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Akira staggered.
Blood trickled from his mouth. His eyes were wide, as if seeing something the others could not grasp. He tried to speak… but no sound came out.
Then he fell.
— AKIRA! — Aisha ran to him, desperate.
Tekio was right behind her, his heart racing. But it was Aisha who held him, already on her knees, cradling his head in her lap.
— Breathe, Akira… please, stay with me. — She pressed her fingers against his neck. — He's cold! Tekio, he's ice cold!
— His pulse… it's fading — Tekio whispered. — Is he… dying?
— No! He's not going to die! — Aisha screamed.
The spiritual pressure increased around them. The ground vibrated as if the very earth felt what was happening. The Tree of Life, in the distance, seemed to exhale a black smoke.
Then Akira's body trembled one last time.
And stopped.
His chest stopped rising.
The light in his eyes… vanished.
His heart fell silent.
— No… no… no. — Aisha bent her face over his. — Akira… AKIRA!
She tried to channel energy, tried to resuscitate him, tried everything she knew. But there was no response.
Silence.
For long seconds, only the sound of the wind could be heard.
Hundreds of meters away…
The purple vegetation glowed like living arteries, vibrating in unison with the black bubble. The air was dead. No wind, no birds, no voices. Only a quietude so dense it seemed to press down on the world.
Mei felt it.
A shiver climbed her spine like a buried memory.
— The bubble's pulse is unstable — said Fenra, her eyes fixed on the sensors. — Spiritual frequency oscillating. Something is trying to get out.
Dan, adjusting the panel, frowned.
— The gravity in this region is… fluctuating. Some points are losing their anchor to the ground.
Stella fixed her gaze on the core of the image.
— Look inside… the fetus has detached from the membrane.
The human figure floated, as if waking within the dark fluid.
And then…
It opened its eyes.
Golden. Intense. As if the world were igniting and dying at the same time.
The bubble collapsed in silence.
No explosion.
No sound.
Just… end.
A figure fell from the center—naked, pale-skinned, with long hair like liquid shadows. The body seemed human. But the energy... did not. It was ancient, almost mythological.
Elise recoiled, her hand over her mouth.
— This… shouldn't have been possible.
He raised his head. Smiled.
— What a curious home you've built… Warm. Full of voices. Full of forgotten memories.
Mei stepped forward, her eyes fixed on him.
— Who are you?
— A survivor — he said. — Or perhaps… an echo of something that should never have died.
— You may call me... Hazau. The Seed born from error. The Son of the Unquenchable Flame.
Fenra hesitated.
— Hazau?… Hazau is dead. He was destroyed.
— Destroyed? — he brought a hand to his own chest, still smiling. — Ah… his surface, perhaps. But the essence? It was planted long before. In the flesh of the tree. In the deepest soil of this world.
The ground shuddered under their feet.
The roots moved like serpents.
The vegetation pulsed in a living symphony.
Hazau raised his golden eyes to the sky.
— It is all as she dreamed… The city will rise. And with it, what lies below shall be set free.
— "What lies below"? — Stella murmured. — What is he talking about?
Dan ran to the data console. The hologram flickered with erratic readings.
— The city's structure is changing. There's something... pushing from underneath.
Elise analyzed the images.
— The Tree of Life… it's acting as a conduit. As if channeling energy from within the crust. The entire system is being used as an… anchor?
Mei spun around suddenly.
— Wait… you said conduit? Is the Tree pulling something?
— No — Elise corrected, her eyes wide. — It's releasing.
Hazau slowly opened his arms, as one receiving something sacred.
— I like you. Quick. Curious. You learned to name all things… except those that were buried on purpose.
— What is buried? — Dan whispered, as if fearing the answer.
Hazau looked at him with a glint of irony in his golden eyes.
— Have you heard stories about the roots of the world? About the limits of creation? About that which was locked away not out of fear, but ignorance?
Stella let out a breath, her eyes dilated.
— He's talking about a… forbidden domain. A… dimension?
Fenra, in a whisper:
— The Abyss.
Silence.
Hazau smiled wider.
— Ah… so you remember.
Even if it's just a name erased among the echoes of a cowardly civilization.
Dan shook his head in denial.
— The Abyss doesn't exist. It was just an allegory used in the times of the first Sifs.
— Then look at the ground — murmured Elise.
On the monitor… city structures were beginning to rise from the soil. As if ripped from time.
The ground beneath the Tree cracked. A spiral of inverse light, black with violet hues, spun in the depths of the earth.
— That's a portal… — said Stella, her voice failing. — A Gate.
— Yes… — said Mei, tense. — A Gate… to the Abyss.
Hazau laughed, as if it were music.
— Welcome to the age of return.
What you locked in the shadows… is hungry.
Teeth began to emerge from the fissures in the ground. Ethereal tentacles stretched toward the surface. The vegetation screamed in nervous pulses.
The sky trembled.
The city rose.
Lifted by roots, by altered gravity… or by the will of something greater.
As the city began to rise...
The remains of the purple vegetation shook. The roots vibrated like taut strings.
Tekio remained on his knees, panting.
Aisha held Akira's inert body.
— He can't… — her voice was low, trembling. — He can't be dead.
The silence was cruel. Tekio looked at the ground, swallowing the pain.
— We need to tell Mei — he said, activating the communicator on his wrist. — We can't stay here… we need to fall back.
But before he could finish the sentence...
— Tekio… — Aisha whispered.
