VOL. 1: CHAPTER 9: WHEN HIDING BECOMES A LUXURY
Latvier changed its posture by noon.
Not visibly. Not dramatically. The walls stayed black, the doors stayed sealed, the sigils stayed etched into stone like quiet scars. But the intention of the place shifted, and anyone attuned to SOL could feel it the way animals feel storms before clouds arrive.
The church was no longer bracing.
It was preparing.
Sionu felt it the moment he stepped back into the central hall. The air hummed at a different pitch now, lower, steadier, like a generator switching from standby to full output. The awakened gathered there moved with purpose instead of panic. Conversations were hushed but focused. Fear hadn't vanished, but it had been reorganized.
Fear with direction became caution.
Caution with direction became discipline.
Blitz stood near one of the pillars, stretching her shoulders slowly. Steam curled faintly from her skin and then vanished as she exhaled, deliberate and controlled. She looked like someone rehearsing calm because calm had just become a weapon.
Ultimo leaned against the wall opposite her, palms flat against the stone as if reminding himself that the world was still solid. Every so often, the floor near his feet would creak or tighten, then relax when he adjusted his breathing.
Sionu stood between them, hands tucked into his hoodie sleeves again, grounding himself in the familiar texture of fabric and skin. The electricity inside him felt quieter than it had all night. Not gone.
Waiting.
Father Kael addressed the room without raising his voice.
"Latvier has survived because it understands a simple truth," he said. "Power does not make you visible. Choice does."
Some of the awakened nodded. Others looked uneasy.
Kael continued, "For years, we remained quiet. We treated awakening as something to be hidden, something to be endured privately. That era has ended."
A murmur rippled through the hall.
Sionu's stomach tightened. He already knew where this was going.
"The state has declared you a threat," Kael said. "The infected hunt you. The city fears you. Silence will no longer protect us."
Blitz muttered under her breath, "About time."
Kael heard her anyway. A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
"This does not mean war," he clarified. "It means presence."
Ultimo frowned. "What's the difference?"
Kael replied, "War seeks destruction. Presence forces reckoning."
Sionu felt the word lodge in his chest.
Reckoning.
1) THE MAP THEY NEVER SHOWED
Kael motioned toward the center of the hall. Sigils flared, and a projection bloomed above the floor, hovering like a ghostly cityscape.
Kaloi's City.
Layered.
Street-level detail overlapped with faint glowing currents that traced movement not of people, but of SOL. The shimmer lines were densest in places Sionu recognized immediately.
Hospitals.
Shelters.
Transit hubs.
Protest zones.
Neighborhoods already redlined long before anyone called it quarantine.
Ultimo leaned forward. "Those bright spots…"
Kael nodded. "Stress. Trauma. Collective emotion."
Blitz scoffed. "So the worst-hit places shining like targets."
"Yes," Kael said. "Hunger follows concentration."
Sionu's eyes narrowed. "That's where the infected will spread fastest."
"And where the state will apply the most force," Kael replied.
The projection shifted.
Red markers appeared along major intersections. Barricades. Checkpoints. Military staging zones.
"They're herding people," Blitz said, jaw tight.
Kael nodded. "Fear moves crowds. Crowds create justification."
Sionu stared at the map, a sick realization crawling up his spine.
"They're gonna make it look like we caused what they already planned."
Kael met his gaze. "They always do."
2) A NAME YOU CAN'T UNHEAR
The word Starborne spread faster than any official announcement.
Sionu heard it whispered in Latvier's halls, spoken softly, cautiously, sometimes with reverence, sometimes with resentment. Some of the awakened glanced at him like he was a prophecy they hadn't asked for. Others looked away, afraid proximity alone would bring consequences.
Blitz noticed.
"They acting weird around you," she said quietly as they stood near one of the side chambers.
Sionu shrugged, though his shoulders felt heavy. "Can't blame them."
Ultimo frowned. "Yeah, I can."
Blitz shot him a look. "Easy, gravity boy."
Ultimo raised his hands. "I'm just saying, it ain't his fault."
Sionu exhaled slowly. "Doesn't matter. Perception don't need fairness."
Blitz studied his face. "You thinking about leaving."
It wasn't a question.
Sionu didn't answer right away.
Ultimo's eyes widened. "Leaving where? Outside?"
Sionu nodded. "If they want me… maybe Latvier shouldn't pay for that."
Blitz stepped closer, voice low but fierce. "Don't you dare decide that alone."
Kael's voice came from behind them. "He's not wrong to consider it."
They turned.
Kael's expression was unreadable. "Leadership isolates. Even accidental leadership."
Sionu swallowed. "I'm not trying to be a symbol."
Kael nodded. "No one ever is."
Blitz crossed her arms. "So what, you just let him walk into a kill zone?"
Kael replied calmly, "No. We let him choose his visibility."
Ultimo frowned. "That sounds like a setup."
Kael didn't deny it.
3) THE FIRST OUTSIDE STEP
The decision came faster than Sionu expected.
A scout returned breathless from one of Latvier's observation posts.
"Infected cluster near Indige Village," she reported. "Civilians trapped. Military sealed the perimeter but not evacuating."
Blitz's jaw clenched. "They letting it burn."
Kael nodded once. "Because intervention there would contradict their narrative."
Sionu felt something cold settle into place inside him.
"That's my neighborhood," he said quietly.
Blitz's head snapped toward him. "What?"
"I grew up two blocks from there," Sionu continued. "My auntie still live near that market."
Ultimo's voice dropped. "You serious?"
Sionu nodded.
The hall went quiet.
Kael watched him carefully. "You understand what stepping outside means."
Sionu didn't hesitate. "Yeah."
Blitz stepped forward immediately. "Then I'm coming."
Ultimo followed. "Same."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You know this will escalate."
Blitz smirked grimly. "Everything already escalated."
Ultimo added, "Plus, gravity don't like being bored."
Sionu let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Kael studied the three of them, then nodded once.
"Very well," he said. "But understand this."
He stepped closer, voice lowering.
"This will be the first time Kaloi's City sees Starborne choose the people instead of hiding from them."
Sionu's electricity stirred, not violently, but with resolve.
"That's fine," Sionu said quietly. "I'm done letting others decide what I mean."
4) BEFORE THE DOORS OPEN
They prepared quickly.
Not armor. Not costumes.
Layers. Hoodies. Boots. Gloves.
Latvier didn't turn people into icons. It sent them out looking like themselves.
Blitz wrapped her scarf tighter, mist curling faintly around her shoulders like a protective instinct she hadn't fully named yet.
Ultimo flexed his hands, testing his balance, breathing slow and deliberate. The floor beneath him responded subtly, affirming.
Sionu stood near the doors.
The massive iron bands thrummed faintly, sensing intent.
Kael approached him one last time.
"You remember what we practiced," Kael said.
Sionu nodded. "Don't react. Respond."
Kael nodded. "And if the city calls you a monster?"
Sionu didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "Then I'll show it mercy."
Kael studied him for a long moment.
"That," he said quietly, "is the most dangerous answer you could give."
Blitz cracked her neck. "Cool. Let's be dangerous."
The doors opened.
Not violently.
Not ceremoniously.
Just enough.
Smoke and sirens rushed in.
Kaloi's City waited on the other side, wounded and watching, ready to decide what this moment meant.
Sionu stepped forward.
The electricity inside him didn't surge.
It stood up.
And somewhere deep beneath the city, the Event Horizon pulsed again, not with hunger this time, but with anticipation.
The story had moved from survival to intervention.
And intervention, unlike hiding, always left witnesses.
to be continued...