"Well then… let's begin."
And the doors of the council chamber sealed shut.
Yoshi Todaki's calm voice echoed through the sealed council chamber.
The heavy doors had already locked shut. No one could enter or could leave.
Kael was sitting on his wheelchair at the center of the room, his hands were resting weakly on his lap. He could feel everyone watching him. Every breath felt loud in the silence.
Yoshi continued, " let me introduce myself first, I am the Father of Aerin and the first fighter to fight against those Seven sins. Kael, I will ask you only three questions. You may answer honestly. Nothing more is needed."
No one objected. Director Flint nodded slowly. Colonel Harrick and Major Vance stayed silent. Rubin's eyes did not leave Kael even for a second.
Jake leaned slightly forward in his chair, tense.
Kael swallowed.
Yoshi added, "You may refuse, if you wish."
Kael's heart started beating faster. He looked down at his bandaged hands. He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew this was important. Very important.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
"…I'll answer," he said quietly.
Yoshi's voice remained calm. "Good. Then listen carefully."
The room felt colder somehow.
"The first question," Yoshi said, "What happened during the second test, The Resonance Trial?"
Kael froze.
The memory came back too fast.
The dark chamber. The silence. The pressure.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"When… when my eyes were closed in the chamber," Kael began, his voice shaking slightly, "I didn't see light. I didn't feel anything normal."
Everyone leaned in without realizing it.
"I saw… an ocean," Kael continued. "An infinite ocean of blood. There was no land. No sky I could understand. Just black above me and red below me. And I was… floating in the air."
His hands started to tremble.
"Then suddenly… I fell. I fell into that ocean. And I kept sinking. Going down and down. It felt like something was pulling me. Like… like I was being dragged into something that wanted to eat me."
The room went dead silent.
Kael opened his eyes.
"I couldn't breathe. I couldn't scream. I thought… I thought I was going to die, forever."
No one spoke.
Even Rubin looked slightly disturbed now.
Yoshi did not react.
After a few seconds, he spoke again.
"Alright, now the second question," he said. "Does the blood ever move on its own? Or were you able to control it?"
Kael's fingers clenched.
"I couldn't control it," he said quickly. "Never. I wasn't commanding it. I wasn't thinking about attacking anyone. I was just… trying not to die, trying to only survive."
He looked toward Jake for a moment, then back to the screen.
"It felt like something else was using my body. Like I was trapped inside my own while it was moving on its own. I could see everything, but I couldn't stop it."
Jake's jaw tightened.
"So no," Kael said. "I wasn't controlling it."
The word hung heavy in the air.
Yoshi waited before speaking again.
Then he asked, "Now Lastly, the third and final question. When did you first feel this power?"
Kael hesitated.
"I… I don't know exactly," he said slowly. "But I think… at the Survival Ethics Trial, it was the first time when I feel like my life is really going to end."
He took a shaky breath.
""When I'm scared… when I can't escape death, When I think… this is it. I can feel like something woke up inside me. But it's not me choosing it. It just happens."
He looked down.
"I don't want it," Kael whispered.
Silence filled the chamber once again.
No voices. Just quiet breathing and heavy thoughts.
Finally, Yoshi spoke.
"Alright Kael, you may leave the room."
Kael looked up, confused.
Jake stood immediately. "I'll take him."
Yoshi's voice stopped him,"No. For now just leave him outside the meeting room. Alone. Only for ten minutes."
Jake froze.
"Sir—"
"Ten minutes, Lieutenant." Yoshi repeated calmly.
Jake slowly sat back down.
Flint nodded to the guards. They opened the doors.
Jake gently pushed Kael's wheelchair out into the corridor and then stopped.
Kael looked up at him. "Did I… did something wrong?"
Jake shook his head. "Hey kid, you did fine. Just… wait here, okay?"
Kael nodded weakly.
The doors closed again.
And Kael was alone.
Inside the council chamber, the mood shifted instantly.
Colonel Harrick spoke first. "An Ocean of Blood? That was something else entirely."
Major Vance nodded. "An external source reacting for survival instinct. That is not a power we can train."
Rubin leaned forward, his voice was cold. "Then we all agree. He is not an Aeri. He is not human in function anymore, he is an unknown entity. A dangerous devouring monster."
Jake slammed his hand on the table. "He is still a boy."
Rubin shot back, "A boy who turns into a walking disaster when his life is threatened."
Flint raised his hand. "Enough."
He looked toward the dark screen.
"Sir, what is your judgment?"
Yoshi remained silent for a moment.
Then he finally spoke.
"Aerin was not built only to fight monsters," Yoshi said slowly. "It was built to protect hope."
Everyone listened carefully.
"Rin is born from human emotions. The emotions which awaken Rin and become Aeri or used to be devoured. And all of it creates strength which is guided by purpose. Hope is what keeps that powers human."
Jake nodded slightly.
"But Kael's power is different," Yoshi continued, "It isn't raised from hope. It is rises when hope is gone."
The words sent a chill through the room.
"It activates when survival is all that remains. When death is certain, it is near. When emotion no longer matters."
Rubin's eyes narrowed.
Yoshi went on, "Hope is like the front of the hand. It builds, helps protects, and reaches out. But what Kael carries is the back of that hand. The part that strikes when there is nothing left to protect."
Jake whispered, "But he didn't choose that."
"No," Yoshi agreed. "But it chose him."
Flint looked troubled. "Then what does that make him?"
Yoshi answered quietly.
"The end of hope."