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Chapter 2 - THE CHOICE I NEVER MADE

[Page 1 – Calm Before the Fall]

Open on a memory. Three teenagers run across a broken city rooftop at dusk. The sun glows orange. They're laughing.

Narrator (softly):

"Before gods and devils.

Before power or sacrifice…

We were just three souls trying to stay whole."

[Page 2 – The Trio]

Kai – Normal. The balance between extremes.

Ash – The flame. Loud, proud, fiercely protective.

Luna – The shadow. Quiet, calm, eyes always watching.

They sit together on a high ledge, legs dangling off the edge.

Ash (grinning):

"When I get my power, I'll burn everything holding us back."

Luna (flat):

"Fire burns everything—friend or foe."

Kai (nervous laugh):

"…Can't we just stay like this?"

[Page 3 – Change Begins]

Ash storms off one day, fists shaking. Luna turns her back. Time skips forward.

Narrator:

"They couldn't wait.

One gave something up.

The other held something in.

I just… watched."

[Page 4 – The Reveal]

A month later. Luna stands before Kai with blank eyes.

Kai:

"Luna…? Your voice—it sounds…"

Luna:

"Emotion is noise. I gave it away."

Her eyes glow faintly. Kai sees duplicates of himself appear behind her—illusions.

[Page 5 – Ash Returns]

Ash erupts through a wall during a heated moment. His arms burn, eyes wild.

Ash:

"You think giving up your heart makes you better?! I fought for my power. I earned it!"

He blasts flames into the air, scorched tiles flying everywhere.

[Page 6 – Tension Builds]

Kai steps between them. Hands shaking.

Kai:

"Stop! Please—why are you both like this?!"

Luna (emotionless):

"Power requires loss."

Ash (bitter):

"Power requires pain."

Kai (desperate):

"You were both my family…"

[Page 7 – The Ultimatum]

Both step forward, one on each side of Kai.

Ash:

"Join the Vein. Fight with me."

Luna:

"Join the Hollow. Let go and evolve."

Kai (soft):

"I… I can't."

Silence.

[Page 8 – The Fight Begins]

Ash ignites the ground. Luna splits into mirages.

Fire and illusion clash as Kai stumbles backward, helpless.

Buildings collapse. Dust and light flood the screen.

[Page 9 – Kai's Horror]

Amid the destruction, Kai screams their names. He runs toward them, but a blast of flame and illusion throws him back.

Narrator (breaking):

"I didn't choose.

And because of that… I lost them both."

[Page 10 – Aftermath]

The battlefield is scorched.

Luna lies collapsed, eyes blank.

Ash is curled in a crater, his flame flickering out.

Both… gone

Kai crawls through the dust, reaching out, sobbing silently.

[Page 11 – Aftermath]

Kai, alone. The light behind him gone. His face is unreadable

Narrator:

"That day… I broke too.

But unlike them, I never gave or endured.

I… accepted.

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