's going on before she freezes the room."
Alice sighed dramatically. "You both have zero patience, you know that?" He turned his gaze toward Aryan and Sora. "Fine, I'll tell you. But don't expect a bedtime story."
He pulled a small holographic slate from his coat, activating a faint blue projection. Lines of ancient text shimmered across it, flickering in and out like static.
"About a hundred years ago," Alice began, "there was a meteor shower recorded across the entire world. Nine of them — massive, burning fragments that fell from the sky. People called it The Night of the Falling Stars. But the thing is…" He pointed at the data stream. "It wasn't a natural event. The energy signatures didn't match any known celestial body."
Sora's eyes darkened. "Go on."
"Every record says those fragments vanished after impact. No crater, no debris. Just gone." Alice's voice grew quieter. "But according to certain encrypted archives I found, those 'stars' were actually objects — relics.
Aryan felt his pulse quicken. The words echoed like thunder in his mind. Nine artifacts… nine stars… the Nine Core.
Alice continued, "Whatever they are, they scattered across the world after the fall. And ever since, strange phenomena have been happening — awakenings, mutations, people developing abilities tied to their souls. The Council classified it as 'Soul Resonance.' But I think it's connected to the Nine Core."
Sora exhaled slowly, her earlier anger fading into something colder — fear. "That matches what little I've learned. But I didn't think anyone outside certain factions even knew this much."
Aryan stepped forward. "And my family? How does that connect to any of this?"
Alice hesitated. "I don't know yet. But I think one of your family members might have known something… or even possessed a lead on where one of the Cores could be."
Raj's eyes widened. "So you're saying the explosion wasn't random — it was to silence them?"
Alice nodded. "Exactly. They didn't die because of an accident. They were erased. Someone high up wanted to bury whatever they knew."
The air in the room grew heavy.Aryan's stomach churned as anger burned beneath his skin. "Then the Council really—"
"—is involved," Sora finished for him. Her tone was grim. "If what Alice says is true, then we're dealing with forces far beyond anything you've faced. The Nine Core isn't just power. It's control."
Raj crossed his arms, trying to lighten the suffocating tension. "So basically, if the people behind this find out we know about it…"
Alice adjusted his glasses, finishing the thought for him. "…we're already dead."
Silence filled the room.
Aryan looked down at the photograph again — his family's smiles frozen in time, forever out of reach. His hands trembled, not with fear, but fury."They killed my family to hide this," he whispered. "Then we find it. Before they do."
Sora nodded once, eyes sharp. "Then we start now. Every clue, every lead — we chase it until there's nothing left to hide."
Raj forced a weak grin. "Guess we're in deep already, huh? Government secrets, cosmic relics, possibly getting hunted — just another normal day."
No one laughed.
Outside, the wind howled softly through the narrow streets, carrying the faint hum of something unseen — like the whisper of ancient power, waiting.
Inside the dim room, three friends and one stranger stood on the edge of a secret that could burn their world.
And none of them realized yet… that the Nine Core had already begun to awaken.