When I came to, there was no pain.
Just light.
Not the harsh, burning kind that blinds you — more like sunlight through glass, warm and steady. I was lying on a surface that felt like stone but shimmered like water. The air tasted electric, like the world had forgotten how to breathe normally.
For a second, I thought I'd died.
Then I heard her voice.
> "You're awake."
Lunaris.
I sat up so fast I nearly fell off whatever floating platform I was on. And yes — floating. We weren't standing on solid ground. The "floor" beneath me was suspended in an endless expanse of white and gold. Islands of crystal drifted lazily through the sky, connected by threads of light like veins in a living body.
It was beautiful.
Terrifyingly beautiful.
> "Where… am I?"
She stood a few steps away, calm as ever, her silver hair rippling in the invisible wind.
> "Inside the Resonance," she said softly. "The place where souls and Aether converge — where what you were and what you are can finally meet."
> "Great," I muttered. "So I'm in a cosmic therapy session."
> "You mock what you do not understand."
> "No, I mock everything when I'm terrified. It's kind of my thing."
Her lips curved — just a little. The faintest echo of amusement.
> "You haven't changed," she said.
That hit harder than I wanted it to.
> "You talk like you've known me my whole life," I said. "But I only started dreaming about you a few weeks ago."
She tilted her head. "Dreams are merely the memory of eternity filtered through fear."
> "Okay, yeah, but I'm gonna need that in 'not cosmic poetry' please."
> "You were mine once, Haruto. A fragment of my light. My chosen vessel."
That word again — vessel.
I swallowed hard. "You mean… weapon."
Her expression didn't change. "You carried the Resonance Core — the power to channel Aether beyond mortal limitation. You used it to reshape worlds. Until you turned it against me."
> "I— what?"
She extended her hand, and the air between us shimmered — forming an image of a battlefield.
Endless, burning light. Soldiers made of Aether kneeling. Cities dissolving like dust in a hurricane.
And at the center of it all — me.
Wielding a sword of blue flame.
I stood beside Lunaris, smiling as the sky split open.
> "You served me faithfully," she whispered. "Until you learned what the power cost. Until you destroyed everything we had built — including yourself."
The vision faded. My chest tightened. "So you're saying I wiped out… what, an entire world?"
> "Not wiped out. Rewritten. You tried to make the light obey your will. You failed. And so you were reborn — a fragment cast into this world. A chance to begin again."
I laughed, because I couldn't think of anything else to do.
> "Fantastic. So I'm a reincarnated war criminal with magical amnesia. That's just what I needed."
She didn't smile.
> "You jest to distance yourself. But the truth will find you, Haruto. It always does."
---
We stood in silence. Somewhere below, a river of light flowed endlessly, glowing brighter with every heartbeat.
> "Why show me this?" I asked quietly.
> "Because you must choose," she said. "The Resonance within you is waking. If you let it unfold uncontrolled, it will consume you — and everything you love."
> "And your alternative?"
> "Return to me," she said simply. "Accept the bond again. Together, we can reshape this dying world into what it was meant to be."
There was no threat in her tone, no malice. That somehow made it worse.
> "You mean make everyone kneel to you."
> "No," she corrected softly. "I mean save them from themselves."
> "Yeah. That's what every dictator says before doing something horrible."
Her eyes glimmered — not with anger, but something like… sorrow.
> "You think me cruel," she said. "But I have wept for every life lost to chaos. For every prayer that reached no ear. I was created to protect this world. You of all beings should understand."
> "Protecting the world doesn't mean controlling it."
> "Does it not?" she asked quietly. "When left alone, mortals destroy themselves. They repeat their wars, their greed, their cruelty. Should I simply watch?"
Her voice trembled, barely perceptible. For a moment, I saw it — not a goddess, but someone unbearably tired.
> "I tried watching once," she said. "Do you remember how that ended?"
I didn't answer. Because I did. The memory wasn't fully there, but the feeling was. The grief. The silence. The light fading.
And somehow, I knew she was right — she had watched before. And something terrible had happened.
---
> "You could still walk away," I said. "You don't need to—"
> "I cannot walk away from my purpose," she said. "And neither can you."
