Night in Vel Talem wasn't like night in the outer sectors. Here, the stars shone through fractured glass domes, the remnants of floating spires cast eerie silhouettes over the city. Even in the calm, there was an unease—as if the city itself had begun to listen.
Kael walked aimlessly through the lower district.
Not as a warrior. Not as a Voidborn. Just… a boy with blood on his hands and thunder under his skin.
He turned a corner and found himself in front of a dimly lit tea house—unremarkable, save for the soft hum of conversation within. For once, it wasn't a place guarded or soaked in tension. Just warmth. Human warmth.
And inside, sitting alone at a window table, was Riven.
She glanced up, unsurprised to see him.
"You look like hell," she said.
"You don't look shocked."
"I never am where you're concerned."
Kael smirked faintly and sat across from her. Silence settled between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
"I wanted to check on you," Riven said eventually, stirring her drink. "But I figured… you'd need space."
"I did. But I think I've had too much of it."
Riven looked up, her expression softening. "You've been carrying everything by yourself, Kael. And I get it—you're strong. But even the strongest bodies break when the weight's too much."
Kael didn't answer immediately. He just stared out the window, watching two children chase each other in the street with chalk-drawn swords.
"I'm scared," he admitted. "Not of dying. I'm scared of forgetting who I am. Scared that one day I'll wake up… and the only thing left of me will be power."
She reached across the table, fingers brushing his.
"Then let me remind you. Whenever that happens. However many times it takes."
Their eyes met—and something between them shifted. Not an explosion. Not a surge. Just quiet gravity.
Maybe the real kind.
Meanwhile – Above the City
From atop the reconstructed tower, Nex stood alone. He hadn't left the city—not truly. His wounds had healed, but something inside him had not.
He clenched his hand, watching as the faint shimmer of darkness curled around it.
"Why… do you hesitate?" a voice echoed in his mind.
Nex looked to the sky.
"Because I saw it. His rage. His control. And I saw me in him."
"Then break the mirror," the voice hissed. "Before it breaks you."
Nex closed his eyes.
He didn't want to be a monster. But monsters didn't always get to choose.