"Do you know about the Rite of Revelation? The energies present in this world, the ones who are truly in power, the academy — the basics?" Gary asked.
Common knowledge, most of it. Every resident of Cinderveil knew these things, barring the details about who actually pulled the strings at the top.
"No," Axiros said, letting an innocent smile sit on his face. "I don't."
Internally, he was already leaning forward. *Information is a valuable tool. Valuable enough to confirm what I'm already starting to suspect.*
"Then we'll start from the beginning." Gary's expression shifted slightly, more serious now. "But before I do — I need you to promise me. The favour. You'll carry it out, no matter what."
Axiros nodded.
He was laughing on the inside.
"I don't know how you ended up in this particular stretch of hell," Gary said, his smile returning, warm and genuine this time. "Half the inhabitants in this area are under the Old Ones' influence. We were lucky we got there when we did."
He let that sit for a moment, then continued.
"This world is saturated with an energy called Aeonex. Every person comes into contact with it through something called the Rite of Revelation — a process that happens when a person turns ten. It's not optional. It's just what occurs."
He paused.
'I knew it, Axiros thought, something settling quietly into place. 'This life is going to be very interesting. Because I already know the ending. The beginning. And where things currently stand.' He laughed, as if he were laughing at the world.
"The academy," Gary went on, "is where people learn to control that energy. Hone it. Shape it into something usable." He exhaled. "And when I say the academy is vast, I mean it spans an entire Metaverse. The whole thing."
Axiros already knew all of this. Every word Gary was saying had been written down once, in a novel, in a life so far back it felt like someone else's dream. He kept his expression attentive, curious, appropriately wide-eyed.
"As for the rest -" Gary's tone shifted. Something quieter crept into it. "Neither of us is qualified to hear those names yet. Not even me. The existential weight behind them is too great for mortal souls to carry. Even speaking them carelessly has consequences."
Axiros nodded slowly, mirroring Gary's gravity.
He was acting, of course. He knew the names. His existence was powerful enough to withstand them without flinching, even without material power. But Gary didn't need to know that.
'The Kelvari. The Primarchs.' He turned the knowledge over in the back of his mind, quiet and unhurried. 'The recognized powers. The ones everyone with enough standing eventually learns about.'
'But there's something above them.'
The novel had never said it outright. Just one line, half-buried, easy to miss if you weren't paying attention — 'they were mere pawns controlled by a grandmaster.' A breadcrumb. Intentional, he'd always suspected, though he hadn't thought much of it at the time.
He thought about it now.
'I don't know that name yet. But I will.'
He kept his face neutral and continued listening.
"Well then, that's about it." Gary leaned back, looking satisfied in the way people do when a conversation has gone the way they wanted. "As for your stay, you'll be moved tomorrow. A friend of mine has a house in the city of Metneris. You'll be properly set up there."
Axiros nodded along.
'Friend, family,' he thought. 'Which means another chain. Another person with their own angles and expectations.'He let it settle. 'No one in this world operates without chains. Not even me, I'm bound to the curse of doom and death, and have been longer than I can properly measure. I want freedom. True freedom. I want…'
The thought didn't finish. He let it go.
"Head back for now," Gary said, glancing between them. "Kael will take you to the residence tomorrow. The city isn't somewhere you want to move through alone right now."
Kael nodded. Axiros did the same.
But while his face stayed relaxed and his posture stayed easy, his attention had already shifted sideways onto Kael. Quietly, without drawing any notice. He was looking for the thread, the one that, once found, would give him something to work with. A chain subtle enough that Kael would never feel it, but strong enough to keep him close and useful.
He found something on the walk back.
Something Kael kept carefully out of sight, tucked beneath the surface of him, only visible in the small things most people wouldn't bother looking for. Axiros hadn't expected it from someone that young. He filed it away without reacting, the smile that almost surfaced staying well behind his eyes.
He'd confirm it later. For now, knowing it existed was enough.
He returned to his tent alone and let the quiet settle around him.
---
The next day moved quickly.
Axiros spent most of the previous day watching Kael from a comfortable distance, filling in the gaps. And somewhere along the way he noticed something else, a girl in the camp. Someone Kael's eyes drifted toward without him seeming to realize they were drifting. Maybe that was part of why he stayed in a place like this. A buried underground settlement wasn't somewhere a person chose without something holding them there.
