Meanwhile, back in the east wing hallway…
Kade stood against the cool metal wall of the corridor, arms folded, his expression unreadable. With his mask off, his face was sharper, scruff along his jaw, shadows under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Or maybe that was just his default look.
Footsteps echoed. Jules strolled up beside him, hands tucked into the straps of his vest, a wide grin stretching across his face.
"You know," Jules said, glancing at Kade. "I wasn't sure you actually had a face under all that gear. Thought you were some kind of angry toaster with arms."
Kade gave him a sideways glare. "You always this annoying, or am I just the lucky one?"
Jules shrugged, completely unfazed. "Oh, this is me being charming. Give it twenty more minutes and you'll be writing reports about me."
Kade grunted, looking straight ahead again.
Jules fished into a side pouch and pulled out a slightly crushed candy bar. He tore it open and took a loud, deliberate bite.
Kade's eye twitched. "You brought snacks to a secured government facility?"
"I bring snacks everywhere," Jules replied through a mouthful. "What if I get kidnapped again? Gotta keep my blood sugar up."
"If I kidnap you," Kade muttered, "it'll be for peace and quiet."
Jules grinned, chewing slowly. "See? That's how it starts. First comes the threats, then comes mutual respect. Enemies-to-besties. Classic arc."
Kade turned just slightly, his brows lowering. "You're like a mosquito that learned how to hack."
"And you," Jules said, pointing his candy bar at him, "are like a refrigerator with abandonment issues."
They stood in silence for a moment. Kade massaged the bridge of his nose. Jules took another bite.
"We're gonna be great friends," Jules declared cheerfully.
"Please don't," Kade replied flatly.
Back at the observation room…
Rena's wrist comm buzzed.
She glanced at it, expression tightening. "We'll be back," she said, her voice clipped but not unkind. "There's… something we need to look into. Rest, Dævd."
Lila gave Dævd a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before following Rena to the door. She paused briefly, offering a reassuring look over her shoulder. "You're not alone anymore. Remember that."
The door hissed shut behind Rena and Lila, leaving behind a strange stillness.
Dævd sat there in the silence for a moment, staring at his bandaged hands. The pain had dulled, but the weight of everything hadn't. The destruction. The blood. The child's voice still echoed in his mind.
The door slid open again with a soft whir.
Bootsteps. Light, a bit too quick. Then a louder, heavier set, more grounded but less eager.
Jules strolled into the room with a confident bounce in his step, wearing a casual jacket over a tight-fitting tech vest loaded with tools, gadgets, and something that beeped when it probably shouldn't. He held a protein bar in one hand and was halfway through demolishing it.
Kade followed behind him, dressed in a clean black shirt and cargo pants, no mask this time, just a hard stare and arms folded like someone bracing for nonsense.
Jules gave a low whistle when he spotted Dævd. "Yo. You really did fight a volcano and lived to tell the tale."
Dævd raised an eyebrow. "Barely."
"You looked cooler than I ever have doing it," Jules said, grinning. "And that's saying a lot."
Kade grunted. "You think you've looked cool even once?"
Jules looked at him, deadpan. "Yes."
Dævd chuckled under his breath. "You two seem to be getting along?"
"I've known him for less than 24 hours," Jules replied, taking another bite of his snack, "and yeah, I'd say we're in the classic rivals-turned-partners arc already. Just need a training montage."
Kade rolled his eyes and walked to the side of the bed, checking the nearby vitals monitor. "You stable?"
"As stable as I can be after getting launched through six buildings," Dævd muttered.
Jules leaned in beside him, eyes wide. "Six? Wait, seriously? Damn. That explains the crater I saw. I thought it was, like, a sinkhole."
Dævd offered a tired smirk. "Nah. That was probably my face."
Kade ran a hand down his own face. "I need a drink."
Jules elbowed him playfully. "What you need is a personality."
"I have one. It's tired of your voice."
"You know," he said, tilting his head toward Kade, "for a guy who punches pyro beasts for fun, you sure worry a lot."
Kade didn't even glance his way, eyes fixed on the data scrolling across the nearby terminal. "I don't worry," he muttered. "I calculate risk."
Jules chuckled. "Ah, yes. And yelling 'Damn it, kid!' while sprinting through a field of fire was part of the calculation?"
Kade sighed, finally side-eyeing him. "I liked you better unconscious."
