>Labyrinth Depths
Noct dragged his feet through the corridor, one hand pressed against the wall steadying himself. The pain in his body had dulled into a constant throb, almost comforting in its persistence but still lingering.
He had no food,no water,no map.
Only the sword, stained with blood, and the hollow silence of the floor below.
The walls here were different, older, cracked. Vines grew from the seams, pulsating faintly with ather. Symbols flickering across the stone, foreign and shifting, like they didn't want to be read.
Noct stopped
A massive door stood before him, ancient and sealed shut, surrounded by broken weapons and rusted armor. The remains of those who had tried before.
In front of it lay a tablet that was split in two.
Not the kind that granted power, Just a message.
He knelt near it, wiping the dust away.
"Only in breaking can one be remade."
Noct stared intently.
It didn't make sense.
Or maybe it made too much sense.
He stood again, breath steadying.
There was no going back.
> Somewhere over the Scorched Sea
Selene sat in the aircraft's rear hold, armor on, eyes closed. The hum of engines filled the space, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
In the image of a bridge.
Of a hand reaching.
Of no one reaching back.
She clutched a pendant beneath her cloak,worn and scratched. A family picture sealed inside.
Noct, you better be alive, she thought. Or I'll kill you myself.
A teammate sat beside her.
"Heard you tried to where to your brother was last seen."
She didn't answer.
He glanced at her expression and went silent.
Selene didn't look at him.
Her eyes stayed on the clouds beyond the glass, fists tightening.
I'll come back for you.
>Academy Grounds – Instructor Vern's Office
Vern was signing off on the next batch of assessments when his terminal flickered.
A glitch?
He frowned.
The timestamp rewound five days on its own. One of the closed logs reappeared—corrupted before. Now, restored.
It was a still frame.
A flicker of motion on a bridge.
Vael's breath caught.
He enlarged it, and the image froze—Noct reaching up. Eira looking down. Her foot raised.
His fingers hovered over the "Report" key.
But he didn't press it.
He sat back, shoulders heavy.
"This again..."
He reached to shut it off—
—but paused.
Something in him refused.
A part of him needed to know.
Because if it was true…
Then he let it happen.