Alright," Kaito said awkwardly. "I should get going too. My mom's probably texting me in all caps by now."
Daichi stood up beside him, nodding. "Yeah. It's getting late. Thanks for having us, Yui."
Yui smiled, standing with them. "Of course. I'm really glad you guys came."
The rest of the group said their goodbyes, and went home their seperate ways. Yui followed Ayumi to her Yui's house. Once they finally got back, Yui collapsed on her bed, but got up to change into her pajamas.
The floor jolted beneath them.
Ayumi shot upright just as a deep rumble tore through the house. Picture frames crashed to the floor. The window glass trembled in its panes. Yui woke with a gasp just as the bookshelf toppled nearby.
"Ayumi—what—?"
"The earthquake again!" Ayumi said, already getting to her feet. "We can't stay up here!"
They barely made it to the stairs when the hallway twisted unnaturally. The walls groaned like they were being bent by invisible hands. Yui stumbled, gripping the railing, but it cracked beneath her. She fell hard, tumbling down the stairs. Her shoulder slammed into the wall, her head whipped against the floor, and then, the world split.
The house was gone. So was Ayumi. So was everything.
Yui landed with a hard thud against freezing marble, her ears ringing. Her vision blurred. It was dark—too dark, but the darkness wasn't empty. Something ancient and cold slithered through it.
She slowly sat up, shaking, her hand going to her head. It came back bloody.
Where was she?
A palace. She was inside what looked like the ruins of a palace—enormous, looming architecture carved in stone older than time. Icy wind howled through shattered windows. The air was thick and cold, so cold it felt wet.
She stood, trembling. Her ankle throbbed. Her body ached. Her thoughts raced.
Was her family dead? Had the house collapsed? Had Ayumi fallen too? Was everyone gone?
She wrapped her arms around herself and stared into the dark. The flowers had died. The food had rotted. People had started dying. She should've known. She should've known.
Letting her guard down had been stupid.
Movement. Something approached.
Yui turned, barely managing to scream before a spirit lunged. Its claws slammed into her chest, hurling her across the room. She hit the wall with a bone-cracking thud, then collapsed, gasping, blood dripping from her forehead.
The spirit raised its hand again until a flash of emerald light struck it down.
Ayumi stood in the doorway, transformed, eyes blazing. Her blade was already drawn, slashing clean through the spirit's shrieking form.
"Yui!"
Yui groaned, forcing herself up. Her ankle bracelet burned against her skin as she activated her transformation. Light surrounded her like a burst of breathless wind.
Together, she and Ayumi fought the spirit—faster this time, sharper, more in sync. When it finally vanished in a screech of smoke and black mist, Yui collapsed against a cracked pillar, panting.
"What the hell is happening?" she asked. Her voice was shaking. "Ayumi… what's going on?"
Ayumi kept her eyes forward. "I don't know. When you fell, I followed. I just—I couldn't let you go alone." She paused, her voice quieter. "I don't know if your parents made it."
Yui stared at her. The words didn't register at first. But when they did, she looked down, her breath catching.
She nearly choked from trying not to cry. Her chest ached from the effort.
Ayumi didn't notice. She was already scanning the halls for movement.
Yui looked up again and swallowed hard. "Do you think the others know? Are they here too?"
"I don't know," Ayumi replied. "But we have to look. We need to get out of this place."
Yui nodded. Even if everything inside her wanted to collapse again, she forced herself to stand.
And they kept moving.
The spirit let out a violent shriek as a sword cleaved through its arm. Green energy crackled on impact, forcing the creature backward in a burst of smoke and static.
Ayumi stood in the archway behind it, panting, transformed. Her magical uniform was torn near the sleeve, and sweat clung to her brow. Her hair, usually neat, was messy and sticking to her face.
She didn't say anything—just lunged forward.
Yui saw it all in fragments. Ayumi ducked beneath a claw and slashed upward. The blade hummed like it was alive, trailing emerald energy in the air behind it. The spirit recoiled, twisting its torso like a snake as it lashed back, slamming its tail-like limb into the floor. Cracks split the marble with a thunderous snap.
Yui grabbed for her ankle bracelet. Her hands were shaking, but the second her her ankle's tapped together, she felt it react. A pulse. A burn. Like it knew she needed it.Light exploded outward as her body lifted slightly from the ground. Her casual clothes vanished, replaced by her transformation—the silver anklet glowing like fire, emerald embedded in it shining with a dangerous light.
When the glow faded, she dropped to the floor with new strength in her legs and clarity in her mind.
She didn't hesitate. Yui sprinted toward the spirit just as it launched at Ayumi again.
"Ayumi—left!"
Ayumi rolled, and Yui followed it up with a strike, slamming her foot into the spirit's midsection. Her magic-enhanced kick sent it sprawling.
The creature twisted in midair, crashing into a pillar and taking it down with it. Chunks of marble flew in every direction. Yui shielded her head with her arms, coughing as dust filled the air.
Then—a claw grabbed her leg.
She screamed, yanking backward, but the spirit was already dragging her across the floor. Her back scraped against broken stone. She reached for anything—something—and her fingers closed around a shard of marble.
She turned and jammed it into the spirit's face.
The shriek that followed was deafening. It threw her off, writhing, green energy now crackling across its arms like it was short-circuiting. Ayumi was already above it again. She didn't even blink.
She spun, driving her blade into its chest with a fierce cry. "Go away!"
The creature let out one last metallic screech before its body split into jagged, misty fragments—then exploded in a rush of green fire.
Silence fell.
Ash drifted down around them.
Ayumi stumbled back, wiping sweat from her brow. "You okay?" she asked, still panting.
Yui sat up slowly, brushing dust from her skirt. Her ankle was still bruised, but the pain had dulled under the adrenaline. "I think so," she said quietly.
Neither of them moved for a long moment. The ruins around them groaned. The darkness had gone still. But Yui's chest still felt like it was shaking, like her heart hadn't caught up yet.
"…That thing could've killed us."
Ayumi looked down at her sword, then away. "It almost did."
They were quiet again, but this time the silence was heavier. Like they both knew this was only the beginning.