The night after his confession, Megumi didn't sleep. He sat by the fire with Ava at his side, Chloe resting between them. They exchanged no words, but something unspoken had changed. Ava wasn't in the dark anymore—and she refused to let Megumi carry this weight alone.
⸻
The Search Begins
At dawn, Ava took his hand. "If this Fallen King is awakening, there must be records. Something the gods missed."
Megumi hesitated. "The Olympians buried everything. They don't want anyone remembering him."
"Then we'll look where they won't," Ava pressed. "Old temples, ruins, even Titan records. Cronos might know something too, but if we ask him, the gods will notice."
Her determination made Megumi smile faintly. "You really won't let me do this alone, huh?"
Ava smirked. "Not a chance."
⸻
Ancient Whispers
Together, they traveled to forgotten places—ruins of Titan strongholds, broken shrines hidden beneath forests, libraries swallowed by dust and vines.
Each time Megumi reached out with his divine senses, he felt it: a pulse. A whisper of something vast and hungry stirring beneath reality. Sometimes it was a voice, faint but undeniable:
"Return what is mine."
Ava always noticed when Megumi froze. She squeezed his hand, grounding him in silence until the presence faded.
⸻
Clues in the Dark
One night, in the ruins of an ancient Titan temple, Ava found carvings half-buried beneath rubble.
"Megumi… look."
The stone showed a figure, crowned in shadow, standing over kneeling gods and titans alike. His eyes were carved as hollow voids, and beneath him, mortals burned like offerings.
Inscribed beneath in a long-dead script was a single word: Nyx.
Megumi traced it with his hand, his expression grim. "Not our Nyx… but the Primordial Nyx. The first Night. She was the Fallen King's ally in the Great War. If he's returning… she may be the key."
Ava swallowed hard. "Then we need answers from our Nyx. She has to know something."
⸻
The Promise
On their way back, Megumi stopped under the moonlight, staring at Ava.
"If he takes me," he said suddenly, his voice raw, "if I stop being myself—"
Ava silenced him with her hand against his lips. "No. Don't finish that. You areMegumi. And if this thing wants to take you, it'll have to go through me first."
For a moment, the fear in his chest eased. He kissed her hand gently, whispering: "Then maybe we still have a chance."