SFX: SHHHH—KRSSHHH…
Rain shifting direction like a blade choosing where to cut.
The rain never stopped.
It only changed its mind about which direction it wanted to fall.
They moved single file through the corpse-city's drowned arteries.
Kaelith walked first—red scarf soaked black, twin swords loose in their sheaths yet never fully still, vibrating like hunting dogs desperate to be unleashed.
Rhea followed barefoot, pale robes dragging water that hissed on contact with the ground—as if the earth itself feared her.
Caelan trailed last.
The useless prince.
The baggage.
The dead weight.
Perfect.
Every step he took wavered. Every breath shivered. His heartbeats counted time better than any clock.
His own: slow, cold, patient.
Kaelith's: quick, angry, predator-ready.
Rhea's: none.
(Interesting. The leviathan had already stopped pretending to be human.)
The street widened into a plaza long abandoned.
A cracked fountain dominated the center—
a faceless marble woman, arms reaching toward the sky with desperate devotion,
as if she had begged heaven for mercy and heaven had bitten back.
Water poured upward from the basin in a perfect reverse waterfall, vanishing into bruised clouds.
Kaelith stopped and lifted a clenched fist.
Caelan let himself stumble into Rhea's back, shoulders shaking.
"S-sorry…" he mumbled, voice thin.
Rhea steadied him without looking. Fingers brushed his wrist—
and lingered half a heartbeat too long.
Tasting.
"Something's watching," Kaelith warned, tone sharp as steel.
The rain answered her.
It thickened.
Became needles.
Became knives.
From the gaping mouths of alleyways, shadows peeled themselves free and stepped forward.
Human once.
Not anymore.
Skin like wet paper stretched over bone.
Eyes replaced by hollow sockets weeping rainwater.
Mouths sewn shut with writhing black thread.
They carried no weapons.
They were weapons.
A System screen flickered into Caelan's vision.
[Low-tier Nightmare Construct – "Drowned Echo"
Threat Level: ★☆☆☆☆
Advice: Run.]
There were thirty.
Kaelith's lips pulled back in a grin sharp enough to draw blood.
"Finally," she exclaimed.
Steel sang.
The first Echo lost its head before its foot touched plaza stone.
The second split from skull to groin, halves still walking several steps before collapsing.
Beautiful.
Wasteful.
Loud.
Rhea lifted one delicate hand, palm upward.
SFX: FWOOOOM—CRACK!
The reverse waterfall detonated outward. Water sharpened into spears of ice. Ten Echoes froze mid-scream, transformed into crystalline tombs.
Caelan remained perfectly still, arms wrapped around himself, trembling like a frightened child.
The remaining Echoes ignored Kaelith. Ignored Rhea.
They came for him.
Of course they did.
He held the only heartbeat that sounded afraid.
One reached him in two jerking steps. Paper fingers closed around his throat.
He let it.
Ice. Rot. Old grief.
For a perfect moment Caelan stared into its empty sockets and saw his reflection:
A black-haired boy, drenched, terrified, helpless.
Then he exhaled.
The Echo froze—
not from ice,
but from something older.
Caelan leaned close until his lips nearly brushed its sewn mouth.
"Thank you," he whispered.
The black threads snapped.
The mouth opened in a silent scream—
And something inside it recognized him.
Two fingers to its forehead.
No light.
No sound.
The Echo simply unraveled—
paper flesh peeling into black ash
carried away by the dying rain.
One after another, the rest followed.
Not killed.
Unmade.
Twenty-seven heartbeats of work.
When the last one dissolved, the plaza fell into silence once more. Only the rain remained.
Kaelith stared openly now, swords dripping black water.
Rhea's golden eyes narrowed—amusement? suspicion? hunger? He couldn't tell.
Caelan let his knees fold.
Collapsed onto the wet stone, arms wrapped around himself, breath shaking.
"I—I don't know what happened… it just… touched me and fell apart… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to—" he cried, voice fracturing.
Kaelith sheathed her blades with a metallic snikt.
"Beginner's luck," she announced. "Or they're weaker than they look. Either way, don't expect it to happen twice, prince."
Rhea crouched before him, water swirling at her feet.
"May I see your hand?" she requested, gentle as drowning mist.
Caelan extended it, trembling.
She turned his palm upward.
A single black line had appeared—thin as a hair, perfectly straight.
The first thread of the Aspect he would eventually weave.
Rhea traced it with a cool fingertip.
"Interesting," she murmured, so quietly only he could hear. "You smell like something that should already be dead."
Caelan met her gaze—
and let tears fall freshly, trembling, perfect.
"Please don't leave me alone," he begged, voice cracking.
A small, fond, terrifying smile ghosted across her lips.
"Never," she promised.
Kaelith clicked her tongue and spat.
"We're burning time. No bells yet. Still hour one of seventy-two. Move," she barked.
She strode on.
Rhea pulled Caelan to his feet like he weighed nothing.
He stayed half a step behind her, clutching the sleeve of her soaked robe like a terrified child desperate not to be abandoned.
In a shattered shop window, their reflection stared back:
The red-scarfed sword demon leading the way.
The white-haired saint with the ocean in her eyes.
And the black-haired prince gripping her sleeve like a helpless lamb.
None noticed the shadows fluttering beneath Caelan's cloak.
None heard the new System message burning quietly across his vision.
[You have consumed 27 Drowned Echoes.
Aspect Fragment detected: "Hunger of the Sleepless"
Weave? Y/N
Warning: Flaw will be assigned.]
He selected Yes.
Pain erupted behind his eyes—molten, blinding.
The Flaw etched itself into his soul.
[Flaw: Thirst of the Unnamed
Every night you will hunger for the taste of something alive.
If you do not feed, your shadow will feed for you.]
Caelan smiled into Rhea's sleeve where neither guardian could see.
Seventy-one hours and fifty-five minutes remained.
Far above, thunder chuckled—ancient and hungry.
He quickened his steps to match theirs, the perfect image of a terrified boy.
The rain continued falling.
And his shadow stretched just a little longer than it should have.