The city felt colder that night.
Akira walked fast, one hand gripping the pendant under his shirt — Yamitsurugi's quiet heartbeat echoing faintly in his palms. His mind was not on Varek, not on Ren, not even on training.
It was on that voice he heard in the void.
The voice crying in chains.
The voice begging.
The voice he had tried — and failed — to reach.
His mother.
Even though he didn't know her name that day, even though the memories were blurred… his soul recognized her instantly. And that terrified him more than anything Varek or Ren could do.
He stopped near a rusted streetlamp, breath heavy.
Why can I feel all that pain… but not even her name?
Masahiro spoke at last, his tone slow, careful.
> "Kid… you're remembering pieces of something that was stolen from you."
Akira clenched his jaw. "I tried to free her in that void. I tried. But the seal didn't work. My blade didn't work. Why? Why couldn't I save her?"
Masahiro sighed — a deep, wounded sound.
> "Because she wasn't truly there.
What you saw… was only a fragment."
Akira's eyes widened.
"A fragment…?"
> "Yes. A shade bound by Varek. A piece of her soul — trapped, torn from reality, not alive, not dead.
You can't seal what has no identity.
You can't purify what has no body."
Akira staggered slightly.
So that broken, twisted image… wasn't his real mother.
He swallowed hard. "Then when Ren fell… when he was taken by Oblivion's fragments… I said 'first my mom, then my best friend' because…"
Masahiro finished the sentence gently:
> "Because your heart remembered losing her… even if your mind couldn't."
Akira trembled.
Tears finally formed.
That was why he reacted so violently.
That was why rage burned darker than shadow.
He had already lost two people — and Varek wanted him to break a third.
A faint glow flickered behind him.
Ryozen stepped into the lamplight, expression heavier than usual. "Masahiro told you?"
Akira nodded, wiping his face. "He said it was a fragment. That I couldn't free her because she wasn't whole."
Ryozen exhaled. "That's correct. When you reached out to her, the seal flickered, Yamitsurugi shook — but nothing happened. That wasn't your failure."
He stepped closer, voice steady.
"You didn't fail her, Akira. You were never given a chance."
Akira's breath hitched.
Ryozen continued:
"Varek removed your mother's name from your memory. But not just that… he severed her existence from the laws of this world. She isn't where she should be. Her soul is divided — one part held hostage in the void, one part sealed somewhere else."
Akira closed his eyes.
So that was why his sealing blade didn't work.
So that was why the fragment screamed when he touched it.
Ryozen looked him directly in the eye.
"Her real name… the one Oblivion erased… was Miyuki."
The name hit him like thunder.
Akira froze, every nerve firing at once.
His throat tightened.
His legs nearly gave out.
He fell to his knees.
"Miyuki…" he whispered. "Miyuki…"
And suddenly — the memories he didn't know he had — flooded in.
Warm hands on his shoulders.
A lullaby in the dark.
A promise: "No matter what happens, Akira… run forward."
Not her face.
Not her final moments.
But her warmth.
Masahiro whispered softly:
> "Oblivion erased her name so your powers would never awaken fully.
And Varek… kept her soul chained to break you when the time came."
Akira's breath shattered. He trembled violently.
"Why…? Why would they do this to her?"
Ryozen kneeled beside him.
"They fear you," he said simply.
"And they fear what Miyuki protected."
Akira's eyes snapped open — crimson burning with black edges.
His voice cracked:
"Then I'll take her back."
Ryozen watched him for a long moment. Then nodded.
"That's why I told you… don't lose control. Because the day you face her, she won't be your mother…"
He looked away — as if the truth itself hurt him.
"…she'll be a weapon Varek forged from her suffering."
Akira's hands went cold.
His heartbeat turned sharp.
Yamitsurugi pulsed beneath his shirt, reacting to his rage.
Masahiro whispered:
> "When the time comes… you must choose.
Save her soul…
or save your world."
Akira shut his eyes, voice shaking.
"I'll save both."
The streetlamp flickered violently — and then shattered overhead.
Far above, unseen on a distant rooftop, Varek watched with a faint, unsettling smile.
"One step closer," he murmured.
"Break beautifully, Akira…"
And the shadows swallowed him.