I stood there, staring at the man in front of me, and felt something dark begin to rise inside my chest. It wasn't fear, not anymore. That had burned away somewhere during the trial. What replaced it was something heavier, slower, and far more dangerous. Rage. It built quietly, layer by layer, until it settled deep inside me. My hands curled into fists at my sides as I watched him, taking in every detail of that face, that unsettling calm, that presence that felt wrong in a way I couldn't explain. It was as if he didn't belong in this world, and yet somehow understood it better than I did. For a moment, neither of us moved. The air between us felt thick, like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to break.
Then my watch vibrated.
The sharp sensation cut through everything, snapping me out of the moment. I lifted my wrist slowly, my eyes never leaving him, and brought it closer to my ear. Sahasra's voice came through, slightly distorted but steady enough to ground me. She said she had activated the emergency return and that I would be back at the base in a few minutes. For the first time since I saw that man, something inside me shifted. It wasn't relief, not exactly, but it was enough to remind me that I wasn't completely alone. I exhaled slowly, still watching him. He hadn't reacted. Hadn't moved. He was just watching me, like he already knew what was about to happen, like none of this surprised him. That only made the anger inside me burn hotter.
I raised two fingers to my temple, and for a brief moment, everything went completely silent. Then the light came. A blinding white glow surrounded me, swallowing everything in an instant. The cave, the man, the tension, all of it disappeared as if it had never existed. The world twisted, folded in on itself, and then I hit the ground hard. The impact knocked the air out of my lungs, and I lay there for a second, staring up at the ceiling of Dragon Base, trying to process how quickly everything had changed. The ground beneath me felt solid, real, but my mind was still back there, in that cave, locked onto that man.
I turned my head and saw Sahasra standing a few steps away, holding a briefcase. Something in my chest loosened at the sight of her. She was fine. That alone steadied me more than I expected. I pushed myself up, ignoring the protest in my body as I stood. The pain was still there, lingering, but it felt distant compared to everything else. She stepped forward and handed me the briefcase, telling me it was for the armor. Her voice was calm, but there was tension beneath it, something she wasn't saying. She had seen everything. I took the briefcase from her and placed it on the table without speaking, letting out a slow breath as I tried to regain control of myself.
Then I deactivated the armor. The full set that had covered my body split apart instantly, separating into individual pieces with smooth precision. The weight disappeared all at once, and I rolled my shoulders slightly, feeling the sudden lightness. It was strange how quickly something that had protected me moments ago now felt like something I needed to remove. The briefcase had two levels, and I opened it carefully. Without thinking too much about it, I started with the second level, removing the chest piece and placing it inside, adjusting it until it fit perfectly. There was something oddly grounding about the process, about the structure and order of it, like putting everything away gave me some control over what had just happened.
I closed the second level and opened the first, placing each piece of the armor into its designated slot one by one. The gauntlets. The leg pieces. Every movement was slow and deliberate, as if moving too quickly would cause everything to catch up with me at once. Finally, I reached up and removed the mask. For a moment, I just held it in my hand, staring at it, remembering the trial, remembering what I had done, what I had become in those moments. Then I placed it in its spot and closed the briefcase. The soft click echoed in the room, louder than it should have been.
Sahasra was still watching me. She said she had asked everyone to meet at my house. I nodded and replied with a quiet "okay," though the word felt heavier than it should have. This wasn't just a meeting. This was everything finally catching up to us. I activated my watch again, typing in my house location without hesitation. My fingers moved automatically, like I had done this countless times before, even though everything felt different now. Then I pressed the crown.
The world shifted again, and in an instant, we were standing in front of my house. The sight of it hit me harder than I expected. It looked the same, unchanged, familiar in a way that almost felt distant now. Like it belonged to a version of my life that no longer existed. I let out a quiet breath and said, "Well… this is it," glancing briefly at Sahasra before looking back at the door. My voice didn't sound like mine anymore.
I stepped forward and stopped just before the entrance. My hand hovered near the door, but I didn't open it. Not yet. Because once I did, there would be no going back. Everything we didn't understand, everything that had been hidden from us, everything that had led to this moment, it was all waiting on the other side.
"Before we go in," I said, my voice lower now, steadier but heavier than before, "it's time we get the answers we've been looking for."
And as I stood there, staring at that door, I knew one thing for certain.
Whatever was waiting inside… it was going to change everything.