The rain did not stop.
It never did in the lower districts. The drainage systems here were old, broken, and half-forgotten—much like the people who lived above them.
Kael pressed his back against the cold stone wall of the ruined chapel and tried to slow his breathing.
His heart was still racing.
Not from running.
From what he had done.
From what he was now.
The girl with silver hair stood a few steps away, half in shadow, half in the dim light filtering through the broken roof. The rain did not seem to touch her. Or perhaps it did, and he simply couldn't see it against the faint glow inside her crystal arm.
They stared at each other in silence.
Then she spoke again.
"You're bleeding wrong."
Kael blinked. "…What?"
She pointed at his chest. "Your shirt is torn. But you're not bleeding."
He looked down.
She was right.
The place where the black threads had pierced him was… fine. Not even a scar.
"…I think I died properly already today," he said weakly. "Maybe I ran out of blood."
She didn't laugh.
Instead, she crouched in front of him, eyes narrowing slightly. Up close, he could see faint crystalline lines spreading from her left shoulder across her collarbone and neck, like frost creeping over glass.
"You absorbed a concept fragment," she said.
Kael stared. "A what fragment?"
"Don't play stupid."
"I'm not playing."
She paused.
Then looked at him more carefully.
Not at his face.
At him.
"…You really don't know."
He shook his head.
She straightened.
"That's… worse."
She stood and walked a few steps away, scanning the ruined chapel through a broken archway.
"Listen carefully, mistake-boy. The entire city is in lockdown. The bells you heard weren't for you being a criminal."
"…They weren't?"
"They were for you being impossible."
She turned back to him.
"You triggered a Concept Alert."
Kael swallowed. "Is that… rare?"
"No."
She looked him in the eye.
"It's apocalyptic."
They couldn't stay there.
She made that clear in exactly three sentences, two of which included the words "divine auditors" and "existence purge."
They moved.
Again.
Through side streets.
Through half-collapsed buildings.
Through places Kael was pretty sure were not on any official map.
He noticed something as they walked.
People were hiding.
Doors shut when they passed.
Windows closed.
Some people looked at him and felt something before he even got close.
Fear.
Not the normal kind.
The kind that came from instinct.
"…They can tell," he muttered.
Seris nodded. "They can't see what you are. But their Fate Imprints can."
"…That's comforting."
"It shouldn't be."
They reached an old shrine that had collapsed inward instead of outward.
Seris pressed her hand against a cracked pillar.
The stone melted.
Kael jumped back. "That's— that's not how stone works!"
"It does if you tell it to stop being stone."
She stepped inside.
Kael hesitated.
Then followed.
The passage beyond was narrow, lit by faint blue moss and strange runes carved into the walls. The air smelled old. And slightly… irritated.
"…Where are we?"
"A smuggler route. Also a semi-sentient ruin. Watch your step."
"…Semi-sentient?"
The floor snapped at his foot.
He yelped and jumped back.
Something like stone teeth retracted into the ground.
Seris smirked.
"It likes people who pay attention."
"…I hate this city."
"Everyone does. The city hates them back."
They walked in silence for a while.
Then Kael asked:
"…Why are you helping me?"
Seris didn't answer immediately.
When she did, her voice was colder.
"Because you're loud."
"…What?"
"Not in sound. In existence. I felt you from three districts away."
She looked at her crystal arm.
"Things like me… notice things like you."
"…Things like you?"
She stopped walking.
For a moment, Kael thought she wouldn't answer.
Then:
"I'm dying."
He blinked. "Oh."
She glanced at him.
"That's all you have to say?"
"…I'm very tired."
A corner of her mouth twitched.
"Fair."
She lifted her crystal arm.
"It's called Crystallization of the Self. A curse where your body slowly turns into the concept you're most compatible with."
"…What concept is that?"
She looked away.
"Stillness."
"…That sounds peaceful."
"It's not."
They reached a hidden chamber.
It looked… lived in.
Books. Runes. Food supplies. Weapons.
And in the center, on a floating cushion of light…
A ring.
The ring spoke.
"Oh good. You're back. And you brought home a walking catastrophe."
Kael froze.
"…The ring just talked."
"Yes," Seris said. "And unfortunately, it never stops."
"I heard that, you overgrown gemstone."
The ring floated closer to Kael.
"Oh. Oh no."
It vibrated.
"I feel it. I absolutely feel it."
It circled him.
"Seris… why does he smell like unfinished destiny?"
Seris's eyes narrowed.
"Because he doesn't have one."
Silence.
Then:
"…Oh."
"…Oh that is spectacularly illegal."
The ring glowed brighter.
"Boy. Do you have any idea how many cosmic laws you're violating just by standing?"
"…Three?"
"Adorable. It's closer to all of them."
Far above the city…
Something vast and ancient shifted.
