They left the house without looking back.
No one lingered at the door this time.
Not because there was nothing left inside, but because staying longer would not change what they already understood. The street outside felt the same as before, narrow and quiet, buildings leaning into age rather than attention. But it no longer registered as neutral.
It felt processed.
Lucian walked slightly ahead, not in urgency, but in a kind of mental separation, as if part of him was still inside the house sorting through what they had found. The fragments, the ash, the disturbed dust, the seal that should not have existed there in the first place.
Alistair walked beside him now instead of behind, his pace adjusted without comment. Rei followed at a consistent distance, not drifting closer, not falling further back.
The silence between them was no longer empty.
It was structured.
Alistair spoke first.
Not casually.
Not lightly.
"We are not the first ones to look into this."
