The Hollow wasn't what Lira expected.
For all of Kael's grim warnings, she'd imagined something cleaner hidden tech, maybe, or a rebel base disguised beneath the earth. Instead, it felt… ancient.
They descended through collapsed subway tunnels lit by makeshift orbs of light embedded in the walls—residual energy trapped in old crystal conduits. The air was damp and smelled of rust and moss. Muted voices echoed ahead. Whispers of survival.
Kael walked silently, but his posture changed the deeper they went. Shoulders tighter. Steps slower.
He hated this place.
"Was this your home?" Lira finally asked.
"No." He didn't stop. "Just the place I ran to when I didn't have one."
She didn't press. Something in his voice made it clear: the past was an open wound, and it still bled.
Finally, the tunnel opened into a cavern lit by bioluminescent flora. Worn scaffolding formed walkways between stone platforms. People moved through them like ghosts—silent, wary, too tired to hope but too stubborn to die.
Lira took it in slowly. Kids no older than her sat by barrels of faint heat. A woman with a jagged burn across her face carved markings into stone. A boy, blind in one eye, gently rearranged black feathers on a bird with a broken wing.
They all looked like they'd survived something they couldn't explain.
And they all watched Kael.
The atmosphere shifted as he entered. Not just recognition—but fear. Not open hostility, but something older. Remembered pain.
Kael said nothing, just walked forward like the stares didn't exist. But Lira could see his hands trembling slightly.
A girl stepped out from a nearby shack. Barefoot. Dressed in patchwork armor and faded blue silks. Her hair was tied back, revealing a long scar along her cheek. Her eyes were sharp. Golden.
"Didn't think we'd see you again," she said.
Kael's lips thinned. "Didn't plan to come back."
"And yet…" She glanced at Lira. "You brought someone. That's new. You usually leave people behind."
"This one's different," he replied. "She's... dangerous."
"Of course she is," the girl replied dryly. "You wouldn't care otherwise."
Lira stepped forward. "I have a name, you know."
The girl studied her. "Do you remember it?"
That gave Lira pause.
"I—yes. I think so."
Kael turned to her. "Tell her."
"Lira."
The girl nodded, impressed. "Most don't hold onto names after the flash events. Either you're lucky… or stubborn."
Kael sighed. "This is Rei. She leads what's left of the Hollow."
Rei raised an eyebrow. "Leads is a stretch. I clean up after people with more power than sense. Like you."
Lira blinked. "Were you two...?"
"No," Rei and Kael said in perfect unison.
Rei turned. "Come on. I'll find you space before someone panics. The last time you were here, Kael, the walls nearly collapsed."
As they walked deeper into the sanctuary, Kael finally spoke. Quiet. Regretful.
"I left someone behind here once," he said. "I told myself it was to protect them."
Lira glanced at him. "And?"
Kael didn't look at her. "They didn't survive."
Elsewhere — Syndicate Command
"They've gone into the Hollow," the technician reported. "Buried network makes direct tracking difficult."
The commander folded his hands. "Then we flush them out. Send a Class-C Cleanser drone through the tunnels."
"But sir," the officer interjected, "the Hollow is home to unaffiliated civilians. Children. If we use Class-C, there'll be—"
"I'm not asking for your morality," the commander snapped. "I'm demanding results. That girl is the key. And Kael Rhys is a virus. Burn out the infection before it spreads."
He turned to a new figure taller, clad in chrome armor laced with crimson patterns. A helmet hung at his side, revealing storm-grey eyes and a jagged smile.
"You'll lead the ground op," the commander said. "I want her alive. The boy?"
The man smiled wider.
"I want to see if he still screams."
Back in the Hollow — Later that night
Kael sat at the edge of a broken platform, staring at an old symbol carved into the rock, an overlapping circle and triangle. A child's attempt at hope.
Lira approached, careful. "Rei gave me tea. It tastes like moss and sadness."
Kael smirked faintly. "Sounds about right."
She sat beside him. "You okay?"
"No. But I'm used to that."
They sat in silence.
Finally, Lira whispered, "When I use my power… I feel like I'm unraveling. Like I'm stretching across time and snapping back all at once."
Kael looked at her. "Good."
"…Good?"
"It means it's real. Powers like yours don't come cheap. The universe doesn't hand them out without blood."
She stared into the cavern lights. "What if I become something I can't control?"
Kael's voice dropped. "Then I'll stop you."
She flinched, but his eyes were gentle. And that scared her more than anger ever could.
"Promise?" she asked.
"I don't make promises," he said. "But I never let people fall alone."
Above them, deep in the labyrinth of tunnels, something moved.
Metal. Heat. The rumble of machines.
The Syndicate had arrived.
And this time, they weren't looking to capture.
They were looking to cleanse.