The night air felt heavier as I stepped into the open courtyard, my breath hitching as my eyes locked onto the figure standing amidst the wreckage.
It wasn't human.
The glow of the lanterns flickered against its form, a towering silhouette of shifting shadows and something unnatural—like reality itself struggled to fully contain it. Its limbs were long, unnaturally so, tapering into jagged claws that twitched as though eager to carve through flesh. Its face—or what should have been a face—was obscured by shifting darkness, two slitted, pale white eyes burning through the gloom like dying stars.
Lucian drew his sword beside me, his usually easygoing face set in hard lines. "Noctis… tell me you've seen something like this before."
I swallowed, tightening my grip on my own weapon. "No. But it's definitely seen us."
The thing exhaled, a sound like wind passing through dead trees. The shadows around its form twisted unnaturally, pulsating as though the creature itself was barely held together. It tilted its head, slow and deliberate, and then took a step forward.
I barely moved before a voice echoed through my mind.
Run.
Veylara's whisper was sharp, urgent.
That thing doesn't belong here. It doesn't belong anywhere. It is a wound in reality, an error that should have been erased.
Lucian tensed beside me as the creature twitched, its pale eyes narrowing in what I could only assume was recognition. It knew me.
It's here for you, Noctis.
The words settled deep into my bones.
Lucian shifted slightly, his sword raised. "Do we take it down or—?"
Before he could finish, the creature moved.
Faster than I could react, it was in front of us.
Lucian barely managed to bring up his blade before it lashed out, its claws raking against steel, sending a violent shockwave of force through the air. The impact sent him staggering back, boots skidding against the cobblestones as he barely managed to regain his balance.
My instincts screamed at me to retaliate.
Rift magic surged at my fingertips, my vision flickering for a moment, and the world felt wrong—as though I was staring at two overlapping realities at once. My body twitched, nearly snapping into the void as instinct fought against reason.
No.
I wouldn't lose myself. Not yet.
Instead, I gritted my teeth and lunged, bringing my blade down in a diagonal arc.
The creature twisted unnaturally, avoiding my strike with an unsettling, boneless movement, as if it had no spine—no structure to limit it. A claw lashed out toward my chest, and I barely managed to Rift Step out of range, my body flickering for a split second before reappearing several feet away.
Lucian cursed, rolling out of the way as the creature's claws slammed into the ground where he had stood, leaving deep gouges in the stone.
"This thing's fast," he growled, gripping his sword tightly.
The creature twitched again, its pale eyes locking onto me.
And then, it spoke.
Not in words. Not in any language I knew. But the sound that left it was layered, overlapping voices—whispers bleeding into screams, distant sobs merging with hollow laughter.
A voice I had heard before.
Not in life. Not in dreams.
But in the Rift.
You should not exist.
The words sent a shiver down my spine.
Lucian looked at me sharply. "Noctis… what the hell did it just say?"
I didn't answer.
Because I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
The creature's words sent ice through my veins. You should not exist.
It knew something.
Something deep.
I clenched my jaw, gripping my sword tighter as my mind raced. That voice—it wasn't a single entity. It was layered, fractured, like multiple souls speaking at once. And it knew me. Not just as Noctis Grevant, not just as the Voidbane Seraph, but something deeper.
It knows.
My breath hitched.
It knows I wasn't always Noctis.
The thought hit me like a hammer, and for a moment, I felt like I was slipping. Like the world had tilted in an angle that didn't make sense, like I was staring through a mirror into something that had been kept hidden from me.
Lucian called my name, but it barely registered.
The creature twitched, its slitted white eyes narrowing, and it moved again—blurring across the cobblestones like a smear of darkness.
I barely Rift Stepped in time, my body flickering away from the strike. The instant I reappeared, Lucian was there, slashing at its exposed back. His blade met resistance—thick, unnatural hide that sent vibrations up his arms, but the sheer force of his swing still pushed the creature forward.
It let out a sound—not pain, not anger, but something else. A deep, resonating acknowledgment.
And then it was in front of me again.
My instincts screamed, and I barely twisted away as its claw grazed my ribs. Even the slightest touch burned, like my body was being scraped against raw existence. A rift opened in my side, not from a wound, but from the sheer wrongness of contact.
I stumbled back, gripping my side, breath ragged.
Lucian snarled and lunged again, his sword gleaming as he brought it down in a brutal arc, but the creature simply shifted, as if reality itself bent around it, and suddenly it was behind him.
"Lucian, move!" I shouted.
Too late.
Its claw lashed out.
A streak of blood erupted through the air as Lucian was sent flying, crashing into the side of a building with a sickening crack. He coughed, struggling to rise, but I could see the way his arm hung at an unnatural angle.
My vision blurred.
Veylara's voice cut through the chaos.
"Noctis. It's testing you."
I grit my teeth, heart hammering against my ribs.
"It wants to see if you are worthy of existing."
The words only stoked the fire raging inside me.
I was worthy.
I didn't know why I had been reborn. I didn't know what the Rift wanted from me, or what fate had planned, but I would not be erased.
Power surged through my limbs, my vision flickering as the Rift opened within me. I felt the strain, the way reality resisted my presence.
I raised my hand.
Twilight Chains.
Void-forged bindings erupted from the air, wrapping around the creature's limbs. It shrieked, that multi-layered voice distorting as the chains constricted, draining its life force.
But something was wrong.
The creature—laughed.
"Good," it whispered, as the Rift began to devour it. "You are almost ready."
The next moment, it was gone—sucked into the void like it had never been there at all.
Lucian groaned from where he lay. "…What the hell was that?"
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the streets, boots slamming against the stone as the others rushed toward us. I barely registered their approach, my pulse still hammering in my ears. The Rift's lingering energy buzzed beneath my skin, raw and restless, like a wound refusing to close.
Elaris was the first to reach me, her lavender eyes wide with panic. "Noctis!" Her hands found my shoulders, her warmth a stark contrast to the frigid void still clinging to my body. Her gaze flickered to the dark, raw tear across my ribs, and without hesitation, she pressed her hands against it.
Soft, golden light seeped from her palms, washing over my skin with a gentle warmth that numbed the pain. But it didn't erase the unease crawling up my spine.
"What the hell was that?" Rowan demanded as he skidded to a stop, his sharp eyes darting between me and the fading Rift traces in the air.
"Something that shouldn't exist," I muttered, barely able to find my voice.
Lucian groaned from where he lay against the cracked stone wall, his breathing ragged. The deep gash along his side and the unnatural angle of his arm sent a spike of guilt through my chest.
"Lucian—" I started to move toward him, but Elaris grabbed my wrist, shaking her head.
"You're still hurt," she murmured. "Let me finish."
I let her, though my gaze remained locked on Lucian, whose face twisted in pain as Gareth and Callen helped him into a better position.
"That thing nearly ripped me apart," Lucian gritted out, his usual easygoing smirk replaced with a grimace. "Tell me it's dead."
I hesitated. The truth hung heavy on my tongue.
"It's gone," I settled for instead. "But I don't think it can die. Not in a way that matters."
Alaria crossed her arms, her emerald eyes gleaming with something between frustration and intrigue. "Oh, so now we've got things hunting you that are immune to death? Great. Love that for us."
"Shut up, Alaria," Elaris snapped, her voice unusually sharp as she finally pulled her hands away from me. "Noctis almost—" She cut herself off, exhaling shakily before standing and rushing over to Lucian.
The moment her magic touched him, his body visibly eased, though his face remained twisted in discomfort.
"That thing knew your name," Callen muttered, watching me carefully.
I met his gaze but said nothing.
Because I knew.
It hadn't just known my name. It had known me.