The silence above the light

The moment Taiji refused to answer, Aether stood frozen. Her question had hung in the air like a spark between universes: "Are you the source of magic?" The silence that followed felt too sharp, too hollow to be just silence. It was a silence that held meaning, like the eye of a storm or the pause before a verdict.

Taiji did not smile. She only raised one finger, and the entire space began to collapse into a vortex of pure white. The floor faded beneath Aether's feet, and the high pantheon of celestial thrones blurred into radiant geometry.

Aether blinked.

When she opened her eyes, Taiji stood close—too close—her golden-ember gaze piercing through her soul.

"You will find your answers soon," she said. "But you must leave now."

Aether barely had time to respond when Taiji snapped her fingers again. This time, a small golden rune appeared beneath Aether's feet, pulsing softly.

"This rune," Taiji said, "will awaken under all who walked with you. It knows your path. It remembers your presence."

The air shimmered. Then, as the light overtook her, she heard one final sentence:

"Say hello to the girl with the broken voice."

Aether reappeared.

The world came back in a breath.

The dusty stone floor of the Temple of Light, the stunned faces of her friends frozen mid-sentence, the scent of metal and moss.

"Aether?!" Beatrice gasped. "That was... two seconds! You just vanished!"

Aether steadied herself. Her expression had shifted—calmer now. Distant, almost regal.

She took a long breath, then said softly, "I met someone. She called herself the guardian of the labyrinth."

Everyone stared.

Before more questions could erupt, the floor beneath them began to glow—intricate runes etched themselves into the temple

As Aether stood within the vast white void left behind by Taiji, her thoughts swirled like a storm. The memory of Taiji's ambiguous smile lingered, her cryptic farewell echoing in Aether's mind: "Seek the path that the light cannot touch, and you shall find the source of shadow."

And then, silence.

Aether opened her eyes to find herself back in the heart of the labyrinthine sanctuary—but something had changed. The floor beneath her shimmered faintly, and in a spiral pattern, ancient runes glowed beneath her feet. They pulsed softly like a heartbeat.

The others were still there, standing just as they had been. Only a few seconds had passed for them. Beatrice was gazing at the sealed gateway with narrowed eyes, while Leona had her staff raised in a defensive stance. Elena was staring at the surroundings with unusual seriousness, and Aiden had his vault boy open, scanning for magical activity.

"She's back!" Heather gasped.

Beatrice turned sharply, eyes flashing with relief, though her voice remained composed. "Aether. You're alright."

"I... saw someone," Aether said softly. "She said she's the one who governs the labyrinth. She didn't give a name, only that our way out would reveal itself soon."

As she spoke, the runes beneath her glowed brighter and began to spread outward, weaving across the stone floor toward the others. One by one, runes bloomed beneath each of their feet.

"We're being sent back," Aiden murmured, tapping his vault boy. "Some kind of spatial return spell, but... old. Really old. This is pre-Eucon tech combined with arcane runic design."

Just then, Aether's vault boy buzzed. A signal appeared. The screen flickered, and a garbled voice emerged from the speaker—it was Mama Vanga.

"What?" Elena's eyes widened. "She doesn't have a vault boy..."

"This is Mama Vanga," the voice crackled, clear now. "Don't be alarmed. I'm speaking from the H.D.C relay uplink installed secretly in Hombre Libertad headquarters. We received your signal. It's time. You're being extracted. The alliance has been confirmed."

Everyone stood frozen.

"We... we're joining the Hermandad del Caballero?" Heather asked slowly.

Aiden glanced toward Aether and Beatrice. "Yeah. H.D.C is one of the last remaining advanced societies. They live in a city beneath a protective dome. Fully powered. Tech preserved from before the Collapse. They've been watching us."

"Why now?" Beatrice asked.

"Because you lived," said a calm, familiar voice. It was Mama Vanga again, this time walking toward them from the corridor, her robes shimmering with technomagical threads.

"Mama... you're with H.D.C?" Aether asked.

"I've always been in both," Vanga replied, placing a gentle hand on Aether's shoulder. "I waited for the right moment—for the world to give birth to someone who could carry its memory without being broken by it. Someone like you."

Aether looked down. Her voice was barely a whisper. "But I can't save everything."

"No," Mama Vanga said. "But you can choose what matters. That is enough."

As the runes began to rise like swirling threads of light, lifting them gently into the air, Elena smiled at the unfolding sky above the sanctuary's opening. "So... it's time?"