The mountains were silent after the Revenant Kingbreaker departed - eerily so. The snow had stopped falling, and the wind that once howled through the jagged peaks now held its breath, as if watching Kairo's every step. He descended from the cliffs slowly, the warmth of his fading flames leaving little clouds of steam against the freezing night.
Below him, the scorched paths from his earlier battle still smoked faintly, streaks of molten rock running like veins through the frozen earth. The Aetherclimb had witnessed many wars across the ages, but the fire he unleashed days ago had left a scar no storm could easily wash away.
Kairo's mind was a storm of its own. The memory of Veyne's blade, of his own death ages ago, replayed like a looped vision - sharp, unrelenting. Tired. Alone. A tyrant crowned by his own despair. He couldn't decide whether the encounter with Veyne had steadied him or unmoored him further.
And then -
A sudden shift in the air. The silence fractured.
Kairo spun around just as a figure launched from the treeline behind him, striking with the speed of a coiled serpent. Steel flashed in the moonlight. He barely brought his forearm up in time to deflect the attack, sparks scattering from the clash.
"-Tch!" He stumbled back, boots grinding into the frozen ash.
The attacker flipped back, landing with feline grace atop a broken tree trunk. A girl - no, a young woman - stood before him. Her black combat uniform bore streaks of teal, and a long scarf fluttered behind her like a comet's tail. Her short silver hair framed sharp, calculating eyes that gleamed with challenge. She held twin hooked blades, both aimed at him.
"So it's true," she said coolly. "The Ashborn lives."
Kairo narrowed his gaze. "And you are?"
"Reika Hanamura. Custodian Field Operative. You're under directive detention for unauthorised Rift energy activity and mass destruction." Her tone was clipped, military. But there was something else in her eyes - a spark of curiosity… and something personal.
"I'm not interested in playing games," Kairo muttered, turning to leave.
Reika blurred forward in a burst of speed, cutting him off with frightening precision. "I wasn't asking."
Her first blade swept toward his chest; he ducked under it instinctively, pivoting on his heel as her second strike came from below. The rhythm of the fight was strange - she moved like someone trained to counter him specifically. Her strikes anticipated his evasions, her footwork mirrored some of his own techniques, almost eerily so.
Kairo retaliated with a burst of heat, a gout of flame spiralling from his palm. She twisted through it like smoke, rolling beneath the arc of fire and retaliating with a swift kick that sent him stumbling backward.
"You're holding back," she said, eyes narrowing. "Why?"
"Because you don't know what you're asking for," he growled.
Her smirk was sharp. "Then show me."
Their fight escalated quickly - fire against steel, instinct against discipline. She was fast, too fast for a regular soldier. Every strike she made was aimed to pin, disarm, or force him to use power. He realised with a jolt that she wasn't here to kill him. She was testing him. Evaluating him.
He dodged another slash and snapped his fingers; a wall of white flame erupted between them . She sliced through it with her blades glowing faint teal, splitting the fire like water. She landed a kick to his ribs, sending him sliding back through the ash.
Kairo exhaled slowly, eyes glowing gold. "Fine."
Heat surged outward like a heartbeat. The snow beneath his feet turned to steam. His cloak whipped around him in the wind as embers gathered in his palm. Reika braced, a flciker of unease crossing her face.
For the briefest moment, he almost unleashed it.
But then -
"WOAAAH, HEY! HEYHEYHEY! STOP!! I SURRENDER!!"
Both fighters froze mid-motion, turning toward the ridiculous rusting coming from a bush nearby.
Out burst a lanky young man with messy brown hair, a ragged cloak, and a half-eaten loaf of bread clutched in one hand. Crumbs covered his chin. His eyes widened as he took in the scene - scorched earth, a girl mid-air with blades drawn, and Kairo glowing like an angry god.
"Uh…" he said. "This isn't the kitchen, is it?"
Reika blinked. "...what."
Kairo lowered his flames slightly. "Who the hell are you?"
The newcomer raised both hands dramatically. "T-Taro! Historian! Treasure hunter! Professional coward! And, uh, Part-time bread connoisseur!" He dropped to his knees, clutching the bread to his chest. "Please don't kill me! I was just scavenging for… research purposes!"
Kairo stared at him flatly. "Research. On a battlefield."
"Yes!" Taro said, sweating. "Field research! On… the effects of stale bread on the human digestive system!"
Reika's expression was somewhere between disbelief and irritation. Kairo's eyebrow twitched.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I'm serious!" Taro wailed, clasping his hands as though praying to some divine entity. "Mercy, oh glowing-eyed demon lord!! I'm too handsome to die!!"
There was a long silence.
Then, unexpectedly, Kairo's lips twitched. Just a fraction.
Reika caught it, narrowing her eyes. "...You're enjoying this."
"I'm not," Kairo muttered. But there was the faintest flicker of amusement behind his guarded stare.
Reika sheathed one blade but didn't take her eyes off either of them. "We're not done here, Ashborn. But first -" she turned to Taro, "-you. Why are you here?"
Taro puffed his chest out, as if about to make a grand speech. "Name's Taro! Explorer of ruins, collector of secrets, finder of lost cheese - wait -" he suddenly patted himself down frantically. "Where's my emergency cheese stash?!"
Reika pinched the bridge of her nose. Kairo sighed.
Taro, oblivious to their stairs, scrambled around the ground muttering about "cursed bread thieves." When Kairo finally started walking toward the distant ruins, Taro yelped and sprinted after him.
"Wait up!! You can't just leave me here! This place is cursed! And haunted! And probably full of bread bandits worse than me!"
Kairo didn't turn, but for the first time since the massacre, he allowed a small smirk to break through. "...idiot," he muttered.
Reika followed close behind, her expression shifting from stern to slightly intrigued as she watched the strange pair ahead.
The three figures walked into the distance - the fallen battlefield fading behind them, the horizon of Amaranth stretching ahead like a smoldering promise. The world had burned, but embers still glowed.
And sometimes, even a fool's ember could light the path.