20 hours prior
Sector 12 had always been plagued by famine and poverty.
The people who lived there were either banished from society or rejected by it entirely. Many were former prisoners. This sector wasn't meant to be a living space—it was more like a prison. Positioned beneath the other floating islands, Sector 12 rarely received sunlight, its skies perpetually dimmed by the looming shadows above. It was a land of dusk, choked in darkness.
Amidst this gloom, a figure darted between buildings—swift and silent. It was Shion, or rather known as Yu. She had always used Sector 12 as her base of operations, though she truly resided in another sector.
'I've been on duty for a while now. I wonder when I'll be able to return to Sector 9.'
'Maybe once this is over I should go and see him, Lucid…' It was weird she had never really had anyone in her mind before until she came across him.
She had been dispatched by her syndicate, which operated out of Sector 12. After stealing a special scroll from the Celestial Archives, the group had focused solely on activating a spell said to grant someone Vanguard status.
Shion doubted it would work—but anything that gave her an edge against this cruel world was worth trying. If it did succeed, it would change everything. If she could attain Vanguard status—or even the rank of Paladin—she would have the power to destroy her old village. The one that cast her out. The one she had vowed to take revenge on.
Shion made her way up to a private chamber—one clearly reserved for the highest-ranking members of the syndicate. On her way she noticed that all of the usual members were absent, but she scrapped that thought as she stepped inside carefully and closed the door behind her. A tall figure stood by the large window, gazing out into the eternal dusk.
The figure wore a long coat, his hair falling over one shoulder. He turned slowly, revealing a pale face and deep, sharp eyes—eyes that looked as though they had stared into the abyss and never looked away.
It was Shion's leader.
"Greetings, Yu."
Shion—known formally as Yu—knelt and offered a crisp salute.
"Greetings. We meet once again, Leader."
Now facing her, the leader sat on a delicate chair, his gaze drifting to the scroll she had recovered during her last mission. He inspected it briefly, running his fingers along its surface before lifting his head to meet her eyes.
"Yu… how many years has it been now? Three?"
Still kneeling, Yu looked up and answered with quiet precision.
"Three years, sir."
He nodded in confirmation, his expression unreadable. His eyes searched hers, as if looking beyond her face and into something deeper.
"You've always been the most successful among this creed," he said slowly. "Do you remember when I recruited you? You were wandering through the sectors of Andorrea, lost in thought. But that wasn't what drew my attention."
His voice lowered, almost thoughtful.
"I saw the despair in you. The void. As if you had been betrayed… by someone—or something."
Shion listened intently, though at the back of her mind, a single thought lingered:
The mission was a success. Maybe…
"But look at you now. You've become experienced, sharp, and well-versed. I suggest you walk away from all this. You're the only one I see with a real future."
Shion shifted her gaze, confused.
"Master?"
The man looked down at his hands, as if remembering something distant and painful.
"I was a noble, did you know that?" he said quietly. "For reasons I still don't understand, I was framed—persecuted under false charges. That injustice sent me down a path of vengeance. These hands…" He held them up. "They're soaked in blood. I've killed more people than I can count—for a purpose."
He paused, then looked back at her with a hollow smile.
"Yu… truth be told, I never gave a damn about that scroll you stole from the Celestial Archives."
Shion's eyes widened. "What…?"
"I only wanted to draw someone out. A noble. An Archmage."
He stepped closer, his voice growing darker.
"His name is Themenos. He's the one who set me up. The one who took everything from me."
There was silence, heavy and suffocating, before he continued.
"I've sold off most of this creed's belongings. Dismissed the members. Paid them out. You're the only one I called back… because I wanted to tell you this before we part ways."
Shion suddenly stood up, voice shaking with fury.
"This is ludicrous!"
The leader was momentarily taken aback, but a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Listen carefully," he said. "There are thirty royal guards on their way to this sector. And two Archmages. One of them is Themenos."
Shion clenched her fists. "Then what about the scroll? We can use it—we can boost our powers, fight them back!"
Her voice cracked. "You can still have your revenge!"
But the man's voice hardened.
"Yu, this is my final order to you. Listen well."
Shion froze. Her chest tightened.
The man she had pledged her loyalty to—the one who had trained her, shaped her into what she had become—was giving up. Disappearing like it all didnt matter to him.
Everything she had done, every mission, every drop of sweat she'd poured into this creed—was it all for nothing?
The man uttered something, his lips moving in a barely audible whisper. Then, without warning, a deafening explosion ripped through the window. The force of it shook the room, sending debris flying in all directions. Alarms blared, signaling a breach—lucky for them, the building was mostly empty.
