Chapter 12 - Episode 12 — The Council’s Hand

Rain hammered the bridge, washing away the scorch marks, the ash, the feathers that had once been wings. Cars rumbled in the distance as if nothing had happened. To the world above, the storm had never existed. But Aiden felt it still—alive in his chest, in the mark burning across his wrist. The brand pulsed faintly, lines etched in shapes his mind couldn't read but his shadow seemed to understand. Each throb whispered one truth: he belonged now. Kai crouched beside him, scanning the others. Six survivors. The whip-wielder, barbed chain dripping sparks. The scythe-girl, silent, blade propped against her shoulder like a loyal animal. The crow-boy, grounded, wings broken but eyes feral. The braid-haired girl, calm as ever, rain streaking her face but not her focus. And Aiden himself—half-standing, half-crumbling, shadow hissing faintly in defiance of the storm's end. Kai's voice was steady, but it carried an edge. "So what happens now?" The braid-haired girl's reply came without hesitation. "Now the Council takes notice." "The Council?" Kai pressed. "Who even are they?" Her eyes lingered on Aiden. "You'll see soon enough." Before he could demand more, the glyphs across the bridge flared one last time. Not crimson. Not white. A sickly gold that shimmered like oil over water. The ground vibrated beneath their feet, lines racing toward the survivors, connecting them in a web that pulsed with unnatural rhythm. The air thickened. Every breath tasted metallic, like iron coins pressed against the tongue. Then the voice returned—not the storm's roar, but something colder, sharper, layered with command. "THE SCALE HAS BEEN BALANCED. SIX REMAIN. THE HAND OF THE COUNCIL SHALL CLAIM YOU." Aiden staggered as the glyph beneath him surged upward, wrapping around his legs like molten chains. Kai lunged forward, grabbing his arm. "I'm not letting them take you—" But the light spread to Kai too, curling around his ankles, binding him in the same golden grip. One by one, the survivors were seized. The whip-wielder cursed and slashed, but her chain passed through the light uselessly. The scythe-girl didn't resist, her expression unreadable as the bindings tightened. The crow-boy thrashed, wings sparking violently, but the golden light only dug deeper until his screams broke into ragged silence. Aiden's chest burned. His shadow surged upward, trying to cut through the bonds. For a heartbeat, the chains flickered, cracks racing across them. But then the mark on his wrist pulsed—and his own shadow froze, betrayed by the brand. "No…" he gasped. The braid-haired girl didn't fight the bindings. She simply met Aiden's eyes, her voice level as the storm itself. "Don't resist. You'll only burn faster." The world bent. Rain, concrete, river—all peeled back like a curtain torn from its rod. The city dissolved into shards of glassy light, pulled into nothingness. For a breath, there was only darkness. Then, a chamber unfolded around them. The floor was black stone veined with gold, glowing faintly, each vein pulsing like the beat of a colossal heart. Walls curved upward into infinity, lined with glyphs that shifted every time Aiden tried to focus on them. Torches burned with blue fire, though no heat touched the air. And above—hovering high in the hollow dome—six thrones of shadow and light. Figures sat upon them, shrouded, their faces hidden behind masks more terrifying than blankness. One wore a helm of broken glass, shards glinting as though every word would cut. Another cloaked in feathers darker than crow's wings. Another a porcelain mask flawless and smooth, glowing faintly from within. Each different. Each dreadful. The Council. The air bowed beneath their presence. Kai's breath caught. Even without power, he felt it. His hand tightened on Aiden's arm—not to pull him back, but to anchor him. The voice that spoke now wasn't the System. It was older. Heavier. "You stand as the six who weathered the storm," said the figure of broken glass, voice like grinding stone. "You are proven… for now." The scythe-girl lifted her chin but said nothing. The whip-wielder sneered, though her eyes betrayed a flicker of fear. The crow-boy knelt, half by force, half by exhaustion, wings twitching against the golden brand that still bound him. The braid-haired girl stepped forward, unflinching. Her voice rang clear. "You marked us. You branded us. What game do you want us to play?" The figure of feathers leaned forward, shadows coiling around the throne like serpents. "Not a game. A scale. Balance is eternal. The weak tip it. The strong restore it. You are pieces—tools—weights we set upon the world." Aiden's stomach twisted. His chest burned hotter, his shadow restless. Tools? Weights? He clenched his fists. The porcelain-masked figure finally spoke, voice calm, patient, but layered with mockery. "Some of you will be sharpened into blades. Others will break under your own edge. The System will decide which." Aiden's shadow hissed at the word blade, as if it knew the role too well. Kai stepped forward before Aiden could stop him. His voice rang louder than the chamber should have allowed. "He's not your tool." The Council's attention shifted as one. Six masked faces turned toward Kai. The chamber seemed to shrink. The golden bindings around Kai flared, tightening. His jaw clenched, but he didn't look away. The figure of broken glass tilted its helm. "A human? Unmarked, yet carried into the storm. Curious." "Leave him out of this," Aiden said sharply, stepping in front of Kai. His voice cracked with anger, but it didn't matter. The porcelain figure chuckled faintly. "Do you think the Scale spares bonds? The System marked him when it chose you. His survival is already tied to yours." Kai's hand found Aiden's shoulder, firm. "Then we face it together." The Council murmured, voices overlapping in languages Aiden couldn't understand, like whispers crawling across stone. Finally, the feathered figure raised a hand. Silence cut the chamber. "You will serve. Not us. The Scale. The law older than your world. Trials will come. Those who endure will rise. Those who falter will be erased. That is balance." The glyphs across the floor pulsed once more, the light climbing their bodies, searing the marks deeper into skin. Aiden grit his teeth as fire lanced his wrist, spreading up his arm like veins catching flame. The System's voice returned, echoing within the chamber but bowing beneath the Council's weight: "YOU HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. YOU WILL BE TESTED. THE SCALE DEMANDS." The braid-haired girl's face tightened, just for a breath. She had expected this, but not welcomed it. The Council leaned back, their thrones dissolving into shadow. One by one, the figures vanished, their voices fading like echoes in endless halls. Only one word remained, carved into the silence. "Begin." The chamber collapsed in a flash of golden light. When Aiden's eyes opened, he was back under the overpass. The rain was gone. The night was too still. The mark on his wrist still burned. Kai crouched beside him, breathing hard, his own wrists unmarked but bound by circumstance all the same. The survivors stood scattered, each marked, each silent. None dared speak first. Aiden exhaled, long and sharp. The storm hadn't ended. It had only opened a door. And now, the Council's hand was on the other side, waiting.