The Hunter Association - Two Hours Later
The mission was declared successful. All civilians evacuated safely. All Wanderers eliminated. Zero civilian casualties.
One hunter casualty.
Hunter Angelina Wang, age 23, died in the line of duty while protecting a civilian child.
Cause of death: catastrophic injuries from a boss-level Wanderer attack combined with complete aether core depletion.
She was pronounced dead on arrival at Linkon Medical Center.
The Hunter Association held an emergency meeting. Nana had been one of their best operatives—promoted to team leader just months ago, with a perfect mission success rate, beloved by her team, known for her selfless heroism.
Her death was mourning across the entire organization.
"She died a hero," the Association Director said during the memorial announcement.
"Hunter Nana gave her life to save a child who would have certainly died without her intervention. She exemplified everything we stand for—courage, sacrifice, protection of the innocent. She will be deeply missed."
The news spread quickly through Linkon. By evening, civilians had created a memorial at the site where she'd died—flowers, candles, notes of gratitude from families she'd saved over her career.
Someone placed a copy of her newly published book among the offerings: "Philos: When the Crown Star Landed on Earth."
The book that told of a love spanning centuries, of a star who sacrificed everything for the girl he loved, of a curse broken and a life given.
The book she'd finished just one week ago.
The book that now felt like a prophecy.
Because Nana had lived past twenty-three—broken the curse that should have killed her at twenty-two—only to die anyway. At twenty-three years and seven months. Saving a child. Being a hero.
Dying exactly how Xavier would have wanted, if dying was unavoidable: protecting someone innocent, giving her life for another, going out in a blaze of courage and selfless love.
The universe, it seemed, had granted her one extra year. One year past the curse. One year to finish their story, to publish their love for the world to see, to live the life Xavier had died to give her.
And then, with cruel irony, had taken her anyway.
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Somewhere in the Cosmos
Xavier's consciousness—scattered among the stars, merged with the cosmic forces of Philos—felt it the moment Nana's heart stopped beating.
Felt the severing of the connection that had bound them across five lifetimes. Felt the star mark he'd placed on her soul finally, completely fade.
Felt her dying.
Again.
No. The thought reverberated through space itself. No. Not again. She was supposed to live. I broke the curse. She was supposed to be SAFE.
But the universe didn't care about supposed-to-bes. Didn't care about curses or sacrifices or stars who'd given up everything.Nana was dead at twenty-three.
Not from the curse. From heroism. From choosing to save a child even knowing it would cost her life.
Just like I taught her, Xavier thought, and the anguish of that realization could have shattered planets. She died being exactly who I always knew she was—brave and selfless and willing to sacrifice everything for others.
She died the way I would have been proud of.
And I wasn't there to hold her. Wasn't there to whisper that she was a hero. Wasn't there to tell her I love her one more time.
For the first time since becoming a star, Xavier wished desperately that he could cry. Could scream. Could rage at the universe that had taken her from him again.
But stars couldn't cry. Could only burn. Could only watch from the impossible distance of space as the girl they loved died alone on a battlefield.
Xavier's star pulsed erratically in the night sky—dimming, brightening, flickering like a heartbeat in distress.
Astronomers around the world would later note the anomaly, would write papers about the sudden instability in previously-steady stellar phenomena.
They didn't know they were watching a star grieve.
Didn't know they were witnessing cosmic heartbreak made visible.
Starlight, Xavier's consciousness called across the void. My Starlight. Please. Please don't be gone. Please find your way back to me.
But the connection was severed.
The bond broken. And this time—this time Xavier couldn't wait decades for her to be reborn.
Because he'd taken the curse with him when he faded. Had absorbed it into his being to break her cycle.Which meant Nana wouldn't reborn.
Couldn't reborn.
The curse that had brought her back four times was gone.
This death was permanent.
What have I done? Xavier's anguish rippled through space. I saved her from the curse but doomed us both. She won't come back. Can't come back. And I can't reach her. Can't follow. Can't—
A light appeared in the cosmic darkness. Soft. Golden. Familiar.
A soul, newly freed from its physical form, drifting through the space between worlds.
Nana's soul.
Still intact. Still conscious. Still searching.
And it was moving toward Philos.
Toward him.
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⭐⭐⭐
To be continued __