Dævd closed his eyes for a second, listening to them banter. It was ridiculous… but somehow, comforting.
Just as Jules launched into another light jab at Kade's grumpy demeanor, a low hum broke through the room.
Soft at first, like distant thunder under water.
Kade stopped mid-grumble. Jules blinked and looked around. Then all three of them slowly turned their heads.
The sword.
Lucent Grave rested against the wall on its stand, untouched since they arrived at the facility. But now… thin pulses of light coursed along its storm-etched runes. The engravings shimmered, crackling faintly with arcs of silver-blue lightning. The air around it shifted, vibrating softly.
Jules took a step back. "Uh… that's not normal, right?"
"No," Dævd whispered, already rising to his feet, his body protesting with every movement. "It hasn't done that since…"
The humming deepened. Then it changed into something melodic, almost mournful. A voice echoed within the chamber of Dævd's mind, rich, serene, and filled with a haunting warmth.
"You still draw breath… Dævion."
Dævd's heart froze. His breath caught.
That voice. He hadn't heard it since the fall of Astraea.
"Vaelrya?" he said aloud, softly in disbelief.
The others looked confused, but neither interrupted.
The glowing runes pulsed brighter, and the air shimmered in front of the blade like heat over stone. The voice came again, clearer this time, tinged with sadness and strength.
"I felt you falter. I felt the fury that burned through you… and the pain. You wielded me not with vengeance, but to protect."
Dævd approached Lucent Grave slowly. His hand hovered over the hilt.
"You are changing," Vaelrya continued. "Your soul is loud. Broken… but unyielding. And I will stay by your side, as long as you walk this path."
The lightning along the blade gathered in a single current, flashing once, then settling. The glow dimmed. The humming softened into silence.
Dævd stood still, hand resting lightly on the sword, eyes closed. For a long moment, he didn't speak.
When he finally turned around, Jules and Kade were both staring at him.
Kade frowned. "That was… your sword talking?"
"It was her," Dævd said quietly.
Jules squinted. "Her? Bro, you got a haunted sword?"
"It's not haunted," Dævd replied, more firmly. "She's… someone important. Someone who gave everything to keep me alive."
Kade looked at the sword one more time, then at Dævd. "And now she's back?"
"Not fully," Dævd said. "But she's awake. And she remembers."
Jules muttered under his breath. "Man. My gear just beeps when it's low on battery. You've got a sentient lightning blade."
Dævd smiled softly. Placing his hand on the blade.
In a quieter wing of the Division-7 facility, the dim corridor led to a private operations room tucked away from the chatter of agents and recovering soldiers. Within, walls hummed with low-tech static and large translucent monitors projected global surveillance. The city of Lagos still flickered with heat signatures, rescue reports, and damage assessments.
Rena stood at the center of it all, arms folded, her sharp eyes scanning through a map littered with red markers. Lila stood beside her, silent at first, watching her with a calm but concerned expression.
Rena broke the silence.
"Losing Lagos could've been much worse. If Dævd hadn't stopped him…"
"He's just a kid," Lila said softly, "But he carries himself like someone who's already lived through a lifetime of war."
Rena nodded slowly, tapping one of the hovering images, a still frame of the moment Dævd struck down Irohk.
"Which is exactly why we can't afford to let him stay here. They're not going to stop. Whatever that flaming psycho was, he's just the beginning. A prelude."
Lila's brow furrowed as she crossed her arms. "So what? We keep him locked underground? That sword of his is humming with divine power. You saw it, you're not just dealing with weapons or tech anymore. These are relics of war, far beyond Earth."
"That's why I'm saying we move him," Rena said. "To the main Division-7 HQ. The U.S. base."
Lila turned toward her slowly.
"You think that'll keep him safe?"
Rena exhaled, the weight of leadership bearing down visibly in her posture.
"No," she admitted. "But it's the best shot we've got. He needs a network. Defenses. People who understand the scale of this threat. Because whether he wants it or not…"
Her voice dropped.
"…whatever's after him won't stop until it has what it wants. And if it gets it…"
Lila smiles faintly. "It's been a long time since I've seen you this tense."
They both fell silent, the hum of machinery filling the space between them like static dread. On one of the screens, a faint pulse of residual energy glimmered, the last recorded surge from Dævd's King's Eye.
Rena clenched her jaw.
"We bring him in. We bring them all in. And prepare for war."