> "I'm not your weapon anymore."
She stepped closer, her golden eyes meeting mine. "Then prove it."
---
A circle of light flared beneath us.
Before I could move, the ground vanished — and I fell.
The world shifted, folding like glass. I landed hard on something solid — sand, maybe. Heat radiated around me.
I stood up and blinked.
A desert stretched in every direction. Above, the white sky still loomed, but the air shimmered with silver haze.
Lunaris's voice echoed, though she was nowhere to be seen.
"Every memory leaves an echo. Let's see what you left behind."
The ground rippled — and figures began to form. Dozens, hundreds. Soldiers in gleaming armor of light, standing in formation. A younger version of me stood at their head, armor shining, face calm.
I wanted to look away. I couldn't.
"You led them into the fire," her voice said. "You commanded the fall of dawn."
The sky darkened. The soldiers lifted their weapons. A beam of light cut across the horizon — and everything disintegrated.
Ashes. Screams. Silence.
And over it all, my voice — deeper, colder, commanding.
> "For the new light."
The scene vanished. I fell to my knees, trembling.
> "No… no, that can't be me."
Lunaris appeared again, standing amid the dust. "It was you. But it doesn't have to be again."
> "You say that like I have a choice."
> "You always had one."
Her hand reached toward me. "Join me, Haruto. This time, no more lies. No more pain."
I looked at her — really looked — and for a second, I saw past the divinity. She was radiant, yes, but also alone.
Completely, desperately alone.
---
> "You said I destroyed everything," I said slowly. "So why bring me back?"
Her gaze softened. "Because you are the only one who can finish what we began. The Resonance Core cannot exist without its bearer. I need you, Haruto."
I laughed bitterly. "That makes two of us who don't like that answer."
She smiled faintly. "Then perhaps we're more alike than you think."
---
Before I could reply, a blinding light flared across the horizon. The white sky trembled — cracking, like glass under pressure.
Lunaris's eyes widened. "No… not yet."
The world shook violently.
> "What's happening?!" I shouted.
> "Someone is trying to breach the Resonance!"
The air split open above us — and through it, I saw them.
Celia. Rina. Mira.
They were standing on what looked like the edge of a collapsing portal, their figures flickering with static.
> "Haruto!" Rina screamed. "Hang on! We're pulling you out!"
> "How— how are you even here?!" I yelled back.
> "Don't ask! Eira said something about 'reverse polarity of emotional attachment!' It worked, so shut up and move!"
Even in the middle of cosmic insanity, she could make me laugh.
Lunaris extended her hand, furious. "No! You cannot take him!"
Energy spiraled from her palm — pure, golden power. Celia raised her sword, catching the blast midair, screaming as her armor cracked.
> "Haruto, go!" she shouted. "We'll hold her off!"
> "You can't hold her off—"
> "I've dealt with worse exes!" Rina yelled.
> "No you haven't!"
> "Okay, maybe not, but it sounded cool!"
The portal began to collapse. I looked at Lunaris — her expression unreadable now.
> "You'll come back to me," she said softly. "You always do."
> "We'll see about that."
I ran — straight into the light.
The last thing I heard was her whisper.
A mix of sorrow and certainty.
"The Resonance is not yours to deny, my star."
---
I woke up gasping.
Cold metal beneath me. The scent of burnt ozone and disinfectant.
Arcadia Base. The infirmary.
Celia was slumped in a chair nearby, bandaged and asleep, her sword leaning against the wall. Rina was snoring loudly on a second cot. Mira was awake, typing something on a terminal.
When she saw me stir, she didn't even look surprised.
> "Ah. You're back. Try not to explode this time."
> "Nice to see you too," I croaked.
She handed me a glass of water. "You were out for twelve hours. Celia nearly killed two medics when they tried to move you."
> "Sounds like her."
Mira hesitated. "Did you see her?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah."
> "And?"
> "She's not done with us."
---
The hum in my chest returned — faint but steady.
Somewhere far above, beyond the white sky, I could feel Lunaris watching.
And for the first time, I wasn't sure if the battle ahead was against her… or against myself.
---
To be continued in Chapter 11: "The Light That Shouldn't Exist"