7:54
Beneath the city—far below the sterile lights and steel veins of the Esper HQ—the world changes.
In the forgotten tunnels where unstable energy bleeds into ancient stone, something *wakes*.
It begins with a pulse.
Deep. Slow. Like a heart buried in earth, now remembering how to beat.
The walls tremble—just slightly—as if recoiling from what stirs within.
Cracks spread across obsidian pillars etched with long-dead runes.
Dust falls like rain from ceilings no human has touched in centuries.
And then—
A voice echoes—not through air, but through *memory*:
> **"One who calls across death... has broken silence."**
No mouth speaks it.
No body forms it.
Yet it fills the dark like smoke given sound—a whisper that carries weight enough to shatter worlds.
Two glowing eyes open beneath layers of rubble and time—pools of molten gold set deep in shadow—and for the first time in millennia…
They *focus* on Veyra's surface…
On two intertwined souls radiating an impossible bond…
On Rael…
and Jin…
> **"The Chain is forged,"** murmurs the voice again, reverent and hungry all at once.
> **"Then let Reckoning rise."**
Somewhere aboveground, Jin suddenly gasps—he clutches his chest as if burned by ice, eyes wide with an unexplained chill crawling up his spine...
Rael feels it too—the shift in energy… unnatural… ancient…
He turns sharply toward him:
> "What is it?"
But Jin can only whisper—
Before anything else happens:
"...Something just woke up."
And he knows—without knowing how—that whatever sleeps below?
Was not meant to be found...
Not yet.
Not until fate had turned further.
But now?
Now—it's coming.
8:00
The conference room seems far away as Rael pulls Jin outside—fast, fingers holding his wrist tighter.
> "We have to leave," he growls as they pass L and the others, "Now."
L stops them, eyes flashing.
> "Rael. What are you thinking?"
Rael turns, eyes sharp.
> "Whatever just woke in Old Veyra—it knows about *him*."
L's expression hardens.
> "And so what? *We* know about him too."
Before Rael can answer:
8:04
A hand lands on Rael's shoulder, making him and Jin look up—meeting Mina's sharp gaze.
> "What just happened?"
Rael hesitates.
Then:
> "Something changed with the energy down there," he finally admits. "It… almost feels like—"
"—a power awakening," Mina finishes quietly.
They share a look that speaks volumes—something unsaid passing between them—as if they both know what this could mean.
> "So… what do we do?" She asks then. "Try to suppress it...?"
8:05
L scoffs, folding his arms.
> "Suppress *that?* You're kidding, right?" He glances around the crowded square outside the HQ, then back at them. "We've barely kept Veyra in one piece this long—and now you want to try containing another power?"
Mina glares up at him.
> "And you'd rather let whatever's down there rampage?"
L just scoffs harder—a sharp exhale that seems almost like a laugh. "And with what, Mina?" he snaps back. "An unstable Guide who just stumbled into
8:07
Silence from Mina, but her glare doesn't waver. L lets out a sigh that sounds almost resigned, rubbing his temple as if it helps clear his head.
> "We need more information before we even consider going back down there," he says finally. "Until then, keep your heads down. The last thing we need are rumors spreading—"
Suddenly, Mina and Rael both stiffen.
Rael speaks first, voice low:
> "Too late..."
8:08
He's right, it's already started—whispers among civilians, questions in the air that feel like a storm waiting to break. Rael and Jin have barely stepped onto the street when a group of teenagers approach them, eyes wide.
> "Are you an Esper?" One calls out to Jin—bold, but anxious.
Jin freezes.
Rael shifts so he's standing between them—a wall of muscle.
> "What of it?" he growls, voice cold.
The boy swallows, nervous.
> "Is it true then?"
Silence.
A beat.
Then:
> "Is *what* true?"
Rael's voice is as sharp as the glare in his eyes. The teenager takes a step back—but a girl in the group steps up, chin high even though her hands are shaking.
> "**That you're bonded."**
She keeps her eyes on Rael as she says it, but it's obvious who she's asking.
8:10
For a moment, Rael just stares at her—then at the others behind her, their eyes all on Jin. His gaze hardens:
> "And if we are?"
Murmurs break out, whispers echoing like ghosts in the shadows between buildings. But one voice rises above the rest—older, deeper:
> "Then you'll have more than rumors to worry about," a man calls out from somewhere in the press of people.
8:12
The crowd parts slightly—just enough for an older man in worn, ash-gray robes to step forward. His eyes are clouded—not blind, but *changed*, like he's seen too much time fold in on itself.
He doesn't look at Rael.
He looks at Jin.
And when he speaks, his voice is low—a rasp of prophecy:
> "The Chain has awakened… and the Veil trembles."
A pause. Then sharper:
> **"They will come for you both."**
Jin's breath hitches.
Rael steps in front—instinctive, fierce.
> "Who? Who comes?"
The old man only shakes his head slowly.
> "Not all Espers serve the Council."
His milky gaze flicks to the sky—where storm clouds have begun gathering without warning.
> "Some serve what sleeps below… and it *hungers* now*.*"
Then he turns—and vanishes into the growing crowd like smoke dissolving into wind.
Silence falls again.
Until Mina appears behind them suddenly—her voice tense:
> "We need to move. Now."
Because above—
The sky isn't just darkening.
It's *pulsing*.
With something buried beneath their feet.