Aro waited beneath a sky the color of deep bruises, seated at the peak of a ruined amphitheater made of obsidian and bone. Beside him, Caius and Marcus watched in silence. Behind them, cloaked Volturi guards formed a crescent of black, unbreathing shadows.
The Council of Eternal Governance had convened.
A ripple tore through the air.
Raiko appeared, not walking — descending. The sky folded around her like silk, and her arrival silenced the mountains.
She wore a modified Inazuman battle kimono — accented with violet etchings, the Chronoquartz pendant visible against her chest. Alice and Rosalie followed a few steps behind, along with a Stormwalker envoy.
Aro stood. "You arrive without fear. A rare trait in an immortal."
Raiko met his gaze. "Fear is a signal. Not a leash."
Marcus tilted his head. "Do you know why you're here?"
"I've altered time. I exist outside your structure. And your Council doesn't like unknowns."
Caius hissed. "You fractured causality."
Raiko's sword hummed slightly at her side. "And yet here we stand — unbroken."
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A debate began.
Not with shouting — with truths cast like stones into still water.
"You are not a vampire. Not a god. Not a known myth," Aro said. "And yet you command storm, soul, and future."
Raiko responded, "I am consequence. Of science. Of will. Of reincarnation. If that frightens you, perhaps your order is weaker than it claims."
Marcus spoke again. "What is it you desire, Raiko?"
"Peace. Autonomy. And the right to rewrite what fate forgot."
"Arrogance," Caius snarled.
"No," Raiko said gently. "Inheritance."
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Rosalie stepped forward.
"We've seen what she can do. She could unmake your cities with a whisper. But she chooses love. Balance. Teaching. Why fear what uplifts?"
Alice added, "She didn't challenge your Council. You summoned her. She came not as a tyrant, but as a teacher."
A hush.
Then, Aro stepped forward alone.
He offered his hand, Raiko accepted it.
Images flooded Aro's mind — not just of battles and storms, but of gentle mornings, of laughter, of her walking among humans without superiority. He saw her forging unity, not dominance.
He broke contact, shaken.
"She… is truthful," he whispered. "And terrifyingly human."
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The Council withdrew briefly. The amphitheater buzzed with tension.
Finally, Aro returned with a scroll.
"Raiko of Lightning and Chronos, the Council acknowledges your position as Sovereign Variant — an entity beyond the known balance."
Raiko raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"You are outside our law. And within our protection. Unless you bring harm, you will not be hindered."
A formal exile by acceptance.
Raiko bowed.
"You've chosen wisely."
Caius gritted his teeth. Aro sighed.
"But if you overstep…"
Raiko's eyes glowed. "Then I won't be the only one rewriting history."
And with that, she turned and vanished into the storm — her allies behind her, her revolution still echoing.