1. The Second Pulse
The Black Sky Bloom did not fade.
It did not wilt.
It called.
The call wasn't sound—it was a bending of reality itself.
Glass turned to black powder.
Saltwater boiled where no heat touched it.
Mountains far beyond the cityline bled streams of silver light down their slopes.
And above the city, clouds folded inward like an eye closing.
---
2. The First to Arrive
Before the crowd could even scream again, a shadow fell across the city—not cast by the bloom, but by something descending through the torn sky.
It was not a ship.
It was a shrine, carved into the back of a being whose skin looked like pages of an endless book. Words—alive and moving—crawled across it, changing shape as they passed.
From its front balcony, a figure in armor of golden bone raised their hand.
The crowd's mind filled with one phrase:
> "The Archivist has come."
---
3. The Sovereigns Break Silence
In the Skyborne Council, the Scholar-Throne's voice shook:
> "No. No, it's impossible. It's been banished for three Eras."
The Arbiter of Chains narrowed his eyes.
> "Then we must ask… who gave it leave to return?"
No one answered. The silence tasted like fear.
---
4. Vale's Quiet Game
Under Bridge Twelve, Kairo Vale did not move.
His eyes traced the Archivist as if measuring its weight, not in power, but in cost.
> "You're early," he murmured.
The masked man beside him flinched.
> "You… knew it would answer?"
Kairo's smirk didn't reach his eyes.
> "I knew someone would answer. And the best way to see who—was to knock."
---
5. The Archivist Speaks
The Archivist's voice was not heard—it was read, scrawling itself across the air for all to see.
> "The Bloom's seal is broken. Witnesses are bound by record. Tampering will be punished."
Each word that appeared left a faint burn in the eyes of those who saw it.
Several fainted. One screamed until his voice tore.
Then the Archivist's head turned—not toward the bloom, not toward the Sovereigns' seat in the sky—but directly toward Bridge Twelve.
---
6. The Eye Contact
For a single, unbearable second, Kairo Vale and the Archivist locked eyes.
The masked man's knees buckled.
Birds fell from the air.
Somewhere in the city, a mother forgot her own name.
Kairo only tilted his head.
> "Guess my knock was louder than I thought."
---
7. And Then—
The bloom pulsed again, answering the Archivist's arrival with a roar of black petals.
Every bridge in the city trembled.
Every river screamed in reverse.
And above all, a new tear in the sky formed—something else was coming.
---
End of Chapter 10
---