Shion was caught by the blast. The shockwave hurled her backward, slamming her into the door with such force that it cracked against her body all while falling down the stairs. She could barely comprehend what had just happened. Her mind raced, but all she could hear were the fading words of her leader, spoken just before the explosion.
What did he say?
The words were lost to her, as though they'd been snatched away by the force of the blast.
Dazed and disoriented, she managed to push herself to her elbows, gazing up through the smoke and dust. The leader, unmoved by the explosion, remained seated as if the very world had not shifted around him. His composure was unnerving. But it wasn't until a shadow emerged behind him that the real weight of the situation sank in.
The leader's voice broke the silence.
"It's been a while, Themenos."
Shion watched as the figure behind him stepped into the room, his presence chilling. Themenos.
"Hello, brother…"
The two words dripped with an icy familiarity—an exchange that could only be understood by those who had shared a dark history.
All of this was unfolding before her eyes. Shion lay there while gazing up from the bottom of the stairs, helpless, as the two men stood in opposite directions. As much as she wanted to move, to help, she knew her place in this battle was meaningless. She had no power, no ability to shift the tide of what was coming. Her leader—the one who had always been in control, the one who had shown her what true strength looked like—was up against two Archmages. The odds were stacked against them.
Shion pushed herself up, her legs shaking with pain. The explosion had left her weak, but the adrenaline surged through her veins. She stumbled, limping toward the back exit, knowing she had no place in this fight. But even as she made her way toward the door, her heart felt heavy. She couldn't turn her back entirely. What if it was all over? What if the man who had given her purpose, the one who had shaped her, fell in this battle? Would it have been for nothing?
But there was no time for hesitation.
Shion raised her bloodied hand, smearing it across the door's cold, metallic handle before pushing it open. The darkness of Sector 12 still clung to the air, but the light from outside briefly blinded her as she stepped through. Her breath was ragged, every movement causing fresh pain to shoot through her limbs, but she forced herself forward.
Explosions echoed from the building she had just fled, each detonation shaking the ground beneath her. Debris rained down in jagged pieces, but she ignored it, gritting her teeth and pushing through the agony as she limped onward.
She could feel the tremors growing stronger, could hear the buildings of Sector 12 groaning, cracking under the weight of something far too powerful to resist. But she couldn't stop.
Finally, she reached a golem—a floating construct used to transport people between sectors. It hovered, waiting for her, its eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. Shion staggered onto it, using every ounce of strength she had left to pull herself up onto its platform. As the distance between the golem and the sector grew wide, she couldn't help but look back.
Her heart sank.
'No'
The entire sector was beginning to crumble. First, small chunks of the floating islands broke away, falling into the endless abyss below. Then, whole sections started to collapse in on themselves. The sky above twisted and darkened, as if the world itself was rejecting the weight of the destruction.
Shion's gaze was fixed, her body paralyzed by the sight. Her thoughts collided, one burning message overriding all others.
Themenos.
The one who had set all of this in motion. The one who had stolen her revenge and years of hardwork.
---
It was dark. Shion had arrived at Sector 9, where she resided. Oddly enough, she hadn't gone back to her place—she was extremely paranoid at the thought of Themenos standing at her doorstep. So instead, she sat on the roof of a house, looking down over the town of Sector 9. There were people in distress below, and golems shouting out a drill—but none of it concerned her.
What did catch her attention was someone familiar: a green-haired girl in an oversized sweater, running.
Lucid's companion,
she thought almost instantly, and began following her. She trailed the girl for a while, watching as she entered a recruitment center.
Just as the girl went inside, someone else dashed past Shion in a hurry. She didn't pay much attention to them. Shion hopped down from the rooftop, limping slightly as she made her way toward the entrance.
There—inside—she saw two individuals hugging.
Lucid.
He was consoling the frightened girl with such care. Shion's heart didn't twist with envy. It melted.
At the moment she didn't feel excluded—she felt overwhelmed by something warmer.
Lucid's presence had always been strange to her. Calming, in a way she didn't understand. Even now, just seeing him—his steady expression, the way he listened, the quiet strength in his posture—eased something inside her that had been knotted up for days.
She stood in silence, letting herself breathe again. Her chest ached, from the weight of everything she'd been carrying.
She didn't want to interrupt.
She just wanted to be near him, Just for this moment.
To hear his voice.
To be reminded that, even in all this chaos, someone like him still existed.
She took a step forward. Then another until she stopped. Her fingers curled slightly at her side from restraint.
She stopped at the door frame leaning on it with her shoulders and Arms crossed. She looked at him with kind and affectionate eyes. Her voice was soft, almost airy, like a breeze passing through a half-open window.
"It's great to see you, Lucid… You have a surprisingly soft side."