In the guild's lodging hall, the group had gathered after a long mission. The soft light of the late afternoon spilled through the tall windows, casting gentle shadows across the polished wood.
Kael sat on one of the benches, eyes alert despite the weariness in his posture. He watched the four before him — Lyn, Allan, Kaellia, and Saphira — then looked down, visibly pensive.
"I don't know if it was right to stay in the room with him... but I couldn't leave. He seemed so... broken."
Saphira crossed her arms, still suspicious.
"How did you get into the lodging, anyway? No one saw you arrive."
Kael sighed.
"I... came from far away. The capital was my destination. I saw the boy. Jin, right? He was alone. Locked away. I didn't mean to intrude, but... something pulled me to him."
Lyn observed in silence, hands folded in her lap. Kaellia, seated beside her, remained calm but alert.
"What did you see in him?" Allan asked bluntly.
Kael hesitated before answering.
"I saw pain. So much pain it almost screamed in silence.
— I saw someone trapped inside himself."
"And what did you say to him?" Kaellia asked.
"Nothing he didn't want to hear... But he told me his name. That was the only thing.
— Jin."
They all exchanged glances. It was the first time they'd heard his real name.
Kaellia nodded slowly, as if something had finally clicked into place.
---
Meanwhile...
Inside the room, Jin remained motionless. Bouros advanced a step at a time, as if the darkness itself moved with him.
"Ah... so fragile. So broken.
— Your dreams… far too sweet for someone like you.
— But I must say… what a beautiful performance you gave. Crying. Vomiting. Suffering…
— You're becoming delightful. Like a lamb led to slaughter."
Bouros's voice sliced through the air like a blade.
"You hide here, in this stuffy room, surrounded by walls and ghosts…
— But I'm here. I'll always be here.
— This is who you are. A walking void pretending to be human."
He stepped closer, his face now inches from Jin's.
"That shadow you saw… the woman…
— That was your mother.
— But not the one you remembered. Just what's left. A piece of meat you commanded… like a puppet."
Jin whimpered in pain. A tear fell.
"You dragged her back only to suffer more.
— I should thank you… watching you sink feeds me so well."
Jin stared at the distorted figure, eyes filled with tears, unable to move.
"You dream because you miss them… because you want them back…
— But the truth, my little maestro, is that you use the dead.
— You dance with them. Cry for them. And still, you pull them from their rest."
The shadow leaned in, and Jin felt the cold of the abyss touch his skin.
"You know what they'd say, if they could speak?
— That they'd rather be dead again… than trapped in your memories."
Bouros smiled. Wide. Inhuman.
"You still don't understand, do you…?
— I am you.
— The part that feels everything you deny.
— The truth that crawls inside you when no one's watching."
"And you..." he whispered now, as if inside Jin's very mind, "will live with me. Forever.
— Until the last tear. Until the last forgotten name."
Jin squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to disappear. But the voice... wouldn't stop.
"You dream of love. But you wake up with me.
— Because in the end… I'm all you have left.
— Me."
Jin tried to stand, but the weight of Bouros's presence crushed him from within.
Then, a soft light appeared beside the bed. Jin's mother's shadow emerged, serene. Her eyes still sad, but filled with love. She stepped forward and gently touched his forehead.
— "My son... you must know... You must understand. There's more beyond Bouros... The darkness in your chest... Don't let it—"
Crack.
The sound split the air like a lifeline being severed.
Bouros snapped his fingers, uninterested.
Jin's mother froze. Her eyes met his one last time.
And then, like a candle blown out, she vanished. Silent. Cold. As if she had never been there.
"That little woman was annoying," Bouros said with disdain. "Always coming back with that pathetic look. Boring."
Jin's dagger — his last physical memory of her — shattered on the floor, broken into fine fragments.
Jin fell to his knees. A silent scream rose from his throat but found no voice.
Bouros laughed. His stare was a sarcastic abyss.
A black, suffocating aura exploded from the boy's body. The air distorted. The floor groaned. And the wood beneath him cracked open.
A force beyond all known realms filled the room.
---
Outside, Lyn stumbled and fell to her knees, clutching her chest. Saphira's eyes widened in shock.
"It's him..." Allan murmured. "It's the boy."
They all ran.
When they entered the room, they found Jin kneeling, the dagger's shards scattered around him. His hands trembled as he tried to gather the pieces, as if to stop them from fading.
Tears streamed down his face. But there was no sound. Only pain. So thick the air itself seemed to strain.
Kael stepped forward but stopped. No one dared approach.
And then, in the depths of Jin's mind, Bouros whispered:
— Yes, boy... feel it. Taste it. Because this pain is just the beginning. I was only the herald… the Harbinger… he hears every scream of yours now. And soon, he will dance — with you… or against you.
Jin no longer heard. Or maybe he simply didn't want to.
The world, in that moment, had ended once again.
And somewhere distant... the shadows began to move.
---
Five days later.
Jin had not spoken to anyone. Locked away, shrouded in a thick silence, his memories burned like embers.
But that morning, without saying a word, Jin opened the door.
The creak of the wood sounded like thunder. Kael, who had been sleeping outside, jolted upright. Saphira froze.
"Jin...?" she whispered.
He didn't answer. He wore a wrinkled, dark tunic. His eyes were hollow, his steps dragging — but there was tension in his posture, like his soul was still fighting.
The group followed in silence.
Jin walked without direction. The sounds of the street didn't touch him.
Until...
A voice echoed behind him. Deep. Heavy with time and memory.
"You've grown, boy."
He stopped. Not because of the words — but because of the voice.
Slowly, shakily, he turned.
There, beneath the shadow of an old tree, stood a hooded man holding a flute. His eyes were tender… and silently tired.
"No..." Jin whispered. "It can't be..."
The old man pulled back the hood. Jin knew in that instant.
"Gramps..."
"How old are you now? Eight? Or nine?" Marcus smiled.
He opened his arms.
"Come here, my boy."
Jin ran. Fell into his arms and broke.
A muffled cry escaped him. His hands clutched his grandfather's robe with trembling strength.
"I... I couldn't protect her... — She died because of me... I just stood there…"
"You survived, Jin. That's strength too," Marcus whispered, stroking his hair.
But Allan stepped forward, hand on his sword.
"Who is this old man?"
Everyone turned to him.
"Allan...?" Kaellia said, surprised.
He was tense. Something about this man bothered him, though he didn't know why.
Marcus met his gaze, calm.
"You... have beautiful eyes," he murmured.
Allan narrowed his gaze.
Saphira and Lyn approached, concerned for Jin.
"Is he safe now?" Saphira whispered.
"For the first time in a long time," Marcus replied.
Jin repeated, through sobs:
"Forgive me... mom... forgive me..."
Marcus held him close.
"She already forgave you, Jin.
— Now, you need to forgive yourself."
And there, in his grandfather's arms, Jin cried like never before.