The sky was white.
Not the bright, forgiving white of morning, no, this was the pale, hollow white of something erased.
Elias blinked into the silence. The air didn't move. The world around him looked still, like a paused video frame. Streets frozen mid-motion. Leaves suspended midair. Time itself had stopped breathing.
He sat up slowly, every muscle screaming. His hands were burned, veins glowing faintly gold beneath cracked skin.
The crimson light was gone.
But in its place, something else pulsed quietly. Softer. Smoother. Gold threads crawling across the pavement, weaving into everything.
The city was healing. Or pretending to.
He looked toward the tower. The top half was gone, split open like a rib cage. Faint steam rose from the broken core, whispering in static tones.
And then, faintly, he heard her.
Elias…
"Aria?" His voice came out rough, uncertain.
You made it.
He breathed out shakily. "Barely."
You shouldn't have survived that. Neither of us should have.
