The air in the royal conservatory had turned stagnant, heavy with the scent of wilting
lotuses and the salt-bitter tang of unshed tears. A full day had passed since
Jee-shahn had unfurled those terrifying, tattered wings and vanished into the Western
sky. Jasmine, Mina, Liana, and Yuna remained exactly where they had been
launched—huddled on the oversized plush bed, their eyes fixed on the empty balcony
railing as if their sheer collective will could force the "Monster" to reappear.
The heavy oak doors creaked open, admitting the three brothers: Ryuki, Tidus, and
Kaito. They carried trays of steaming food, the aroma of spices usually meant to
entice, but the sisters didn't even turn their heads. Ryuki, the eldest and most stoic of
the three, set a tray down with a heavy clatter.
"Eat," Ryuki commanded, his voice tight with a mixture of pity and frustration. When
no one moved, he let out a sharp, cynical breath. "Why are you wasting away for
someone who doesn't care for your tears? He told you 'Never.' He is a monster who
looks at our world like a boring book he's already finished reading".
"Leave the room, brother," Jasmine whispered, her voice hollow and devoid of its
usual fire. "Please. Just leave us."
Hours bled into a second day. The sun rose and began its slow descent into the
afternoon, yet the four sisters remained in their self-imposed prison of grief,
untouched by food or sleep. The silence was finally shattered not by a whisper, but by
the frantic clanking of metal. Their father, the High Priest, burst into the room, but he
was no longer the weeping man who had clutched Jee-shahn's socks. He was clad in
ancient, ceremonial battle armor, his face etched with grim determination.
"My daughters, do not leave this room," the High Priest barked, his voice echoing off
the crystal walls. "The South is no longer safe. We are under attack by the Seven
Sins".
The word Sins acted like a jolting current. The sisters scrambled to the balcony, their
eyes widening at the nightmare unfolding below. The sky above the Aurex Empire had
curdled into the sickly, bruised color of a rotting lung. At the port, the Gilded Fleet had
arrived, but they were no longer ships of wood and silk. Possessed by the shadow of
the Seven Sins, the vessels were hulks of bone and black ink, led by the Elder Duke
whose eyes now leaked a dark, rhythmic corruption.The ocean was turning into a stagnant mire of ink once more, the corruption
spreading like a virus through the land and its people. Screams of civilians rose from
the harbor as the possessed army began its systematic slaughter.
"Stay here," the High Priest commanded, looking at his daughters one last time. "You
are the empire's most precious treasure. I will not lose you to this filth."
With a heavy thud, he exited and locked the conservatory doors from the outside,
leaving the sisters trapped in a cage of gold while their world burned in black ink.