"Today was a total waste…" Kylin murmured while walking down the road, clearly disappointed by their lack of success in the little plan they had conspired.
"But hey, you can't deny, it was quite fun." Amire's usual warmth broke through the tension as he stretched his arms overhead. "I had the time of my life sitting on a tree trunk, hiding myself from the non-existent threat. Hehe."
"Oh really? Well you didn't have to sit for hours on a rough rock like me. My back still hurts." Kylin muttered, jealous for the contrast in experience he had to Amire.
"Haha, your back? Or something below that?" Amire chuckled loudly, amused at his own joke.
"You are so funny," Kylin said flatly, rolling his eyes, clearly unamused.
"But still…" Amire's grin faded, his voice shifting from playful to serious. "Why did he not show up? He was the one who wrote the address, right?"
Kylin's steps slowed as he stared ahead in thought. "I don't know, maybe he couldn't come, or maybe… he saw you."
"Hah, no way." Amire waved dismissively, though the faint crease in his brow betrayed his doubt. "I didn't even go inside. Unless that guy has some superpowers, there's no way he saw me." His words trailed off as a sudden realization struck him. He froze. "Wait… what if… he does have superpowers? Oh no… am I cooked?"
"Quit joking around. There's no such thing as superpowers," Kylin replied, brushing off the thought with a nonchalant shrug.
"But you have superpowers," Amire pointed out.
"I am a special case." Kylin's tone hardened. "I've never seen any other human with powers in my entire life."
"Hah… you're lucky then," Amire said with a crooked smile. "One in eight billion chance, that is."
"You think having the power to kill anyone at any time, and not even knowing how to control it, is being lucky?" Kylin's voice came out sharper, almost biting, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of guilt.
"Well…" Amire rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "If you put it that way… what can I say?"
As their conversation carried on, the air shifted. A sudden, biting gust tore through the clearing, unnaturally cold, cutting against their skin like a blade. The playful ease between them shattered in an instant.
"What was that… such a strong wind," Kylin muttered, glancing at Amire, who walked just ahead of him.
Amire froze mid-step. His body stiffened. Slowly, his eyes widened, the warmth draining from them until his expression was eerily hollow.
"Amire…?" Kylin's voice wavered with unease.
Amire's head snapped toward him in a sharp, unnatural jerk. His eyes were bloodshot, his gaze empty of recognition. Before Kylin could even flinch, Amire lunged forward, his hand locking around Kylin's throat with terrifying strength.
"AMIRE!" Kylin choked, his hands clawing desperately at Amire's wrists as panic exploded through his veins. "What… what are you doing?! Let go!"
But Amire's face remained eerily calm, a neutral mask that contrasted violently with the violence of his grip. His fingers pressed deeper, nails biting into Kylin's skin until beads of blood welled up.
Kylin's lungs screamed for air, every breath strangled before it could fill his chest. His vision blurred at the edges, the world tilting.
"Amire, stop—this isn't—funny…" His cracked voice barely escaped his throat. Each word was weaker than the last, his strength slipping with every second.
The harder Kylin fought, the more impossible it became to defend himself from his friend.
Suddenly, darkness began to coil around him — Kylin's void powers answering to his fear. A vortex of raw, abyssal energy spiraled outward, distorting the air with a deafening hum that rattled the ruins around them.
"Amire! My powers— I can't… stop them!" Kylin shouted, panic cracking through his voice. The swirling void tore at the ground beneath their feet, bending light and sound until the world itself seemed to unravel.
"AMIRE! Step aside!!" Kylin screamed, terror drowning his thoughts.
But Amire's movements remained rigid, unnatural, as if pulled by invisible strings. He staggered forward—one step too close to the seething void.
Kylin's cry split the chaos, raw with horror. Goosebumps prickled across his skin, his heart stopping at the sight before him.
"AMIRE!!" His scream was ragged, desperate.
Kylin's gaze dropped—and his stomach lurched violently.
"Your legs… they're gone."
The words tumbled from his lips in disbelief, his voice trembling as if speaking them might undo what had just happened.
The shock snapped Amire back. His bloodshot eyes widened, clarity flooding into them as though he'd just awakened from a nightmare. For a frozen moment, he stared down at himself in disbelief, his body trembling. His mouth parted, but no sound came, only a sharp gasp of pain as reality set in.
Then he collapsed. His knees — or what was left of them — buckled, and he fell hard onto the torn earth. The ground beneath him blossomed crimson as blood poured freely, soaking into the soil.
His lips trembled, his breath shallow, yet when his eyes lifted to meet Kylin's, the haze of possession was gone. What remained was unmistakably Amire — vulnerable, terrified, but still smiling faintly for his friend.
"Kylin… calm down…" His voice was strained, broken, but impossibly gentle. He dragged himself forward, clawing at the ground with bloodied hands, leaving a gruesome trail of blood behind him. Still, he inched closer. "You… you need to control it…"
Kylin's hands shook violently as he dropped to his knees beside him. "Amire… why?" His voice cracked, the edges of it dissolving into sobs as tears blurred his vision.
Kylin pleaded, his voice trembling with fear.
"Leave me alone… please."
"Kylin…" Amire's voice wavered, faint but steady in its resolve. "Listen, I can't. I can't go anywhere. I can't leave you… not like this."
Kylin's chest tightened painfully, as though the void itself had coiled around his heart. He clutched Amire's hand in both of his, desperate, refusing to let go. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't mean—"
"It's not your fault." Amire's hand gave the weakest squeeze, but the gesture carried all the warmth he had left. His breath hitched, his body trembling as if every second was a battle to remain.
Then the darkness stirred. Black tendrils of the void slithered across Amire's body, wrapping around him like chains. His skin shimmered faintly before dissolving into fragments of shadow. His hand began to fade beneath Kylin's desperate grip, his fingers slipping away piece by piece.
"No—NO! Amire—stay with me!" Kylin screamed, clutching at the vanishing outline of his friend, his voice raw with terror.
But Amire's smile, fragile as it was, did not falter. His eyes, soft despite the pain, lingered on Kylin's face one last time. "Kylin… don't blame yourself…"
And then—he was gone.
The road fell silent. The only sound left was the echo of Kylin's broken cry, reverberating before fading into nothing. His trembling hands hovered over the empty air where Amire had been just moments ago, stained with his friend's blood. His breaths came shallow, ragged, each one edged with disbelief.
The weight of the loss crushed down on him like cold iron.
"My power?" Kylin whispered, staring at his bloodstained palms. Slowly, his hands curled into fists, shaking violently. "No… this isn't power." His gaze dropped, darkened by grief and fury. His breath rasped, sharp and uneven. "It's a curse… a curse that will haunt me for eternity."
Tears slid freely down his cheeks, blurring the stars above into fading streaks of light. He sat alone in the ruins, surrounded by the suffocating emptiness of his own creation — his sorrow spilling into the silence of the night.