Gudan opened his eyes.
Warm sunlight washed over him.
A soft breeze carried the smell of salt and summer.
Waves rolled gently across the shore, glittering under a bright sky.
He blinked, confused but calm, sitting in a beach chair half-buried in soft white sand.
William, Hope, and Camelio were splashing in the water, laughing, chasing each other through the waves. Hope kicked a spray of water at William. Camelio shrieked and ran. William pretended to fall dramatically.
Gudan stared, stunned.
He turned his head.
Corr was sunbathing beside him, sunglasses on, sipping something with a tiny umbrella in it.
Gudan stood slowly. His bare feet sank into the hot sand. He winced at the heat, but it felt real. Alive. Human.
He looked up at the sun—bright, blinding, sparkling.
He shielded his eyes with his hand.
For the first time in forever, he felt warm.
He walked toward the water, heart pounding with something like hope.
"Guys…?" he called softly.
They didn't hear him. They just kept laughing, splashing, and being alive.
He stepped into the water.
It was cool. Refreshing. Real.
He took another step.
Then another.
The sun dimmed.
The water darkened.
Gudan froze.
His reflection in the water shifted—his ice jaw returning, his claws forming, frost creeping up his arms.
"No… no, please—"
The sun went out like a candle.
The water swallowed him whole.
He sank, helpless, watching William, Hope, and Camelio still playing on the surface as if nothing was wrong.
He reached for them.
They didn't see him.
He sank deeper.
And deeper.
And deeper—
A voice snapped him back.
Bright.
Cheerful.
Wrong.
"Can't have you daydream, can I?"
Gudan's eyes flew open.
The beach was gone.
He was back in the chamber.
Back in the chains.
Back under the furnace glow.
The gold demon leaned over him, smiling wide, her eyes sparkling with manic delight.
"Ohhh, you drifted off," she giggled. "How cute! But we're not done."
Gudan's breath hitched. "Please… stop…"
She pressed another sheet of heated gold near him — close enough that the heat seared through him, forcing a scream from his throat.
He cried out, tears streaking down his face. making engraved patterns on the gold mask
The demon laughed softly, delighted.
"Gold is just soooo beautiful," she sang. "And you're finally starting to look the part."
She shaped another plate with her fingers, humming as she worked.
"You'll shine," she whispered. "You'll shine forever."
Gudan sobbed, the sound echoing off the chamber walls.
His cries seemed to sink into the gold itself, trapped there, engraved into the plates like permanent scars.
The demon smiled wider.
"Oh yes," she whispered.
"That's the sound of beauty."