The morning sun hit my face, and for the first time since I died, I didn't feel like I was waking up alone.
There was a presence in the back of my mind. Not a voice, not yet, but a weight. Like a roommate in the next room who hasn't come out for coffee but you know is judging your life choices.
Good morning, little thief, the thought echoed, smooth and amused.
I groaned into my pillow. "It wasn't a dream. Fantastic."
Dreams are inefficient. They process memory without purpose. I prefer... transaction.
I sat up, rubbing my face. Yesterday's revelations, the abandoned church, the Twilight Healing girl, the Fragment's full awakening-played back in cinematic clarity.
"So," I said to the empty room. "You're awake. Fully."
I am.
"And you want to negotiate."
I want you to survive. Survival requires power. Power requires payment. It's the fundamental law of reality, Ryder. Nothing comes from nothing.
[FRAGMENT NEGOTIATION: ACTIVE]
[ECHO: 5% - Negligible]
[AVAILABLE CURRENCY: Memories / Sensations / Concepts / Actions]
The blue text felt heavier than usual. Older.
"Explain the currency," I said, swinging my legs out of bed.
Simple. The Fragment's tone sharpened with interest. I grant you abilities. You provide raw material to bridge the gap between 'what you are' and 'what you want to be.'
Memories: The emotional weight of a moment. I take the feeling, you keep the facts.
Sensations: The taste of an apple. The feeling of silk. I take the sensory input.
Concepts: Your certainty that the sun will rise. Abstract qualities.
Actions: Things I need you to do. Quests, in your gamer parlance.
"And if I pay?"
Then reality gets thinner for you. Want to fly faster? Give me the memory of falling. Want to hit harder? Give me the sensation of a bruise.
"Sounds like a deal with the devil."
Please. Devils are amateurs. They want your soul. I just want... spare parts.
I shuddered. "That's not reassuring."
It wasn't meant to be. Get dressed. Your King is calling a war council.
A knock sounded at the door a second later.
"Ryder?" Kiba's voice. "Rias wants everyone in the club room. Now."
The urgency in his tone was new.
The Occult Research Club felt more like a war room.
Rias stood at the head of the table, a map of Kuoh spread before her. Red markers circled the abandoned church like bloodstains.
"We have forty-eight hours," Rias began, her voice crisp and commanding. "The fallen angels are preparing a ritual. Based on the energy signatures Koneko tracked, they intend to extract the Sacred Gear from the girl, Asia Argento."
"Extraction kills the host," Akeno added quietly. She wasn't smiling today. "It's a brutal process."
"We're not going to let that happen," I said.
Rias nodded at me. "Agreed. But a frontal assault is suicide. They have the numbers, the hostage, and Raynare."
Kiba pointed to the map. "The church has three entrances. The main double doors, a side entrance to the vestry, and a basement access here." He traced a line. "All guarded."
"Raynare will be expecting us," Rias said. "She knows Ryder is with us. She knows we're aware of her presence. She'll have the perimeter locked down."
"We need a distraction," Koneko said, crunching her granola bar like it owed her money. "Pull the guards. Create an opening."
"Rias and I can hit the front," Akeno suggested. "Magical bombardment. Flashy."
"Kiba and I flank the sides," Koneko added. "Kill the sentries."
"Which leaves extraction." Rias looked at me. "Someone needs to get inside, grab Asia, and get out before Raynare realizes the attack is a feint."
The room went quiet.
"I'll do it," I said.
"Ryder..." Rias frowned. "You're new. You have the least combat experience. If you're spotted-"
"I'm the only one they can't predict." I cut her off, maybe too sharp. "They know your patterns, Kiba's sword, Koneko's strength. I'm the wild card. They know I have power, but they don't know what I can do."
"He has a point," Kiba admitted. "Raynare saw him copy light magic and regeneration. She doesn't know his limits."
"But you have no stealth capabilities," Rias pointed out. "If you're spotted inside, you'll be swarmed. Can you fight three or four fallen angels alone while protecting a non-combatant?"
I thought about the fight in the alley. The struggle against just two minions.