Not awake.
But aware.
And for the first time in a very long time…
Reality looked down.
Kael's stomach churned.
He had survived execution. He had absorbed a fragment of death itself. And now… he was apparently illegal, impossible, a "walking catastrophe."
He glanced at the floating ring hovering before him. Its light pulsed in erratic patterns, almost like it had a heartbeat.
"I am Pip," it said dramatically, circling him once. "Formerly Great One Pipryx, Devourer of Suns, Breaker of Seven Realities. Currently, cursed to eternity as a circular ornament."
Kael blinked. "…You're a ring?"
"Temporarily. Don't mock me, boy. Existentially speaking, that's the least of your problems."
"…My problems aren't even normal anymore."
"Normal is dead," Pip declared, spinning around Kael. "And you just turned it into a crime scene."
Seris leaned against the far wall, arms crossed. Her silver hair shimmered faintly in the moss-light, and the cracks in her arm pulsed slowly.
"Ignore him," she said. "He's chaotic, loud, and utterly useless for actual help. But he's necessary if you want to survive."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "He's necessary?"
"Yes. One day," Pip said solemnly, "you will thank me. Or curse me. Probably curse me. That is a guarantee."
Kael groaned. "I don't even know why I'm alive anymore, and you guys are… circus animals."
"Ah, the youth speaks," Pip said. "I like your style. Insolence. Bravery. The perfect mix for an unrecorded existence."
Seris snapped her fingers. A faint shimmer ran along the floor, revealing a series of runes embedded in the stone.
"The Empire isn't just going to ignore what you did," she said. "They've deployed Concept Hunters. People whose only job is to remove anomalies like you."
Kael felt a chill. "…Hunters?"
"Yes," Seris said grimly. "They won't arrest you. They won't interrogate you. They'll erase you. Completely."
Kael swallowed. "…Like I never existed?"
"Exactly," she replied.
The room went silent. Kael could hear the faint drip of water from the broken roof. Each drop echoed in his ears like a ticking clock.
"I don't… I can't just… die again," Kael whispered.
"You might not have a choice," Seris said.
Pip floated closer, its tiny light bouncing across the walls.
"Technically, you do have a choice," it said with dramatic flair. "The choice to adapt… or cease to exist. Fun, right?"
Kael pressed his hands to his face. "…I'm not ready for this."
"No one ever is," Seris said softly, stepping closer. "I wasn't either. But if you want to survive, you'll need to understand something very important…"
Kael looked at her. "…What?"
"Authority isn't power in the way you think. It's dangerous. It can kill you if you aren't careful. It's… like fire. Or better yet…" she gestured to him, "…like you are fire, and you don't even know how to burn safely."
Kael shook his head. "Great. I'm a walking inferno and the universe wants to erase me."
"Exactly," she said, a hint of a smile flickering on her pale lips. "Welcome to your new life."
They had been walking in silence when a low hum resonated from the stone beneath their feet. Pip's glow intensified.
"Ah. Music!" the ring exclaimed. "The sound of incoming correction. Someone doesn't like what you did, boy."
Kael squinted. "Correction?"
"Hunters," Seris said, her voice taut. "They're coming."
The walls of the chamber shuddered faintly. Outside, distant boots rang in rhythm—too perfect to be accidental.
Kael's stomach dropped. "And there's nothing we can do?"
"We can run," Pip said. "Or hide. Or die spectacularly. Your choice, really."
Seris pushed a hidden panel in the floor. A stairwell spiraled down into total darkness.
"This way," she said. "If we're lucky, the hunters won't follow through these tunnels."
Kael hesitated at the opening. "…If we're lucky?"
"Luck isn't part of your package anymore," Seris said flatly.
"…Great."
They descended into the undercity—old sewers, forgotten passageways, collapsed tunnels. The smell was putrid, the walls slick with moisture. Pip floated ahead like a tiny guardian light.
"Ah, smell that?" it chirped. "Pure despair, old magic, and rotting fish. Truly invigorating."
Kael gagged. "…Why am I not dead yet?"
"Because the universe is curious," Pip said. "And you… well, you are the mistake that keeps the universe awake at night."
Kael shook his head. "…I don't even know what I am."
"Neither do I," Seris said quietly. "But if you want to survive, you're going to have to learn."
Pip floated close, spinning in small circles.
"Oh, and one last thing," it said. "Being unwritten? That's like a neon sign flashing Target over your head. People will come. Creatures will come. Concepts will come. Death itself might RSVP."
Kael groaned. "…Perfect."
Seris's cracked crystal arm glimmered faintly. She reached over and touched his shoulder.
"Come on. Your lesson in surviving the impossible starts now."
Kael took a deep breath. The air was damp, cold, and smelled of old stone. And yet… he didn't want to close his eyes.
