They did not expect quiet. After a fight like that, they expected smoke, broken stone, screams. Instead they got hollow silence that settled on everyone like a weight.
Eiji leaned on a slab of black marble and breathed through the ache. His shirt was torn,his hands shook. Alma stood beside him, a shape of light that did not fully touch anything. She blinked slow and tried to steady herself,parts of her still spat static. Her color dimmed and brightened like a failing lamp.
Rhea sat with her back to a fallen pillar and checked her blade. She wiped blood off the edge without ceremony. Vesper moved through the wreckage with quick hands, gathering loose wards and setting small bones down in careful positions. Selendra stayed close to Eiji, tail still and eyes on everything that moved. Melchior crouched near the last portal and ran a hand around the seam like he could feel the math of it.
"Is it done?" Eiji asked. His voice surprised him by how small it sounded.
