The sun was only beginning to lift over the horizon when Moss and Serra finally crested the last ridge overlooking the plains leading toward Narshe. Bran's breaths came heavy and steaming, his feathers slick with the sweat of the night, long escape, but he kept pushing forward at Moss's urging. They'd ridden hard, harder than Moss had ever dared to push a chocobo, but every time he'd looked back, he'd half, expected to see a wave of frost rolling through the trees.
Only when the forest thinned behind them and the cold in the air faded did he finally believe they'd gotten away.
Serra had been quiet for almost an hour, which Moss assumed meant she was exhausted. But then her device flickered again in her hands, and she jolted upright as if struck by lightning.
"There it is again," she breathed, eyes shining with something between terror and scholarly greed.
Moss grimaced. He could feel it too, Titan's pulse. It hammered through his chest with a strength it had never reached before, like a clenched fist trying to force itself outward. "It hasn't stopped since we left," he muttered, pressing a hand to his sternum. "Feels like it's trying to crawl out of me."
Serra scanned him head, to, toe, her expression shifting rapidly as she made mental calculations he knew he'd never understand. "Your aether is… it's cycling. Fluctuating in two distinct patterns."
"…Two?" Moss asked.
She nodded vigorously. "That's what I've been trying to say, but I needed more data before I spoke confidently. Moss, what happened back there wasn't just survival. It was an identification."
He blinked. "I don't follow."
She held up the crystal, tipped instrument; the glow jumped and split into two alternating pulses. "This device was originally built to read general ambient aether fields, crystal emissions, leyline distortions, environmental anomalies. But on the way to Vector Hold it reacted to you in a way I didn't understand. I thought it was interference or miscalibration. But now…"
She swallowed and looked almost reverent.
"It's responding twice, Moss. Two completely separate signatures."
"…Titan?," Moss said quietly, the name tasting like gravel. "And Shiva."
"Yes." Serra's fingers tightened around the device. "And that means something extraordinary. If I model these reaction patterns correctly… then the first type of pulse, the one I saw back at Vector Hold, might be a diagnostic signal. A way to detect individuals with what Shiva called a spark. Latent inheritance. "
Moss frowned. "You're saying this thing can find people like me?"
"If I refine it, yes," she whispered. "But the second reaction, the new one, that only appeared when you actively resonated. When Titan awakened inside you and Shiva recognized it."
She was trembling now. Not in fear, but exhilaration.
"This second reaction means you've crossed a threshold. Your aether isn't just dormant anymore. It's responding to other Eidolons. That's the kind of phenomenon scholars dream of witnessing. I mean, technically no one's ever recorded anything like this, ever. The entire Academy would riot if they knew."
Moss rubbed his forehead. His stomach twisted. "Serra… I don't think that's a good thing."
"No, of course it's not safe," she agreed quickly. "But scientifically? It's monumental."
He stared at her. "Serra."
She paused, then deflated slightly. "Right. Yes. And terrifying. Sorry. I get carried away."
They slowed Bran to give him a moment of rest. Serra leaned on the saddle horn and exhaled shakily.
"You know," she said softly, "I've always dreamed of fieldwork. Of seeing discoveries firsthand instead of waiting for reports from adventurers or soldiers. But after last night… gods." She shuddered. "It's different when you're in the middle of it. Completely different. All the theories in the world don't prepare you for being hunted by a death goddess on a frozen throne."
"You held up better than I expected," Moss said honestly. "Most people would've wanted to run the moment they saw all those Miqo'te armed to the teeth."
"That's because I didn't fully grasp the mortal danger until later," Serra admitted. "Academics have very slow survival instincts."
He snorted. "You did fine."
"No, you did fine. You got us out." Serra's voice softened as she looked at him. "And that's why I have to stay close to you from now on."
Moss shifted uneasily. "Why?"
"Because you're changing," she said. "Rapidly. And unpredictably. And no existing literature covers what happens when a human forms a partial resonance with an Eidolon. If Titan's pulse is stronger after your clash with Shiva, then your resonance curve has steepened. Meaning, "
"Plain words."
"You're evolving," Serra said simply. "Your aether is becoming something new. If I don't monitor it closely, we might miss crucial data. More important, you might miss early warning signs if something goes wrong."
He didn't like the sound of that. Not even a little.
"Is it dangerous?"
Serra hesitated. Too long.
"…We don't know."
Moss cursed quietly.
"But," she cut in, "I will help you. Every step. I'm not letting you face this alone."
There was no question in her tone. She had already decided.
Despite himself, Moss felt a small thread of relief coil through his chest. Serra might be reckless, overly academic, and catastrophically curious, but she was also brilliant. And loyal, in her strange way.
He wasn't sure anyone else could track what was happening inside him, even he could barely feel the shape of it.
They rode another mile in silence while the plains rolled out ahead of them, Narshe's perimeter towers appearing faintly in the distance. The sky was a pale blue wash over the snowy hills.
Moss finally said, "When I used that… earth wave in the cavern… I didn't know what I was doing. It just happened. Like something pushed through me."
Serra tapped her chin with the device. "That was Titan redirecting your aether. Or lending you its own. Eidolons don't just react, they resonate I assume from what we saw. Shiva recognized that you possessed a spark but had no control. Her words… I think the entire confrontation was engineered to test your nature. Or to eliminate you if she found you lacking."
Moss went cold. "So, she was trying to kill me."
"Or force you into alignment," Serra said. "Which might be worse. A controlled Eidolon host is… well unprecedented but can you imagine what the Empire would do if they held that power."
Moss's stomach twisted harder.
"I don't want to be part of anyone's plans," he muttered. "Not Titan's. Not Shiva's. Not the Empire's."
Serra looked at him with a gentleness he rarely saw in her. "Then we figure this out ourselves."
He nodded, grateful, and terrified.
As they neared Narshe's outskirts, the wind carrying the familiar smell of coal fires and warm stables, Serra suddenly leaned closer.
"We can't report everything," she whispered.
Moss glanced at her sharply. "What?"
"If the Empire learns your aether can resonate at this level… they'll seize you. For study. Or weaponization."
Moss's heart dropped to his stomach.
Serra's voice was quiet but resolute.
"So until we understand what's happening, we keep the details between us."
He let out a slow breath, then nodded. "Agreed."
They crossed the final rise toward the city.
Moss blinked at her. "So, we report the risk of eidolons in nature and continue examining the resonance changes in the meantime?"
"I mean, mostly yes," she said bluntly. With a bright smile on her face, she says "But also because if you're going to run headfirst into more Eidolons, someone has to make sure you don't die before I finish documenting everything, so I'll be by your side every moment now."
He laughed despite himself.
Narshe's gates opened slowly ahead of them, guards waving as Bran trotted in. The warmth of returning home, such as it was, settled over Moss like a cloak.
But Titan still pulsed in his chest. Hard. Persistent. A reminder that whatever happened in that cavern, whatever Shiva awakened in him, it wasn't fading.
Serra looked at him as they rode through the gate.
"We should get you checked," she murmured. "Not by the medics. By me. I know what readings to look for. And I want to map the fluctuations before they settle."
Moss sighed. "You're not going to let me sleep, are you?"
"No," she said cheerfully. "Not a chance."
And despite the fear tightening his chest, Moss smiled.
Because for the first time since Titan entered his life… he wasn't facing the storm alone.