Because for the first time, the world was watching him.
And if he was going to survive… he had to move.
The tunnels were narrow, slick with moisture, and silent—almost too silent. Every footstep echoed, every drip of water amplified.
Kael's heart hammered in his chest. The memory of the execution square, of the black threads, of the first man he "ended," clung to him like a shadow he couldn't shake.
Pip floated ahead, glowing faintly.
"Yes, yes, listen to me," Pip said in its dramatic, almost theatrical tone. "The tunnel has a slight bend, three broken bricks on the left wall, a loose stone—oh, there it is!—perfect hiding spot in sixty seconds or your life back!"
Kael groaned. "…I think I hate you already."
"Hate is subjective," Pip said, spinning. "But yes, I expect it. Moving on: danger inbound. Very loud, very angry, and very lawful."
Kael glanced up at Seris. Her face was calm, but her eyes—the cold, crystalline eyes—were sharp as a blade.
"Hunters?" Kael asked.
"Yes," she replied. "And they won't hesitate. Once they detect a variable like you, nothing will stop them. Not walls, not tunnels, not decoys."
"…Not even you?" Kael asked cautiously.
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she extended her left arm, and the cracks of light running through it flared. A low hum filled the air, resonating off the tunnel walls.
"I'm not strong enough to fight them directly. Not yet. But I can hold them off long enough for us to escape… if we're careful."
Kael swallowed. "…Great. So we run, hide, and pray I don't die again."
"Precisely," Seris said.
They had only walked a few minutes when the faint sound of boots against wet stone echoed from deeper within the tunnel network.
Kael froze. Pip's glow flared.
"Ah! Music to my non-existent ears!" the ring exclaimed. "Hunters, highly trained, highly boring, and ready to murder you!"
Kael's stomach turned. "…I really don't like this world anymore."
"Nobody does," Seris said grimly.
The footsteps were getting closer. Too precise. Too synchronized.
"This is your lesson in surviving," Pip said. "Observe: they move like shadows that obey laws, not men. Any false move—boom!—erasure. Got it?"
Kael nodded weakly. "…Got it."
"Good."
Seris pressed her hand against the wall. Faint lines of light pulsed from the cracks in her arm, weaving into the tunnel walls.
"I can create temporary barriers," she whispered. "They're weak, but enough to slow them."
Kael followed her instructions, staying in the shadows. Every instinct screamed at him to run. Every sense screamed at him to hide.
And yet… he felt it too. That thread—the thin pale line connecting him to the hunters' existence—quivering. It reacted to his Authority.
"Careful," Pip warned. "Every time you pull at that thread, you risk your soul. You are borrowing death. It does not belong to you. It will punish you."
Kael swallowed. "…I have to?"
"Yes," Pip said cheerfully. "Because otherwise… they will."
The hunters appeared.
Not through the walls. Not through the floor. Not from above.
They emerged from the shadows themselves.
Tall. Clad in dark, reflective armor. Helmets with no eyes, only shifting void-like surfaces. Every movement precise. Every step silent, yet somehow felt.
Kael froze.
Seris placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Watch."
A hunter raised a blade—not a normal sword, but a conceptual blade. It didn't just cut flesh. It cut existence. It left a faint shimmer where reality had been briefly excised.
Kael staggered backward. "…That's… illegal, isn't it?"
"Legally?" Pip interjected. "Absolutely. Cosmically? Oh yes. Morally? Debatable. Practically? You're going to regret being here."
Seris whispered:
"Do not fight them yet. Follow me. Move only when I say."
She extended her crystal arm, and the cracks in it glowed brightly. The walls of the tunnel flickered with faint shadows of light. She whispered a single word.
The hunters froze mid-step.
Time, Kael realized, had slowed.
"…You can do that?"
"Temporarily," Seris said. "I can bend the residual magic of the city to slow them. Only a few seconds."
Kael's mind raced. Seconds… isn't enough.
"Don't panic," Pip said, bouncing around his head. "Chaos management tip number one: breathe. Chaos loves panicking people. It is a terrible roommate. Trust me."
Kael followed Seris as she darted through a hidden passage. The hunters recovered just as fast as she had moved.
One of them raised its blade. Kael froze. He felt the thread above the hunter's head—a sliver of existence he could pull.
"…I shouldn't…" he whispered.
"Do it," Pip said. "Or die. Choice, boy. Take it. Or don't. Guaranteed panic and death either way."
Kael clenched his fists. He focused. He pulled.
A faint shimmer ran along the hunter's thread. Reality snapped.
The hunter collapsed. Dead.
"…I killed again," Kael said softly.
"Borrowed," Pip corrected. "See? Already learning."
Seris glanced at him. Her expression was unreadable.
