Part 1: The Unsettled Dust
The silence after Ignisia's fall is not empty.
It is full of her.
Aiden's boots are coated in fine gray ash. It doesn't blow away. It clings, as if unwilling to let go. When he tries to take a step, the ash holds his footprint for a moment too long.
Lyria watches him, her stolen voice a cage in her throat. She opens her mouth—a silent scream—and a single, perfect dragon scale falls from her lips into her palm. It is warm.
It should not be.
Nirah's head tilts, her twin voids of eyes fixed on the space where Ignisia fell. "She's not in the script anymore," she says, her voice flat. "But she's… elsewhere."
Part 2: The System's Offer
A notification, cold and clear:
[PARTY MEMBER DECEASED: IGNISIA THE WORLDBREAKER]
[FIRE AFFINITY LOCKED. MORALE PENALTY APPLIED.]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO INITIATE PARTY MEMBER REPLACEMENT PROTOCOL?]
[> YES // > NO]
The "YES" option glows a sickly, eager green.
Aiden's finger hovers. His jaw is a hard line.
He selects "NO".
The System does not ding. The silence is its own answer.
Part 3: The First Spark of Rebellion
That night, Aiden sits alone by a dead fire.
The ash at his feet stirs. It swirls, drawing a shape in the air—a tiny, perfect dragon. It hovers for a breath, then falls apart.
From the shadows, Lyria approaches. She doesn't speak. She just opens her hand.
In her palm rests the warm scale. She points to it, then to Aiden's heart, then to the sky.
The message is clear:She is not gone.
Aiden looks from the scale to the ash, and for the first time since her fall, his grin returns. This one is not a mask.
It is a promise.
"Okay," he whispers. "Let's go get her back."
Cliffhanger: The Whisper in the Ash
As they turn to leave, the wind carries a voice, faint as a sigh:
"...burn it all..."
It sounds like Ignisia.
It sounds like the Audience.
It sounds like both.
Chapter 21 Teaser:
The Hunt for a Ghost: Following the traces of ash.
Nirah's Warning: "Some things aren't meant to be recalled."
The Audience's Countermove: They create a false Ignisia to torment them.