The cliffs overlooking the valley were cold that night, the stars scattering silver light over the stone as if trying to comfort him. But Megumi Valentine felt no comfort. Only the echo of the thing inside him.
He pressed his hand to his chest, fingers trembling. The voice, the presence — not him, not Megumi — still clung like smoke in his lungs.
Ava sat beside him, her hand wrapping around his, grounding him. "Tell me," she whispered. "Please, no more walls. No more silence."
He turned to her. Her eyes reflected the moonlight, deep with fear but steadier than his own. And in that moment, he knew — if he didn't tell her now, the distance would break them.
So he spoke.
⸻
Megumi's Confession
"It started when Uranus appeared to me," he began, his voice quiet, almost ashamed. "He… wasn't like the others. Not like Zeus. Not like Cronus. He was calm. Almost human. But there was something in his eyes — like he had seen everything, lived through everything, and hated none of it. He told me he wanted to… test me."
Ava frowned. "Test you? How?"
Megumi swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Not with strength. Not with magic. He tested me here—" He pressed a fist to his chest. "He tried to break me from the inside. He tore into every wound, every memory, every fear. He whispered that I was nothing but a pawn. That everything I had done — surviving the Styx, defying Olympus, even saving you — was just a step toward me becoming something worse than the gods I hate."
Ava's grip on his hand tightened. "Megumi…"
His voice cracked now, raw with the memory. "And then… I wasn't me anymore. Not for long. Just a minute. But it was enough." His golden eyes dimmed, haunted. "The First Fallen King. The King of Erasure. He came through me. He wore my body like a cloak and looked through my eyes. I could feel him — his hunger, his rage, his emptiness. Ava, I swear to you, I could feel him smiling."
Her breath caught. She wanted to scream, to deny it, but the truth was there in his trembling voice. Instead, she pressed her forehead against his.
"And then what happened?" she whispered.
Megumi closed his eyes, shame washing over him. "Uranus spoke to him. To it. Not to me. Like I was just the vessel sitting in the middle of it all. He didn't flinch, didn't fight. He just… acknowledged the Fallen King, as if he'd been waiting for him. And then, in an instant, the thing inside me went quiet again. Like it was satisfied. Like it was only the beginning."
Ava's chest tightened, her nails digging into his hand. "And you were going to keep this from me?"
"I didn't want you to be afraid of me," he admitted, his voice cracking. "I didn't want Chloe to grow up seeing her father as a monster."
Tears stung Ava's eyes, but they weren't of fear. They were of fierce, burning love. "You're not a monster, Megumi. Do you hear me? You've fought for us. For me. For Chloe. You've given everything. That thing inside you isn't you. And I don't care if Uranus himself tests you a thousand times, I won't let it take you. We'll find a way — together."
For the first time in hours, Megumi let out a shaky breath that almost felt like relief. He leaned against her, holding her as though she was the only tether keeping him from being pulled into the abyss.
"Together," he whispered.
⸻
Olympus – The Sky Splits
Far above them, in the golden halls of Olympus, the gods had gathered in anticipation. A storm of divine tension gripped the air. The titans stood beside them, uneasy allies bound by necessity.
And then the heavens themselves split open.
A rift tore across the skies, not with thunder or lightning, but with silence. The constellations bent, reshaped, as if bowing in reverence. A figure emerged from the void — tall, radiant, cloaked not in armor but in the raw essence of the cosmos itself. His hair flowed like strands of starlight, his eyes endless as the firmament.
Uranus had returned.
The gods and titans alike froze. Even the air seemed to stop moving. His presence was not loud, not thunderous. It was quiet, yet absolute.
Cronus, the once-proud king who had swallowed his own children, was the first to fall to one knee. His voice was heavy with guilt and reverence.
"Father," he said, bowing his head low. "I wronged you. I betrayed you. Yet here you stand, not as a corpse, not as a memory, but as the Sky Eternal. I beg of you — forgive me. And… save us."
The hall trembled as Zeus followed. The King of Olympus, who had defied titans, slain monsters, and ruled the heavens, lowered himself to one knee. The thunderbolt in his hand dimmed, submitting to the one before him.
"Grandfather," Zeus said, his voice stripped of arrogance. "The First Fallen King stirs again. We are not enough to face him. Even united, gods and titans will fall. Olympus itself will burn. We need you. We ask you — no, we beg you — take the throne. Become King once more. Lead us, as you were always meant to."
Gasps echoed across the chamber. The Olympians had never seen Zeus bow. Never seen him beg.
Hera, Athena, even Poseidon lowered their heads in silence, following suit. The titans did the same, their pride eclipsed by dread. For one brief, fragile moment, all of Olympus knelt as one.
Their voices rose together, gods and titans in unison.
"Take the throne, Uranus. Become our king."
The silence that followed was heavier than the request itself.
Uranus's gaze swept over them all — from Cronus trembling with guilt, to Zeus burning with desperation, to the younger gods bowing with fear. His expression was unreadable, his presence unshaken.
And then, slowly, he raised a hand.
The sky outside Olympus shifted, stars bending, the constellations rearranging themselves into a crown that shimmered above his head. For an instant, the gods thought he would take it. That he would ascend once more.
But Uranus did not speak.
He only looked out beyond Olympus, his gaze stretching to the mortal world below. Toward the cliffs where a boy who defied gods and fate sat trembling beside his beloved.
And in that silence, a chill spread through every heart in Olympus. Because sometimes silence was not mercy. Sometimes silence was judgment.