"You're learning fast," she said. "But every time you do that, you risk your soul. Do it too much, and even I won't be able to hold you together."
Kael looked at the second hunter, advancing slowly. The thread above it flickered. He felt his hands shake.
"Do I… have to?"
"Yes," Seris said firmly. "Or you die. Or worse, they erase the thread of your life entirely. There's no coming back from that."
Kael swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, and pulled again.
The hunter collapsed mid-step, the world around it shimmering as if reality itself shivered.
Kael's legs gave way. He slid down against the wall, breathing heavily.
"See?" Pip said cheerfully. "Training is fun. You're basically immortal… sort of… maybe… sometimes."
"…I hate you," Kael muttered.
"And I love you already," Pip replied.
Seris placed a hand lightly on Kael's shoulder.
"One more thing," she said. "The city isn't just going to send hunters. Something else has noticed you. Something bigger. Something older. And it's curious."
Kael's stomach dropped. "…Curious?"
"Curious isn't friendly," Seris said. "And curiosity in this city usually ends in erasure."
The tunnels fell silent again. Rainwater seeped faintly from the ceiling. Pip spun around Kael in tiny circles.
"Lesson number two," it said. "Chaos isn't coming. Chaos is already here. And it loves you."
Kael clenched his fists. "…Then I guess… we keep moving."
Seris nodded. "We survive. That's all that matters. One step at a time."
"…One step at a time," Kael repeated, almost to himself.
The shadows ahead shifted. A low hum reverberated through the tunnel walls.
Something was coming.
And for the first time, Kael felt fear, real and primal—not just for his life, but for his existence itself.
The hum grew louder.
It was no longer just the echoes of dripping water in the tunnel. It was deeper, resonant, vibrating through Kael's bones.
Seris glanced at him, her crystal arm pulsing faintly.
"Something's coming," she said quietly. "Not hunters. Something… older."
Kael swallowed hard. "…Older than the Empire?"
"Older than the world you know."
Pip spun around him like a golden halo.
"Yes! Something with teeth sharper than laws, claws sharper than morality, and a very strong opinion about you being here."
Kael shivered. "…I'm beginning to hate the universe."
"I exist in it," Pip said matter-of-factly. "So technically, you should blame me first."
Seris ignored him. She pressed her hand to the wall again. The blue moss pulsed, forming a thin, glowing map of the tunnels.
"We'll move through these passages. Stick close. Do exactly what I do."
Kael nodded, eyes scanning every shadow. The air felt thick. Heavy. Electric.
Then the first attack came.
A hunter, but not like before. Its armor was black as void. Its form flickered between solid and nothing. Its blade gleamed with a conceptual shimmer, slicing through the tunnel air like it was a living thing.
Kael froze. Pip hovered near his shoulder.
"Observe!" the ring cried. "This is survival 101: authority isn't strength, it's leverage!"
Kael frowned. "…Leverage?"
"Yes! Pull threads! Push threads! Snap threads! And try not to die while doing it!"
Kael didn't have time to respond. The hunter lunged. Its blade came down in a flash. Reality bent where it passed.
Kael instinctively reached out. Not with his hands. With his will.
A faint thread, pale and shimmering, appeared above the hunter. He grasped it—focusing on the concept he had stolen, the fragment of death.
The world twisted.
The hunter froze midair. Its blade stopped inches from Kael's face. Reality shimmered and cracked.
Pip clapped. "Bravo! Bravo! You just borrowed death! Feel the chaos!"
Kael staggered backward, breathing hard. "…It worked?"
"Technically, yes. But your soul screamed," Pip said. "Do you feel that? That aching hollow in your chest? That's death reminding you it's still its own property."
Kael pressed his hand to his chest. "…I don't think I like this lesson."
"Lesson two: control your power. Don't let it control you."
The hunter collapsed, reality snapping back. But the tunnel ahead shook violently.
"They're coming in force!" Seris shouted. "Run!"
Kael followed as she darted through a side passage, walls bending faintly under the pressure of her crystal light. Pip zipped around, shouting chaotic encouragements and useless but oddly informative advice:
"Remember! The thread is your friend! The tunnel is your enemy! The shadows are impatient! And never trust gravity!"
Kael's feet slipped on wet stone. A faint purple glow appeared beneath him—a small authority trap laid by the hunters.
"…Trap!" Kael shouted.
Pip spun around frantically. "Step left! Step left! Avoid existential deletion!"
Kael obeyed, leaping awkwardly. The trap ignited behind him, vaporizing the stone and leaving a faint black scar in the tunnel floor.
Seris reached a larger chamber ahead. She raised her arm, the cracks of light in her crystal glowing brighter.
"Stay behind me," she said. "I can only hold them off for so long. When they see you, you'll have to move. Your Authority will be the only thing keeping you alive."
Kael's stomach churned.