The rain didn't fall in the ruins — it wept.
Every droplet that slid down the cracked walls shimmered faintly, like the sky itself was mourning. The group had grown quiet since the last battle. The fire they once sat around felt colder now, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Ren sat apart from the others, back against a fallen pillar, staring at the Tear of Aeloria glowing faintly in his palm. His red hair stuck to his forehead, soaked with sweat and guilt.
Riku approached carefully. "You've been quiet all day."
Ren didn't look up. "There's a reason for that."
Roku, sharpening his blade nearby, gave a tired chuckle. "He's always brooding. It's his thing."
But Ren didn't smile this time. His eyes were distant. Lost.
"I wasn't always like this," he murmured.
Riku sat down beside him. "Then tell us who you were."
Ren finally looked up. His gaze wasn't hard anymore — it was tired. Human. "Fine. You want to know? You deserve to."
⸻
Ren's Past
"I was a soldier once," Ren began. "A real one. Not the kind who fought monsters, but men. I was stationed at the borderlands during the Collapse — when the veil between worlds first started to tear."
Mina moved closer, her small hands folded tightly.
Ren's voice grew softer. "We were ordered to protect a village. But one night, we got the command to retreat. Headquarters said the place was already lost — not worth saving. I refused. Said there were still people alive. My commander told me to stand down. I didn't."
He looked away. "So they branded me a traitor."
Riku's breath caught. "What did you do?"
Ren's hands trembled slightly. "I stayed behind with a handful of men — my unit. We fought until dawn. I thought… if I could just save one person, it would matter."
His jaw tightened. "I saved one girl. Maybe eight, nine years old. But by the time the sun rose, everyone else was gone. Every friend, every brother in arms — all burned by the soulfire that swallowed the sky."
He unclasped the Tear and let it hang between his fingers, glowing softly. "This? It came from one of them. My captain. His dying words were, 'Don't let our deaths be for nothing.'"
Ren's voice cracked — for the first time. "I've been trying to honor that ever since. But maybe I just didn't want to admit I was running from what I did."
Mina's eyes shimmered. "You… tried to save them."
He shook his head. "No. I failed them. And this relic — it doesn't heal guilt."
⸻
The Return of the Shadow
The air shifted suddenly — a low hum rippled through the ruins, making the blue fire sputter and twist.
Roku stood instantly. "We're not alone."
Before anyone could speak, the fog at the edge of the shrine thickened. A laugh — cold, cruel, and familiar — echoed through the mist.
Riku's blood ran cold. "No… it can't be."
From the haze, a figure emerged — armored in black and gray, his scarred face half-covered by a jagged mask.
Daichi Moriyama.
His smirk was the same — that terrible, mocking curl that had haunted Riku's nightmares. "Miss me, loser?"
Riku's grip on Eclipsera tightened until his knuckles turned white. "You should be dead."
Daichi chuckled. "I was. But death here is just another door. And I learned how to open it."
The Tear of Aeloria pulsed violently in Ren's hand, reacting to Daichi's corrupted aura.
Ren stepped forward. "You again. I thought the fog had swallowed you."
"Oh, it did," Daichi replied, his voice low and venomous. "And it showed me things. Power, truth, the lies you cling to. You think you can save people in this place?" His gaze flicked to Riku. "You can't even save yourself."
"Shut up!" Riku yelled, charging forward — but Ren caught his arm.
"No," Ren said firmly. "He's not here for you this time."
Daichi's grin widened. "He's right."
⸻
The Death of Roku
Roku moved before anyone could react, stepping protectively between Daichi and the others. "You'll get through me first."
"Gladly," Daichi whispered.
The fight erupted — brutal, fast, devastating. Roku's twin blades clashed against Daichi's corrupted steel, each strike shaking the ground. Sparks and shards of soulfire burst with every hit.
Riku tried to help, but Ren grabbed him again. "Don't! He'll use you to get to Mina."
"But—!"
"I said stay back!" Ren's voice cracked like thunder.
Roku fought with everything he had — the silent strength of someone who'd already accepted his fate. But Daichi was stronger now. Faster. His movements were precise, almost mechanical. There was no humanity left in him.
A blade sank deep into Roku's side.
He gasped, staggering. Blood spilled like starlight on the broken floor.
"Roku!" Mina screamed, rushing forward, but Ren pulled her back just in time.
Roku looked down at the wound — then at Daichi, smiling faintly through pain. "You… always needed someone weaker to feel strong."
Daichi sneered. "And you always needed someone to die for."
With a final, merciless thrust, Daichi drove his sword through Roku's chest.
The sound that followed wasn't a scream — it was silence.
Riku fell to his knees, staring in disbelief as Roku's body slumped forward, the light fading from his eyes.
The world around them dimmed. The mist seemed to freeze.
Roku's last words came out in a broken whisper. "Ren… don't let… him win…"
Then he was gone.
⸻
Aftermath
Ren didn't shout. He didn't cry. He simply walked forward — slow, deliberate — and caught Roku's falling body before it hit the ground. He lowered him gently, his eyes hollow.
Daichi smirked. "Touching. You can bury him next to your guilt."
Ren looked up — and for a heartbeat, his eyes burned with something inhuman. "You have no idea what you've done."
The Tear of Aeloria shattered — light bursting from it like an exploding star, its fragments circling Ren's body. His aura flared crimson and white, grief transmuted into power.
Daichi stepped back, startled for the first time. "What—"
Ren's voice was quiet — trembling, furious, alive.
"You wanted a curse, Daichi? You just found one."
The ruins shook. The mist howled.
And when Ren's blade ignited, it sounded like the world itself was crying.
⸻
Closing Lines
When the light finally died down, Daichi was gone — swallowed again by the fog.
Roku's body lay still in Ren's arms.
Riku knelt beside them, tears burning his eyes. "He didn't deserve this…"
Ren looked up, voice hoarse. "No one here does."
The sky above cracked faintly with distant thunder — not rage, but sorrow.
As Mina wept quietly into Riku's shoulder, Ren whispered a final prayer over his fallen friend.
"You saved them, Roku. You did what I couldn't."
And in that moment, beneath the whispering ruins, the heroes weren't soldiers or survivors.
They were just people — broken, grieving, but still standing.
And in a world built on death, that was the closest thing left to victory.