At the heart of the Sunken City, where the sphere of darkness once floated, there is now a throne made of bones human, demon, and something else entirely. On that throne sits Amaranth, no longer a formless sphere but a figure of terrible beauty. It looks like a young woman, pale as moonlight, with hair that flows like liquid shadow and eyes that hold galaxies.
"Welcome back, Light Bringer," Amaranth says. "I've been waiting."
Lee demands to know what it wants. Amaranth smiles a sad, ancient smile.
"I want what I've always wanted," it says. "To stop being hungry. To stop being alone. To be remembered as something other than a monster."
"And you think destroying the world will accomplish that?"
"No." Amaranth stands. "I think saving it will. But not your way, Lee Zaou. Not with hope and friendship and second chances. Those things are beautiful, but they are also fragile. They break. They fade. They die."
It gestures to the shadows behind the throne. Inyocha steps forward not the Inyocha Lee knows, but a version of him wreathed in shadows, his eyes burning red.
"I offer him a different path," Amaranth says. "A path of certainty. A world where no one is ever thrown away. Where no one is ever alone. Where the strong protect the weak not out of charity, but out of design."
Lee looks at his brother. "Inyocha. Don't listen to her."
Inyocha's red eyes flicker. "I'm not listening. I'm considering."