Everyone had their reasons.
Eventually they made their way to the supersonic elevator that would carry them back to the surface. A low hum, a shift in pressure, and then they were above ground again.
---
Somewhere else in the city, in a windowless room, a group sat around a round table.
The argument had been running for a while.
They were all slaves of the Old Ones. Some for thousands of years, others for barely thirty, ages varied, temperaments varied. What didn't vary was their position. On the surface level of things, they ran this city.
"Those people have been killing our men in the lower sections." One leaned forward, jaw tight. "Sophia is dead. Killed by one of the uninfected."
"I heard they were trying to transport a boy." Another, arms folded. "A resource grab. Except they failed completely, and destroyed one of our better bases in the process." A short, humorless exhale. "Embarrassing."
"I have information on the boy." Caldera's voice was the calmest in the room. "My people managed to photograph him during the operation. A hidden camera. They confirmed it was taken."
"Then show it." Sierra didn't phrase it as a request. "Show me what this boy looks like. Show me why he was worth losing that base over."
Caldera set the device on the table and let the projection run.
The room went quiet.
Sierra's hands came down flat on the table, hard enough to cut through the silence. "Is this a joke?" Her voice had dropped, which was worse than if it had risen. "Caldera. Tell me this is a joke."
"My men confirmed the photo was taken." For the first time, Caldera sounded slightly off-balance. "I don't have an explanation."
The image showed a background. Pavement, structures, outdoor light. Everything a photograph of that location should contain.
No boy. No outline. No blur. Just clean, uninterrupted background — as though no one had ever been standing there at all.
Axiros's perfection had done what it always did. The moment that camera pointed at him, something in it read the intention behind it and quietly removed him from the result entirely. No trace. No smear. Just absence, clean and complete.
The room stayed silent for a moment longer.
Then everyone started talking at once.
---
Axiros climbed into the car.
It was a hyperfast supermodel, the kind built less for comfort and more for getting people out of the city quickly and quietly. Sleek, efficient, no unnecessary features. It knew what it was for.
Kael was already in the back seat, slouched against the window with his katana resting across his lap, fingers loosely wrapped around the handle. He looked half asleep. Maybe he was.
The car didn't wait. The moment both passengers were seated it started on its own, pulling away smoothly before either of them had fully settled. The speed built fast, the city outside blurring into streaks of light and structure within seconds.
Axiros watched the window for a moment. Then, without turning his head, he spoke.
"So. You're not going to tell them."
"Tell them what?" Kael's voice came out half-alarmed, half still caught in whatever drowsy state he'd been drifting through.
"Your secrets, Kael." Axiros turned to look at him, the faintest smile sitting on his face. "The ones you've been carrying around for a while now. The sacrifice. Your love. Your drawbacks. All of it."
The drowsiness evaporated instantly.
Kael straightened, eyes sharp and wide, his hand tightening around the katana. The blade slid an inch out of the sheath, not all the way, but enough to make the point. His eyes moved over Axiros with the kind of focus that came from someone doing very rapid calculations about their options.
'Haa.' Axiros didn't let the sigh reach his face. 'Children. So easily cornered. So easy to provoke. He's already stepping toward the edge of a pit he doesn't even know is there.'
"How do you know that?" Kael's voice was low now. Controlled, but only just.
"Chill." Axiros kept his tone easy, almost bored. "You can't kill me, Kael. Not right now. You're too weak, and you're too exposed." He let his gaze drift, casual, unhurried, toward the small lens mounted near the top corner of the windshield. "You see that camera? The entire ride is being recorded. So before you finish drawing that blade, I'd think carefully about what happens after. How exactly do you plan to explain your way out of this one?"
Kael's eyes followed his to the camera.
The hand on the katana didn't move, but the tension behind it shifted into something messier. 'Should I take the risk? If I move fast enough-' His jaw tightened. 'But if she finds out-' He bit down on the thought. 'Fuck.'
"I know what you're weighing right now," Axiros said, his voice dropping just slightly, threading the words in carefully. "But think about her, Kael. Think about what she'd think of you, hurting an innocent child." A small pause. "Is that really the person you want her to see?"