"No," I admitted. "Not yet."
Not yet, the Fragment echoed. But you could.
"I need a way to get in unseen," I said. "If I can get to Asia before they realize I'm there..."
"We don't have invisibility magic ready," Akeno said. "It takes time to prepare rituals like that. We don't have time."
"I'll figure something out," I said. "Trust me."
Rias studied me. The same look she'd given me in the alley. Assessing. Calculating.
"Alright," she said finally. "We launch the attack at midnight tomorrow. Ryder, you're on extraction. The rest of us are the anvil."
I retreated to the training grounds. Empty this time of day; classes were in session, but Rias had excused me citing "health issues."
"Okay," I said to the empty air. "Let's talk."
I'm listening.
"I need stealth. Invisibility. Camouflage. Something to get me past the guards."
A practical request. I like it.
The blue system window materialized.
[NEGOTIATION INITIATED]
[DESIRED ABILITY: STEALTH MODE]
[PARAMETERS: VISUAL/AUDITORY MASKING]
[DURATION: SHORT-TERM]
I can restructure your light manipulation ability, the Fragment explained. Instead of projecting light as a weapon which you're terrible at by the way, you can bend light around yourself. Active camouflage.
"What's the price?"
To hide yourself from the world? To become nothing in the eyes of others? The voice mused. That requires a specific kind of memory. A moment where you wanted to disappear. Where you hid from consequence.
I stiffened. I knew exactly the kind of memory it wanted.
"Specifics," I demanded.
I want the memory of the vase. You know the one. Seven years old. Your mother's favorite. You broke it playing ball in the house. And then...
"I hid in the closet," I whispered. "For three hours. While she looked for the cat, thinking the cat did it."
The guilt. The fear of discovery. The intense, burning desire to be invisible. The Fragment hummed. It's a small memory. Trivial, in the grand scheme. But the emotion is pure.
"If I give it to you... do I forget it?"
You forget the guilt. You forget the fear. You'll know it happened, as a fact. 'I broke a vase once.' But the emotional weight? The visceral memory of the dark closet? That becomes mine.
I hesitated. It was a small thing. A childhood screw-up.
But it was my childhood screw-up.
"Greater payment yields greater results," I quoted.
Indeed. This is a low-tier payment. So you'll get a low-tier ability. Limited duration. Limitations on action.
I thought about Asia. About the mission. About walking into a church full of monsters without a way to hide.
"Take it," I said.
Done.
I felt a sharp tug in the back of my mind. Not pain, exactly. More like a sudden drop in air pressure. A pop.
And then... relief.
A weight I hadn't realized I was carrying lifted. I tried to think about the vase. I remembered breaking it. I remembered the closet. But the shame? The heart-pounding fear of my mom's footsteps?
Gone. It felt like reading a summary of a movie I'd watched years ago.
[PAYMENT ACCEPTED: MEMORY (TRIVIAL)]
[ABILITY ACQUIRED: STEALTH MODE]
[EFFICIENCY: 35%]
[DURATION: 5 MINUTES MAX]
[LIMITATION: CANNOT ATTACK WHILE ACTIVE]
[LIMITATION: PHYSICAL CONTACT BREAKS FIELD]
"Five minutes?" I looked at the screen. "That's it?"
You paid with a childhood prank, little thief. You didn't sell your firstborn. Five minutes is plenty if you're fast.
"Cannot attack while active..."
Bending light takes concentration. If you start throwing punches, the field collapses. Physical contact disrupts it too. Use it to move. Use it to hide. Don't use it to fight.
"Fair enough."
I focused. The knowledge was just... there. Inserted into my brain along with the transaction.
Bend the light. Don't block it. Let it flow over you.
I activated the skill.
My vision shimmered. I looked down at my hands. They were gone. Or rather, I could see the grass through them, distorted slightly like heat haze on a highway.
"Okay," I breathed. "That's cool."
It's basic. But it will serve.
I spent the next four hours running drills. Activate Stealth. Sprint across the field. Deactivate. Strike a target dummy. Reactivate. Relocate.
