The fracture split wider.
Silver light flooded the void in violent waves as the Veil forced itself forward piece by piece.
Now Nancy could finally see it fully.
And she wished she couldn't.
Its body had no stable shape.
Millions of shadows moved beneath translucent skin stretched across something too enormous to exist. Faces surfaced briefly across its form—crying, screaming, whispering—before sinking back into darkness again.
Every soul it had ever touched.
Every world it had ever consumed.
The sight alone nearly broke her mind.
Kai grabbed her arm hard enough to pull her back into focus.
"Nancy."
Blood ran down his chin now.
The cracks were almost at his heart.
There wasn't much time left.
The Veil's countless eyes fixed on Nancy together.
JOIN US.
"No."
YOU ALREADY UNDERSTAND.
"I understand you're wrong."
The creature tilted its massive head slightly.
Almost curious.
ALL LIFE ENDS IN SUFFERING.
Nancy's hands shook.
"Maybe."
Images flashed through her mind—
Fear.
Loss.
Pain.
Grief.
Everything they had survived.
Everything they were still surviving.
Then she looked at Kai.
Broken.
Bleeding.
Still standing beside her anyway.
And suddenly—
she realized something important.
The Veil understood suffering.
But not why people kept choosing each other despite it.
That was the one thing it could never fully comprehend.
Nancy stepped forward slowly.
"Kai," Leo's distant voice echoed faintly through the connection, distorted from the real world. "If either of you can hear me, NOW WOULD BE GREAT."
Even now—
Leo was still Leo.
Nancy almost smiled.
The Veil noticed the emotion instantly.
And recoiled.
Just slightly.
Nancy froze.
Then understanding hit.
Not fear.
Not power.
Connection hurt it.
Real connection.
Not possession.
Not dependency.
Choice.
Kai saw it in her eyes immediately.
"You figured something out."
Nancy looked at the Veil carefully now.
All its endless voices.
All the minds inside it.
And yet—
completely alone.
"You can't force a bond," she whispered.
The Veil became still.
Completely still.
Nancy's pulse quickened.
"You can imitate people. Manipulate them. Consume them." She stepped closer. "But you can't create what humans create naturally."
The shadows around the creature trembled violently now.
Anger.
For the first time—
the Veil was angry.
WE ARE ETERNAL.
"And still alone."
The words hit harder than any weapon.
The creature screamed.
The entire void shattered around them.
Kai nearly collapsed as the bond destabilized violently.
"Nancy—!"
But she understood now.
The Veil needed willing connection to fully cross realities.
That was the rule.
That was why it spent generations manipulating instead of simply invading.
And that meant—
it could be denied.
Nancy grabbed Kai's hand tightly.
The Veil lunged instantly.
DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM US.
Nancy looked directly into its countless eyes.
And made her choice.
"No."
She kissed Kai.
The connection detonated.
Silver light exploded through the fracture with enough force to tear the void apart. The Veil shrieked in genuine pain as cracks spread across its massive form.
Not physical cracks.
Isolation.
The souls trapped inside it began screaming differently now.
Awake.
Remembering themselves.
The Veil staggered backward.
For the first time in eternity—
something inside it was breaking apart.