The crimson spear in Rika's hand hissed like a living thing, spitting sparks as if it wanted to burn the whole cavern down. Her body trembled, not from weakness, but because something else was pulling the strings. Mizu could see it in her eyes—those weren't her flames anymore. And that wasn't her stare.
"Rika…" His voice cracked. He hated how fragile it sounded. "It's me. Look at me."
For half a heartbeat, her eyes softened. The red glow flickered. But then the Graves whispered louder, their voices like nails against stone.
**"Finish it… burn them… break them."**
Her hand jerked, as if yanked by invisible chains. The spear steadied, aimed directly at Mizu's chest.
Sayos groaned as he pushed himself back onto his feet. He spat blood onto the cracked stones and tried to laugh, but his voice shook. "Okay, I don't know about you guys, but I'm not really in the mood to be flambéed by our own teammate."
"Sayos—" Honkai's tone was warning, but Sayos raised both hands.
"No, no, listen! Maybe she's still in there. Right? Rika, c'mon. If you're gonna torch someone, at least make it me. I'm annoying, he's useful." He gestured to Mizu. "Fair trade."
"Shut it, idiot," Mizu muttered, but his lips twitched despite the weight in his chest. Leave it to Sayos to try humor at the edge of death.
---
The whispers thickened, rising above them like a storm. The mist pulsed with every word, glowing veins across the graves beating in rhythm. The tombstones groaned as if something inside them was stirring. Cracks spread, leaking crimson light. The air stank of ash and iron.
Then, silence. A silence so heavy it made their ears ring.
Lucy growled, fur bristling, eyes glowing like twin embers. She stepped in front of Mizu, tail stiff, her body a shield.
That's when the new voice came.
Not the Graves. Deeper. Too calm. Too measured.
**"She belongs to me."**
The words slashed through the silence like a blade. Everyone froze.
Sayos muttered, "Yeah, okay, that didn't sound like ghost-whispers. That sounded like someone who eats souls for breakfast."
The ground shook. Shadows began to crawl from the cracks in the graves, pooling together, stretching upward. The mist bent around it, as if sucked into a vortex. Slowly, deliberately, a silhouette took shape. Tall. Broad. A man's outline—but no details. No face. Only eyes.
Two burning eyes, sharp and cruel, cutting through the mist like torches. Eyes that made Mizu's stomach lurch and his crystal ache.
---
Mizu couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Those eyes pinned him in place like an insect under glass. His chest burned as his crystal pulsed violently, reacting against his will.
Sayos felt it too. He staggered back, clutching his throat. "Holy—" He choked, his voice cutting off. He fell to one knee, gasping for air.
"Sayos!" Honkai rushed toward him, sparks of lightning arcing around his arms. But the shadows rose higher, curling into walls, cutting him off.
The figure's voice boomed again, echoing inside their skulls.
**"Your flame was never yours. You are a thief, boy. And I take back what is mine."**
Mizu's body seized. His knees buckled as pain shot through him, fire surging in his veins like molten iron. He fell to the ground, clutching his chest, his pendant glowing dangerously bright. His scream echoed across the cavern.
Rika dropped her spear, falling to her knees, clutching her head. Her voice was broken, half hers, half theirs. "Mizu… stop… I can't—"
The shadow's eyes flared, and she collapsed, her body writhing. Flames burst from her crystal, crimson instead of red. They wrapped around her like chains, binding her to the ground.
---
Mizu forced himself up on shaking legs, his breath ragged. "Let her go!" His voice broke, but his blue flames flickered back to life around his arms.
The figure didn't move. Its head tilted slightly, mocking.
**"She is mine. She chose. And you… you will break first."**
The shadows lunged.
Dozens of tendrils shot across the ground, faster than lightning. Lucy leapt, snapping her fangs into them, ripping shadow to shreds. Sparks of blue burst from her jaws, scattering the mist. But more came, writhing, coiling around her body, slamming her into the stone.
"Lucy!" Mizu shouted, but another wave slammed into him. His shield burst into shards of water. He rolled across the cracked floor, blood smearing his lip.
Sayos staggered upright, blades of wind forming in his hands. "I'm not sitting this one out." He slashed wildly, cutting through tendrils, buying seconds, but not enough. More kept coming.
Honkai roared, punching the ground. Lightning erupted, frying shadows into ash. "We can't fight this thing! It's not even here—it's just a fragment!"
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Sayos shouted, panic twisting into anger.
---
Rika screamed again, her voice echoing, bouncing off the graves. For a moment it was hers, raw and desperate: "Help me—!"
Then the shadows poured into her mouth, silencing her. Her eyes snapped open, glowing with the same cruel fire as the figure's. She rose to her feet, stiff, puppet-like.
Mizu's breath caught. "No…"
She moved toward him, step by step, crimson flames dripping from her hands. Her lips curled into a smile that didn't belong to her.
**"Leave her,"** the figure said through her, his voice rattling the stones. **"Or you all die here."**
Sayos cursed. "I hate this. I hate this so much."
Honkai looked at Mizu, sweat dripping down his brow. "If we strike her down, maybe it breaks the link."
"No!" Mizu barked, louder than he meant to. His voice cracked, his eyes burning. "I won't lose her!"
The shadow's gaze fell back on him, those eyes like knives piercing his skull. For the first time, it leaned forward, stepping closer. The mist parted around it, as if the whole world feared to touch it.
Mizu staggered back, breath quickening. His crystal pulsed like it wanted to burst from his chest.
The figure's whisper slid into his ear, soft but deadly.
"Then I'll show you what breaking feels like."
---
The shadows surged all at once, a tidal wave crashing down. Mizu raised his arms, blue fire bursting desperately—but the last thing he saw before the darkness swallowed him was Rika's face, smiling that cruel, borrowed smile, her eyes glowing red like the figure's.