The battle had ended, but its tremors remained.
Forks, once a sleepy town tucked beneath forests and fog, now bore witness to craters of scorched soil and residual aether lingering in the air. Trees were split by lightning strikes that never came from clouds. Animals hid. Birds no longer sang. And humans — those who had unknowingly stood on the edge of a divine war — awoke with whispers of forgotten dreams and trembling hearts.
But above all this, Raiko stood still.
She stared at the fading remnants of the Rift in the sky, her expression unreadable, eyes a shimmering storm of violet serenity.
--------------
"I thought it would feel different," she murmured to herself.
Rosalie approached, brushing stray strands of dark hair from Raiko's cheek.
"Different how?"
"Like… I would feel closure. That the old me — the human, the boy, the scientist — would feel peace now. But instead..." Raiko closed her eyes, taking in a slow breath of charged air. "I just feel... responsible."
"You stopped a god-eating parasite," Rosalie replied. "You don't need to feel guilty."
"I'm not guilty. I'm aware. If I wasn't here... if I hadn't been reborn with these powers, none of this would've happened. The Rift... Nyxothar... none of it."
Alice stepped up beside them. "You think fate made you a magnet?"
"No," Raiko replied. "I think fate warned me. And I ignored it."
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Later that day, the Cullen house gathered again.
Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Jasper had returned from their emergency coordination with Denali, bringing word that similar rifts were stirring — not opening, but watching.
"We may not have stopped the storm, only delayed it," Carlisle said gravely.
"So what do we do?" asked Emmett. "Wait around for the next monster?"
"No," Raiko said, standing. "We prepare."
Jacob entered the room then, flanked by Leah and Seth. "The packs have sworn neutrality to all who bear the Pact. You've earned that trust, Lightning Saint."
Raiko gave him a nod, solemn yet grateful. "Thank you. It's not enough, though."
Alice tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I need to train. Not just myself—but others. We need guardians, defenders. Forks is just the beginning."
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Thus began what would later be called the Ashen Accord — a training alliance between vampires, wolves, gifted humans, and Raiko's own divine energy fragments, known as Storm Seeds.
Each Storm Seed was a shard of her essence, granted to a chosen wielder.
Jacob received the Stormfang — empowering his wolf form with storm-powered strikes.
Rosalie bore the Thundering Rose — a living armor that bloomed under pressure.
Alice received the Chrono Spark — allowing her to pause time for a fraction of a second, once per battle.
And Raiko...
She kept the core — Heaven's Heart, the very essence of judgment.
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Training began at a hidden glade between La Push and Forks, where ley lines intersected beneath ancient trees.
Raiko, in full Shogun attire, guided them — not as a leader, but as a mentor.
"You don't fight to destroy," she instructed. "You fight to protect the fragile moments between battles — love, laughter, peace."
They trained in pairs.
Alice learned to blink across ten feet of space using chronolock.
Rosalie fused her rage with the Thundering Rose, becoming a bruiser in radiant pink.
Jacob leapt into the sky mid-wolf form, releasing shockwave barks that shattered rock.
Raiko watched with quiet pride.
Then she sparred each of them — and beat them soundly.
"Keep improving," she said. "Because the Rift will."
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At night, Raiko returned to her shared room with Alice and Rosalie.
The three collapsed together, their limbs tangled in warmth and exhaustion.
"You're beautiful when you're bossy," Alice mumbled sleepily.
"I think she's beautiful always," Rosalie said, kissing Raiko's neck.
Raiko chuckled. "You're both hopeless."
But the soft glow in her eyes said otherwise. She had never felt more fulfilled.
"I'm building something new," she whispered.
Rosalie nuzzled her shoulder. "No... you're building something better."
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Beyond Forks, in another continent, beneath catacombs older than vampires or wolves, a new Rift pulsed.
But this one wasn't opening.
It was breathing. And something inside it was listening.
Something older than Nyxothar. Something waiting for Raiko to come looking.