It was exhausting. The mental strain of maintaining the light-bend was headache-inducing, draining my stamina bar faster than physical exertion. By the time the sun began to set, I was drenched in sweat and my MP was flashing red.
But I had it down. Four minutes and thirty seconds of reliable invisibility.
While we're discussing upgrades, the Fragment continued during a water break, I have some observations about your 'peerage.'
"Oh? Do tell."
The King, Rias. She looks at you like a shiny new toy she doesn't want to break. But she also looks at you like a weapon she's afraid to fire.
"She's protective."
She's possessive. There's a difference. And the Knight, Kiba? He reeks of trauma. Sword-shaped trauma. Useful for focus, bad for longevity.
"And Koneko?"
The Rook is holding back so much power she's practically vibrating. If she ever let go, she'd level a city block. I like her.
Speaking of which, your posture is shifting. Kiba's stance. Koneko's economy of movement. Echo is subtle but cumulative.
I froze mid-stretch. "What do you mean?"
Keep trading memories, and 'Ryder Cross' becomes a patchwork quilt. Pretty. But not original.
"Thanks for the existential dread."
Anytime.
"Ryder?"
I deactivated the stealth...stumbling slightly as reality snapped back into focus...and turned.
Rias stood at the edge of the field. She was wearing casual clothes today, a sweater and skirt that made her look less like a devil princess and more like the high school student she pretended to be. Her eyes flicked to the space where I'd been invisible a moment ago.
"I didn't see you for a moment there," she said, walking closer. "I sensed your energy, but visually... nothing."
"New trick," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead. "I figured out how to bend the light manipulation I copied from Raynare. It's not perfect, but it works."
Rias stopped a few feet away. Her expression shifted, something calculating behind the concern.
"That's... not possible," she said slowly. "Devils can't just 'repurpose' abilities overnight. It takes weeks of meditation to restructure energy patterns."
I shrugged, keeping my voice casual. "Guess I'm a fast learner."
She didn't look away. "You figured this out alone."
It wasn't a question. It was a test.
"I had motivation." I met her gaze. "And a lot of coffee."
She held my eyes for three heartbeats. I could almost feel her weighing me, assessing what I was worth versus what I might cost.
"Show me," she said.
I activated Stealth Mode. The world shimmered. I vanished.
Rias reached out, her hand passing through the space I occupied. Her fingers brushed my shoulder.
The field flickered. I snapped back into visibility, stumbling.
"Impressive," she said. Her voice was warm, but her eyes were still assessing. "But fragile. Physical contact breaks it."
"Limitations keep things interesting."
"Indeed." She studied me for another long moment. "Whatever you're carrying, Ryder... whatever secret is letting you do things that should be impossible..."
My breath caught.
"I hope it's worth the cost."
She turned to leave, then paused.
"Get some rest. Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we go to war."
"War," I repeated. "Against fallen angels in a haunted church. Just another Friday."
"Technically it's a Tuesday."
"Even worse."
She almost smiled. Almost. "If things go wrong tomorrow... if we can't reach you... barricade yourself and signal. I will bring the entire building down to get to you if I have to."
I watched her walk away, her red hair catching the last rays of the sun.
She's going to figure you out, the Fragment observed.
"I know."
She's suspicious. But she needs you. That's leverage.
For a second, my mind influenced by the analytical nature of the System, maybe, or the Fragment's cynicism didn't see a worried girl. I saw a King evaluating a Pawn. Assessing the value of a piece on the board.
[ECHO RESONANCE DETECTED]
[SOURCE: RIAS GREMORY (STRATEGIC MINDSET)]
I shook my head, clearing the thought. It was true, maybe. But it wasn't the whole truth. I saw the concern in her eyes. That was real too.
Enjoy the moment, the Fragment whispered, its voice unusually low. But remember the evaluation. She is a King. You are a Pawn. Never forget who moves whom.
"I move myself," I muttered.
We'll see.
Tomorrow. Midnight. The church.
Somewhere, Raynare was waiting.
Somewhere, Asia was running out of time.
And somewhere in my chest, the Fragment was already calculating its next price.