Shion opened his eyes and stared at his ceiling for what felt like hours.
Sleep wasn't happening. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Nayen's flames wrapping around him. Heard the crowd's polite applause. Felt that hollow pit in his stomach when he said "I yield."
He turned his head toward the window. Still dark outside, but the sky was starting to lighten at the edges.
His friends were probably asleep. Dreaming about Zenkai Dojo. About the training they'd start soon.
Without him.
Shion sat up and rubbed his face. His room felt too small suddenly. The walls pressing in.
He needed air.
Thud!
He dropped from his window to the ground below, landing in a crouch. Didn't bother with the door...his parents would ask questions he didn't want to answer.
He walked without thinking about where. Past the training yard where they used to spar for hours. Past that weapons shop where Takumi had convinced them all to buy gear they barely knew how to use.
Everything reminded him of them.
By the time the sun started crawling over the horizon, Shion found himself in the warehouse district. The part of Silverstone where the streetlights stayed broken and people minded their own business.
He ended up in some alley, back against a wall, staring up at the moon and the sun(still rising).
"Rough day?"
Shion looked up. Someone was standing there, lit from behind by the only working streetlight. Wearing a gray cloak but he couldn't see their face.
"Who are you?"
"Saw your fight." The stranger came closer. "You weren't terrible."
"I lost."
"But there's a gap, right? Between you and her, Between you and your friends."
Shion clenched his teeth. "What do you want?"
"To help." Stranger's eyes were too bright in the dark, Almost sliver. "What if you could actually get stronger? Right now."
"That's not how it works." Shion spoke "Essence doesn't work that way. Power grows in tiers, through—"
"Through their system, Tiers? The Trueborns built the rules, Doesn't mean there aren't other ways."
"Who the hell are you?"
The stranger smiled. It was wrong somehow...the smile didn't match the stranger's eyes.
"Someone who sees potential. Someone who can give you what you actually need."
"Which is?"
"Come on, You want to keep up with your friends right??. You don't want to be the weak one anymore. You don't want to feel like you did today ever again."
Shion hated how true it was.
"Come with me. I'll show you."
Every instinct shion had at the moment screamed RUN!. But...That hollow feeling in his chest was screaming louder.
"Where?" Shion asked.
"Somewhere peaceful. A place where you can figure out what you're really capable of."
Shion stared at that hand.
Thought about his friends laughing together at Miss Etta's last night. How the conversation had flowed around him while he sat quiet, pretending everything was fine.
Thought about watching them leave for Zenkai while he stayed behind.
Thought about always being the weak one. The friend they always have to worry about.
"Just to see?" Shion heard himself ask.
"Just to see."
Shion could not see a thing but when he could, They had left that space and gone to a different space entirely.
Black sky with silver cracks running through it but in a way, it was beautiful.
"Where am i—"
"My domain," said a new voice.
Shion spun around. To find a tall figure, White hair that glowed on its own. Silver eyes that reflected his terrified face back at him.
"Hello, Shion Enther. the being said. I am Tsuyari, The Nullweaver."
Shion's blood went cold. "Y- You are a Trueborn, But that's impossible. Trueborns don't—""
"Correct."
"Trueborns don't just—you don't mess with mortals directly—"
"Don't involve themselves with mortals directly?" Tsuyari's smile was cold. "Usually true. But occasionally, I find someone worth my attention. Someone who understands that true strength requires sacrifice."
"I don't understand anything—"
"You will." Tsuyari moved closer. Shion tried to back up and couldn't. His body just wouldn't respond. His ability and essence signature were so weak to the point his own body froze just being in presence of a godly entity.
"Your friends are going to Zenkai Dojo." Tsuyari's voice was almost gentle now. "They're going to get stronger. Achieve things. And you'll be on the sidelines watching. Always the weak link. Always the one who couldn't keep up."
"But i can shatter that fate for you, and you will be rebuilt."
This was insane. Every part of Shion knew it. Wrong place, wrong person, wrong offer.
But god, he was so tired of being weak.
"What happens?"
"You'll forget some things. Not everything. Just what holds you back. Fear. Doubt. Attachment to who you used to be."
"And if I refuse?"
"You can go home and nothing changes, You'll stay weak and you get to live with that choice for the rest of your life."
"I..." His voice cracked. "My friends—"
"They will be fine, They do not need you." Tsuyari's voice was kind in tone.
Shion's eyes burned.
"But you don't need to be that person any longer." The light reached out to him. "You can be strong, Stronger than anyone then you will be respected and your friends will come running to you."
Every rational thought shouted inside his head that it was wrong-the trap.
But somewhere deep inside him...
Deep inside lay the truth he'd tried to bury.
He was tired.
So tired of being weak.
"What do I do?" The words went running out of his mouth.
"Just say yes. That's it."
The light touched him on his chest: simultaneously cold and warm-the air of drowning and the wind of breathing.
Shion closed his eyes.
He thought of his friends' faces.
He thought of who he was.
He thought of who he could be.
"Yes," he whispered.
The light consumed him, and Shion Enther began to forget.
His friends' laughter faded first.
Then his mother's smile.
Then his father's voice.
Then his name.
Then—