Darkness. That's all I see. Endless, suffocating black. Then—
A voice cuts through, soft and radiant
"You are broken. You must be fixed."
Her voice isn't loud, but it slices through the void like light through fog. Gentle. Guiding. Familiar. Like a mother I've never met—but always longed for.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of green light blooms across the darkness. When it fades, I'm standing barefoot on a circular stone pillar suspended in a sea of swirling mist. Golden moths drift through the air, their wings glimmering like embers. In front of me, she appears.
A towering, radiant being. Humanoid, but not. She is a moth given form—elegant, celestial. Her skin shimmers with luminous patterns. She has eight graceful arms and wings that arch far above, glowing green like the threads of my cape. I can't even see all of her. She seems to stretch into infinity.
"Nate Ward, my champion," she says.
"I'm sorry I haven't come sooner. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me."
"Who… who are you?" I ask, my voice hoarse.
"I am Elyra, Lanternmother of the Hollow."
"That's… a bit of a mouthful."
A warm smile spreads across her face.
"Then call me Ely."
"Alright, Ely… what the hell is going on?"
"You're dying, Nate. You're standing at the threshold between life and death. And only two things are keeping you tethered to this world."
"And what are those?"
"Me…" she said, stepping closer.
"And her. The one you call Nest. The one you know as Wren."
Her arms lift, and a soft shimmer envelops the space around us. I see visions—real, vivid.
Wren finds me in the street, limp, broken. Her eyes widen as she sees who's behind the mask. Shock, yes—but then calm. She gently touches my face, whispers something I can't hear. She carries me—actually carries me—to an old tower and lays me down. She removes my armor piece by piece. She starts patching me up with whatever she can find.
I stare at the image, stunned.
"Wait. She's Nest?" I ask. "The girl I've been dating… she's been helping me this whole time?"
"Yes. Without knowing who you were… until now."
"I… I have questions."
"And they will be answered. In time. But right now—questions are a luxury we can't afford."
"That's unfair. I'm dying for you and I don't even get to ask what's going on?"
"Nate… I chose you not because you're perfect, but because you fight even when you're broken. Because you protect others even while you bleed."
Her wings flare wide behind her.
"Now, I will grant you more. More strength. Sharper senses. A clearer mind. And Wren—she has gifts of her own for you. But now… it's time to wake up, my champion."
A final flash of green consumes everything.
⸻
I gasped awake.
Cold air. Distant ticking. The creak of old metal.
I was in a cot, inside a vast, circular space. Four massive glass clock faces surrounded me like windows to time. Rusted gears spun quietly in the corners. A home stitched together from forgotten things.
A door creaked open. Wren stood there, a paper bag of food in hand. She froze. The bag slipped from her fingers.
"Nate?" she breathed.
She rushed to me, threw her arms around me, hugging tight.
"I thought you were dead," she whispered into my shoulder.
"I'm right here," I said, flinching from the pain. She let go immediately.
"Sorry—sorry!"
"I'm okay. I just… I need my Jade Cocoon."
She tilted her head. "Your what?"
"It's what gave me my powers. It can heal me, too."
"Oh, yeah—your powers." She paused. Then—
SLAP.
"Hey! What the hell?" I yelped.
"You're lucky I didn't slap harder! Nate, when were you going to tell me you're Luna Wing? I talk about you… to you! Every time you leave, I've been up here helping you and I didn't even know it!"
"I didn't want you to get hurt…"
"Don't flip this around. You still haven't asked about me being Nest."
"Right. When were you going to tell me?"
She crossed her arms. "Touché."
Then her tone softened. "I'm glad you're alive, Nate."
"Thank you," I said.
"For what?"
"For being the one who saved me. For always being there. Even when I didn't know it."
She leaned down and kissed me. I kissed her back, but winced as I shifted.
"Easy, bug boy," she teased. "Still banged up."
"Hey, you started it."
There was a moment of quiet.
"So… where's this Jade Cocoon?" she asked.
"Back at my old hideout. On the desk."
She turned and walked to a desk that looked like it had been stolen from an abandoned shipyard—industrial iron legs, scarred wood surface. But now, it was packed with glowing screens, LED strips, open panels, soldering tools, coffee mugs, sticky notes, and half-assembled drones. Organized chaos.
She grabbed a tablet and brought it over.
"Can you enter coordinates into this?"
"I can." I typed in the location.
She nodded. "Alright. Give me an hour."
"Be careful. It's important."
Wren leaned in again. "So are you."
And just like that, she was gone.