Night fell like a held breath.
Not peaceful. Not restful.
A citywide pause—
as if every street, every rooftop, every trembling neon sign
was waiting to decide what it believed about one boy.
The boy who walked past Reapers without flinching. The boy who refused to hide. The boy who accepted a flower from a child
as calmly as he split the ground in battle.
Loki.
And now the city itself felt split—
caught between fear…
and something that felt dangerously close to hope.
Patrol drones circled tighter than usual. Shutters closed early. Shadows moved where shadows shouldn't.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
"He walked into the district like he owned it." "He ignored Division Zero's scans." "He smiled at a child."
"He scares the monsters who scare us."
People whispered from doorways, windows, rooftops.
Some voices trembled.
Some voices admired.
Some sounded like they had already chosen their answer.
But no one stayed neutral.
Not anymore.
On a narrow street near the residential arcades, two officers argued quietly.
"We should report sightings immediately. Orders from the Director."
"Are you blind? The citizens aren't afraid of him anymore. Half the people we passed today were talking like he's a savior."
"He's a threat!"
"So is Division Zero. At least the boy doesn't collapse buildings to make a point."
"Are you choosing his side?"
"No… I'm choosing the side that doesn't kill civilians."
The other officer stared at him.
"That sounds like an answer."
"It is."
Loki stopped on the middle of a pedestrian bridge.
Axis nearly bumped into him.
"What—why are you stopping? Don't tell me you sense another Reaper."
"No."
Loki tilted his head slightly, eyes scanning the city below.
"The city shifted."
Axis squinted.
"Shifted how? Earthquake? Pressure change? Magic? Don't be crypt—"
"It's choosing."
"Choosing… what?"
"Me."
A chill ran down Axis's spine.
Because Loki didn't say it with pride.
He said it like a meteor announcing that it didn't mean to hit the planet—
but it would hit anyway.
Across the city, decisions formed quietly:
A baker closed his shop early, looked at the warning screen labeled LOKI… and turned it off.
"He's a kid," he muttered. "If the city wants to hunt him, it'll have to do it without my help."
A gang of teenagers who had filmed him earlier sat on a fire escape.
One of them said:
"If Division Zero wants to fight him, that means he's on our side."
They nodded.
A street vendor told a waiting customer:
"If he comes through here again, I'm giving him dinner for free."
A small group of neighbors whispered in the gloom of their apartment hall:
"He saved us."
"He scared a Reaper."
"He didn't hurt anyone."
"…Maybe he's not the enemy."
Small choices.
Soft choices.
Quiet choices.
But enough of them together…
could move a city.
Far above them, in his spire of glass and ice,
the Director listened as reports came in.
Citizens refusing to cooperate. Officers hesitating. Civilian chatter shifting from fear to fascination.
He exhaled slowly.
"…So the boy isn't just disrupting our forces."
A drone hovered beside him.
> STATUS ANALYSIS REQUIRED.
"He's disrupting belief."
The drone whirred, confused.
> BELIEF IS NOT MEASURED DATA.
"That's why it matters."
The Director's fingers tapped behind his back.
"Fear is control. Admiration is rebellion.
And this boy is turning fear into something else."
He leaned forward slightly as Loki continued walking through the city with that impossible calm.
"…Very well. If the city wants to choose a side…"
His eyes narrowed.
"…I'll make it choose openly."
As the two of them moved deeper into the central districts, people began reacting differently.
They didn't scatter.
They didn't whisper in panic.
Some stepped aside respectfully.
Some bowed their heads slightly.
Some watched with wide, curious eyes that held more awe than fear.
Axis swallowed.
"Loki… they're not scared of you tonight."
"They should be," Loki said softly.
Axis blinked.
"…That's not comforting."
Loki stepped past a vendor who silently placed a hot bun on his counter—no charge.
A teenager tried to hide her phone but still recorded.
A group of guards pretended not to see him, staring deliberately at the sky.
The city was bending.
And Loki walked through it like someone testing the strength of a bridge made of glass.
The clocks hit midnight.
And something… happened.
The lights across the east district dimmed all at once. Not from a blackout.
From silence.
People stepped out of their homes and watched Loki pass.
Some with fear. Some with belief. Some with both.
A man finally stepped forward.
Just one.
"Kid!" he called out.
Axis tensed—ready for a fight.
But the man simply asked:
"…Are you going to destroy this city?"
Loki stopped.
Turned.
Met his eyes.
His answer was calm, cold, and true:
"No.
But I will destroy anything that tries to break it."
The man nodded slowly.
"…Then you have my vote."
He walked back into the crowd.
And something fell into place.
A quiet, invisible click—
like fate locking into its next position.
The tension lifted.
Not fully.
Not safely.
But enough.
Enough for people to look at Loki not as doom—
—but as choice.
Enough for whispers to shift from "What is he?"
to
"What if he's what we needed?"
The city didn't love him.
Not yet.
But it didn't fear him blindly anymore.
And as Loki and Axis reached the ridge overlooking the next district, Axis let out a shaky laugh.
"…I think the whole city just voted for you, dude."
Loki didn't smile.
He only said:
"No. They voted against Division Zero."
He stepped forward again.
"And that means they'll try to silence them next."