The world didn't snap back to normal when Kairo collapsed.
The silence that followed wasn't peaceful at all.It was the kind of silence a hunted animal hears right before realizing the predator is already beside it.
Astra dropped to her knees and pressed her fingers to Kairo's neck.They were shaking.
"Kairo… Kairo, stay with me—come on…"
His heartbeat was there.Barely.
Too faint.Like something was draining it with every second.
She lowered her ear to his chest.
At first—nothing.
Then—
…thump.A slow, cold echo. Not human.
Another followed.
…thump.Heavier. Older. Wrong.
Astra's breath hitched.
"No… no, no—two heart signatures? That's—"
She cut herself off.
If she finished that sentence, she'd have to accept it:
Kairo wasn't just carrying something.
He was becoming it.
The Rift Still Bleeds
The crack in the air above him hadn't disappeared.It pulsed—like a vein filled with black, burning blood.
Eli stared up at it, terrified.
"Is… is it alive?"
A whisper slithered out.
Not sound—something worse.
A vibration that crawled under their skin like insects.
Kairo Vale… vessel…
Kairo Vale… unfinished…
Astra shot up, placing herself between Eli and the rift.
"Stop reaching for him. He is NOT yours."
The voice laughed.
Not noise—pressure.Like a hand pressing against her mind.
Child of Radiance… the inevitable is already in motion.
Astra's jaw tightened until it hurt.
"You don't get to decide his fate."
His fate was sealed the moment he survived the fall.
Eli Breaks
Eli grabbed Astra's arm, his voice cracking.
"Is he going to die?"
She didn't answer.
Eli shook her harder, tears spilling.
"Astra! Tell me! Is my best friend—my brother—dying?!"
Astra swallowed.
"He's… changing."
Eli's face crumbled.
"That's the same thing!"
"No." She put a trembling hand on Kairo's forehead. "It means he still has a chance."
But his skin—
Ice.
Not cold.
Dead cold.
Like something inside was drinking the warmth out of him.
Inside the Boy Who Shouldn't Exist
In Kairo's unconsciousness—
No light.No sound.Just a void.
And something watching him from inside it.
A shape like him, but taller.Sharper.Eyes glowing with a blue-black swirl like dying stars.
You opened the door, it whispered.
Kairo staggered back.
"W–Who are you?"
The shadow smiled—wide, elegant, wrong.
I am what makes you special.I am what they feared.I am what they sealed inside you the day your world burned.
Kairo froze.
"What are you talking about?!"
It glided toward him.
You don't remember the fall… and that's good.If you did, you'd break again.
Kairo's chest squeezed.
"The fall? What fall?!"
The shadow raised a hand.
Something inside Kairo's mind tore open—
Fire.Screams.Sky ripping apart.Someone pulling him through the smoke.Someone crying his name—
KAIRO!
He clutched his skull.
"STOP—STOP—DON'T—"
The shadow lowered its hand.The memory receded.
Not yet, it murmured.You're still too small.
Kairo glared through trembling breaths.
"Am I… a monster?"
A long pause.
Then a smile.
No.You are worse.You are the thing monsters pray never wakes up.
Kairo's stomach dropped.
"Why me?"
The shadow floated behind him.
Because you survived what no human should.Because your heart welcomes the dark.Because betrayal forged you into the perfect shell.
Kairo flinched hard.
"Betrayal…?"
The shadow's tone softened—almost gentle.
You've been betrayed more than you know.When you remember… your real awakening begins.
Kairo's voice shook.
"What are you?"
The shadow placed its hand on his chest—and its fingers sank into him like he was made of smoke.
Cold fire flooded his body.
Kairo screamed.
I, the shadow whispered—
—am your other heart.
Outside: Something Arrives
Astra's eyes widened.
"Kairo's heartbeat—just doubled. What is happening inside him?!"
Eli squeezed Kairo's hand, voice breaking.
"Kai… please… wake up…"
The rift crackled.
A deeper voice boomed from within.
The vessel awakens…
Astra's expression collapsed.
"Oh no—"
A wave of divine pressure exploded outward, rattling the city.
Powerful auras raced toward the temple.
Guardians.Priests.High Sentinels.
And one more.
One Astra prayed never to face today.
"No…" she whispered. "Not him."
Eli stepped back. "Who?"
Astra's face darkened with fear.
"My father."
The God of Radiance Arrives
Golden light tore open the chamber.
Blinding.Overwhelming.Suffocating.
A figure stepped through—tall, regal, armor burning like cosmic flame.
A dying sun hovered behind his head.
Eli dropped to his knees instantly.
Kairo's body jerked violently, reacting to the god's presence like it was poison.
Astra couldn't move.
"Father…"
The God of Radiance looked down at Kairo—expression unreadable.
His voice rattled the stones.
"This boy……should not exist."
Astra gasped.Eli broke.
And deep in the void, Kairo heard those words—like knives echoing inside his skull.