She was pressing on Akira's chest. There was a faint heartbeat. Very faint. But real.
— His heart… it came back.
Tekio froze. His eyes widened.
— Are you sure?
Akira's fingers twitched.
— He's responding! — Aisha said, her eyes filling with hope. — He's… coming back!
Tekio hesitated. He still felt something strange. A fluctuation of energy. But even so, he smiled briefly.
In the field where the city was rising...
Mei stared at Hazau, her eyes blazing with fury.
— You shouldn't have come back. — she said. — This was a mistake. And no matter what you do… you've already said too much. It's too late to hide now. And too early to win.
Hazau merely smiled.
— So… are you going to stop me?
— Exactly. — she replied, advancing. — And I will destroy this gate.
Mei's speed was absurd. In less than a second, she was about to strike Hazau with a flaming blow that melted the space around it.
But before the attack could land…
She was teleported.
Hurled meters backward, through the air.
Mei twisted in the air and landed on her feet, eyes wide.
— This energy… no…
Everyone felt it.
Space rippled like boiling water. The vegetation bowed.
A feminine silhouette walked among the roots.
— You've arrived… — said Hazau, smiling. — Vernasha.
The figure stopped beside him. Pale blonde hair. Amber eyes like trapped fire. Her presence was a living distortion.
— Did you miss me, Mei? Or are you making that face because you really thought you'd killed me so easily?
Mei was paralyzed.
— I… saw you turn to ashes.
— You saw what I wanted you to see. — Vernasha replied, laughing. — A copy. A seed. Meanwhile, I waited for the right moment… for this.
She opened her arms, showing the rising city.
— A few things went off course, of course… but the final stage is underway. And now… there's no stopping it.
— You're wrong. — Mei replied, clenching her fists. — You're both weak. I'll end you here. And I'll rip the answers I need before I close this hole.
Hazau took a step back, smiling.
— Courageous.
— Perhaps you can… — said Vernasha. — But you have two choices.
She pointed a finger at Mei.
— You can try to touch me… which is nearly impossible now… or… you can save Tekio from death.
Mei's eyes widened.
— What…?
— I can move wherever I wish. I won't be caught by surprise. So choose, Empress. Savior. Strongest woman in the world.
Silence fell.
Mei gritted her teeth, her entire body trembling with tension.
(...)
The breath returned.
— A-AKIRA?! — Aisha gasped, eyes wide.
His eyes opened.
Tekio lunged toward the two of them, falling to his knees beside them.
— IS HE ALIVE?! HE CAME BACK?! — he said, his heart pounding.
Akira's face was sweaty, his breathing heavy. His eyes wandered over the sky, the earth… over something only he could see.
— You're here. — Aisha cupped his face with her hands. — YOU CAME BACK TO US!
Tekio smiled, trembling.
— Man... you scared us…!
But then…
His body began to contort.
His fingers bent like claws. His eyes widened.
His voice…
Exploded.
— RUN!! GET AWAY FROM ME! NOW!!! — he screamed with such force that the surrounding forest seemed to shudder.
— AKIRA?! — Aisha tried to hold him. — HEY! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!
— I… I WAS WRONG! — Akira roared, crying. — I… I ENTERED THAT PLACE! THE TEMPLE! THE PORTAL… IT… IT MADE ME CROSS OVER…!
— WHAT PORTAL?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! — Tekio shouted, terrified.
— I SAW!! I REMEMBERED EVERYTHING! — Akira's face was consumed by terror. — HE WAS WAITING FOR ME! THAT BASTARD… HE PLANNED THIS FROM THE START! I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A DEMON, BUT IT WAS HIM.!
I SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN.
He forcefully pulled the blade of his kusarigama, pointing it at his own neck.
— IT WAS ALL PLANNED.
— I HAVE TO KILL MYSELF! NOW!!
— NO!! — Aisha screamed, gripping his wrist tightly. — YOU WON'T DO THAT! LISTEN TO ME!!
She hugged him.
— WE'LL FIX THIS TOGETHER, OKAY? ME, YOU, TEKIO, MEI, FENRA, DAN… EVERYONE! YOU'RE NOT ALONE! YOU'RE NOT!!
His arms began to tremble.
And then…
His eyes changed.
Became empty.
Coldly calm.
Tekio… heard Yara scream.
Inside him, something manifested.
"Tekio, DON'T LET HER STAY NEAR HIM!"
— AISHA!! — Tekio reached out his hand. — GET AWAY FROM HIM!!
But she smiled, relieved by Akira's silence. The smile on her face.
— See? It's okay. You just needed…
Akira placed a hand on her shoulder with tenderness.
— ...Be quiet. — he said.
SHLAAACK!!
Blood gushed.
Akira's hand pierced through Aisha's chest like a spear.
The sound of the impact was grotesque, wet, final.
— A-AH... — Aisha gurgled, blood streaming from her lips.
Tekio SCREAMED.
— AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
AISHA!!!!!!!
Aisha had no eyes to look at Akira in that instant.
Yet her expression said everything.
Tekio ran to her, but his legs gave way. Time seemed to slow down.
— N-NO… NO… DON'T DO THIS… — Tekio whispered.
Akira pulled his hand back, letting Aisha's body fall slowly.
She still tried to say something.
But…
There was no time.
The light in her eyes went out.
The world, for an instant, lost its color.
And there he stood.
Akira, on his feet.
His hand covered in blood.
His gaze… empty.
And cold.
It was not Akira.
It was another being...
To be continued...
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