The earth groaned with the slow, heavy breath of something ancient. Dust plumed skyward from the roots of the massive kapok tree, and the sound of cracking stone echoed through the Sanctuary streets.
First came the guards, blades drawn, eyes wide as they beheld the sight before them. Then came the people, pulled by whispers and the strange golden light blooming over the southern grounds.
And then, like a storm riding the wind, Elena arrived.
The crowd parted instinctively, heads bowing, hands clutching charms as the air trembled around her. The moment her eyes fell upon the two figures beneath the great kapok, her heart stuttered in her chest.
Her children.
But not as they'd left her.
Esperanza, only eleven days ago a girl just breaching adolescence, now stood tall, poised, and radiant, her hair caught in the golden haze of pollen drifting around her. Her silver-flecked eyes gleamed like moonlight on water. For one dizzy moment, Elena thought she was staring into a mirror of her younger self.
Beside her, Juan was transformed. Broad-shouldered, his jaw sharp, the same warm mischief curling in his smile that the boy had always worn. His silky black hair fell loose to his chin, framing the face of a young man who carried the earth in his eyes.
Esperanza broke first, running into her mother's arms with a delighted cry. "Mama! We're back! We're home!"
Elena caught her, hands trembling as they roamed over this impossibly grown daughter. her baby, her warrior, her storm.
Juan approached more slowly, uncertainty in his step, his smile shy and hesitant as if bracing for judgment.
Elena pulled him into the embrace before he could stop himself, her arms wrapping tight around them both. She kissed their cheeks, their foreheads, their hair, sobbing openly. "Gracias a los dioses… I thought I'd lost you. How? How did you grow so fast? Ay, mis bebés… we'll get through this. Together. I swear it."
A coil of divine energy shivered along her spine as Guabancex whispered within:
They grew to spare their lives. Thank you, Gueyaba.
And in Juan's chest, the turtle god's voice rumbled warmly:
This was their choice. To return to the living and do what's needed. I am glad to have helped.
The reunion was still unfolding when the sound of pounding footsteps cracked the air like war drums.
The crowd's murmurs shifted to uneasy silence. The air chilled, shadows lengthening unnaturally beneath the kapok's golden light.
From the far end of the street emerged a figure- massive, deliberate, and shrouded in an aura of oppressive darkness. The earth seemed to recoil with each step.
Niegal Matteo, El León Negro, had returned.
His broad frame was unmistakable, older and heavier now with years etched deep into the lines of his face. But his eyes, those once gentle, kind silver eyes, burned with a sickly red glow, veins dark and pulsing like ink beneath his skin. The corruption writhed beneath his flesh, a living poison that twisted his features into something alien, something monstrous.
A beast.
A low, guttural growl rumbled from his chest, the lion's voice clawing free. A cruel, cold sound that shredded the air.
Elena's breath caught. She stepped protectively in front of Juan and Esperanza, her fingers crackling with violet energy.
The corruption has taken him, Señora Behike's warning thundered inside her mind.
Niegal's gaze swept over the family, his wife, the children, before snapping back to her. His voice was not his own, but the lion's, cold and accusing.
"What did you let them do, Elena?" The words dripped with venom. "What price did you pay to bring them back? What sacrifices this time?"
Violet light snapped at Elena's fingertips, storm energy coiling ready to strike. Guabancex let out a hiss-
"Niegal," she said, voice like thunder, "they were dying. They made a bargain with Gueyaba to return. Nothing has changed—except that YOU abandoned us, and only now you return? To question me?!" Her eyes snapped with violet lightning, narrowing into serpentine slits.
Niegal's body tensed, rage and anguish warring beneath his corrupted skin.
Then footsteps echoed sharply behind him.
Jaime stepped forward, boots striking the earth with calm authority, Alejandro close at his side. Jaime's glowing ocean-blue eyes locked with Niegal's burning red, calm steel meeting infernal fury.
Coatriskie whispered urgently in Jaime's mind:
The man they knew is gone. Before you stands only the corrupted El León Negro.
Niegal snarled, the lion phasing all the way out now with sickening crunches.
"Ah, there he is. The interloper."
Jaime stood between him and Elena, his sword unsheathed and raised in defense.
"Enough, Matteo. This ends here."
Niegal's corrupted roar shattered the air. His form swelled with dark power, claws flexing as the lion fought for dominance.
Jaime stood his ground, unflinching, his own magic stirring in quiet defiance. Storm clouds churned above them, thunder clapping as lightning flashed on the scene.
For a heartbeat, time hung suspended between roaring madness and quiet resistance.
Then, with a snarl of frustration, Niegal turned sharply, his corrupted eyes flashing one last torment-filled glance at Elena, growling, "we're not finished here," before retreating into the shadows from which he came.
The crowd exhaled in shaky relief as Jaime sheathed his sword and dispersed.
Alejandro muttered a curse, voice low and bitter. The man he once called friend and brother in law was gone.
The golden light of the kapok tree flickered uncertainly as the storm clouds dissipated, the thunder now only a light rumble.
Juan and Esperanza exchanged glances, fear and sorrow mingling in their eyes.
The family's reunion had fractured before it could truly begin.
Back at the cottage, the air was thick with unspoken weight.
Phineus sat by the window, his small hands gripping a wooden toy, eyes wide with both hope and confusion. When Juan and Esperanza stepped inside, the tension clung to them like a second skin. Esperanza barely managed a fragile smile before sweeping her brother into a fierce, protective hug.
"Hermano," she whispered, voice trembling despite the smile on her face, "we're back. But… it's not the same."
Juan sank heavily onto a worn chair, his hands rubbing at the tight ache in his shoulders. His gaze was distant, haunted by the image of Niegal's corrupted eyes- red and burning with something that was no longer human.
Esperanza sat beside him, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. "He's… gone, isn't he?" Her voice cracked, fragile as glass. "Our father… the man we knew."
Juan's jaw tightened. "El León Negro is here, but Niegal Matteo is lost. It's like he's trapped beneath all that… rot."
A heavy silence fell, the kind that fills every corner and refuses to be broken. Esperanza reached for his hand, Juan covered hers with his other one.
Outside, Elena remained by the garden gate, her hands trembling at her sides. Jaime stood near, watching her carefully, sensing the raw fracture beneath her composed exterior.
Elena's voice was barely more than a whisper as she finally spoke, "Stay tonight. Please."
Jaime saw the flicker of fear and grief radiating off her like a chill wind. He nodded, his voice steady and low. "As you wish." His expression softened with a gentle smile.
They moved together into the garden, the dimming light casting long shadows over the blooming kapok petals scattered at their feet.
Sitting side by side on the worn stone bench, hands entwined, they shared a silence thick with pain and unspoken fears.
Elena's shoulders trembled as tears traced quiet paths down her cheeks. Jaime reached out, his hand covering hers. Solid, warm, a tether in the storm.
Neither spoke.
The night wrapped around them, grim and vulnerable. Two souls holding on to each other in a sea of uncertainty.