Morning came slow, dragging its light over a city that didn't want it.
Varen's skyline still shimmered — but not from glory, only smoke and fractured glass.
Where the Subring used to stand was now a hollow crater.
Its steel bones jutted from the ground like ribs of some mechanical beast that had choked on its own flame.
Rynn stood on the rim of the pit, boots crunching over melted debris.
The air smelled of rust and ozone.
Every gust carried dust that sparkled faint blue before settling again — Mirra residue still bleeding from the cracks below.
He wasn't supposed to be here.
The Guild had sealed off the whole sector, called it a "containment zone."
But the guards had given up halfway through the night, too tired or too afraid to stand near what was left.
The crowd was gone.
The cheering, the noise, the hunger — all gone.
Just silence.
And a faint hum in the ground that felt like a heartbeat trying to remember itself.
---
Eren's voice came from behind him.
"You shouldn't be this close."
Rynn turned. His mentor stood with two steaming cups of something pretending to be coffee, the same dry smirk on his face.
"Still alive," Rynn said. "That's something."
Eren handed him a cup. "Barely. I heard you almost got yourself sliced into modern art."
"Vessa did the slicing," Rynn muttered. "And herself, apparently."
Eren took a long drink, then exhaled through his nose. "She's gone."
Rynn didn't ask how he knew. He just looked back at the pit.
"They said she wanted to build something beautiful out of fighting," Rynn said. "Guess she did."
Eren's jaw tightened. "The Guild took her body. Classified her as 'unstable property.' That's what they do when they're afraid of a name."
"Property." Rynn's laugh came out bitter. "She wasn't a thing."
"No. She was a reminder that people don't like being owned."
The silence after that stretched. Wind hissed through twisted railings. Somewhere far below, molten glass cracked as it cooled.
Rynn finished his coffee and tossed the cup into the crater.
"Guess we should leave before they classify me next."
Eren nodded. "We'll go at night. Less drones."
---
As they walked away, Rynn glanced back one last time.
The morning sun hit the edge of the crater just right, scattering light into a thousand tiny reflections.
For a moment, it looked like the entire city was staring at him.
He didn't like what it saw.
---