MOHITO returned to his apartment in silence.
He wasn't exhausted from walking,
Yet his steps felt heavy.
He opened the door.
No one greeted him.
No sound.
No breathing.
Only silence…
the silence that always precedes the things one does not want to face.
The faint light from the balcony cast the sword's shadow on the wall…
MORASAMI was there in the same place,
waiting.
MOHITO approached slowly.
He did not reach out.
He merely stood before it.
MOHITO closed his eyes for a moment,
then opened them and lifted the sword slowly from its place.
Distant sounds —
not from the room but from within him —
began to stir.
"Give me… more."
His breath faltered for a moment…
Then he went to the wardrobe and opened it.
He began to gather his belongings:
Two shirts only.
Two pairs of trousers.
A smashed phone screen that he kept.
An old photograph of himself with someone…
the other's face torn from the middle of the paper.
A half-empty medicine box.
And nothing else.
When he finished,
he sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked at MORASAMI
He stood.
He slung the bag over his shoulder.
He strapped his swords to his back.
And before he closed the door,
he turned inward one last time.
The apartment was empty…
Yet it felt like the only place he had ever truly known.
He closed the door slowly.
The darkness inside remained.
The darkness within him… left with him.
And he walked.
Toward the palace.
Toward what would come.
******************
The sky was clear,
and the sun rose slowly as if witnessing the start of a new chapter.
Trucks halted before the palace's massive iron gate —
a gate carved with a roaring royal lion.
Shouts erupted here and there.
TAHARA neared the fountain.
"Let's throw a tea party here like on TV."
MESNAS approached him.
"Not with clothes like the ones you're wearing."
AYOUB, laughing behind TAHARA,
"You just earned a direct hit."
ZARYOUH stepped forward from behind them.
"I'll take the largest room."
OBASO, standing beside him, replied,
"All rooms are the same size."
ZARYOUH grumbled.
"Where's the fun in that?"
MIZYANI stood staring at a large tree in the palace
as if he'd discovered a lost treasure:
"That brings memories."
GHAZLAN touched the walls with the curious hand of a child:
"I can't believe it… We'll live here…
Is this real?"
MAYNO only smiled… calm,
but with a reverent look in his eyes for the place.
ADEL offered a short phrase:
"A palace fit for… what we might become."
SAMA,
still embarrassed,
kept to herself beside SOLIMON.
As for MOHITO,
he didn't lift his head at all.
He looked at the ground as if it were something he knew better than all this newness.
MORASAMI was strapped to his back,
SOLIMON turned to him:
"What do you think? Not bad… right?"
MOHITO raised his gaze slowly and stared at the palace for a moment.
The place was beautiful… orderly… vast…
But he didn't see a gaudy palace —
only a vast gray new room.
He answered in a calm,
barely audible,
emotionless voice:
"A place… to start again from."
SOLIMON fell silent — he knew him well.
SHOUTNA stood on the stairs,
watching them all.
He raised his voice:
"Listen carefully! Here we will live.
Here we will train.
And from here… the new phase begins."
Everyone cheered.
Except MOHITO
He watched his shadow on the ground.
The sword's shadow was longer than his own.
He whispered to himself:
"Beginnings…
always resemble endings."
Then he finally lifted his head and looked at the palace
with the eyes of a man not returning to a place…
But stepping into destiny.
************
Inside,
The palace radiated the same elegance
and order that marked its stately façade.
Vast halls,
luxurious furnishings,
and artworks in the corners —
everything arranged carefully to meet the finest needs.
The ground floor was allocated to the girls,
while the spacious rooms upstairs were distributed among the boys.
In the main reception hall,
where crystal chandeliers scattered golden light over ivory walls,
Two people sat in silence.
One reclined comfortably with a leg crossed;
The other was immersed in an old book.
When ZARYOUH entered with the others,
he immediately recoiled and took a defensive stance.
"What is this?!"
The others moved forward and discovered the surprise.
"What are BOW and AXE doing here?"
GHAZLAN inquired of SHOUTNA, who stood calmly.
SHOUTNA answered in his usual commanding tone.
"They are the most recent additions to our group.
You must adapt to their presence."
AYOUB burst out angrily.
"Adapt to them? They tried to kill us!"
SHOUTNA replied calmly but firmly.
"Wars of the past must remain where they are.
Clinging to them will only stop us from moving forward."
BOW cut in,
standing and moving toward them:
"We are not here to be friend you
or beg for your protection.
We share the same objective,
nothing more.
All we ask is that you do not stand in our way,
because we will destroy that organization that abandoned us like its trash."
BOW added as he looked at his brother.
"I am MASSIN,
and this is YASSIN,"
MIZYANI stepped forward and extended his hand as a gesture of peace:
"We are honored by your joining."
He shook MASSIN's hand while everyone's eyes oscillated between suspicion and curiosity.
"Choose your rooms and rest.
We will continue the discussion later,"SHOUTNA ended the exchange.
heading toward the exit
and leaving everyone in the reception with new arrivals who might tilt the balance of the game.