Reckoning

Kiaan's fist hit the table with a sharp crack, the force of it rattling the room. His eyes were locked onto the woman, the fury in them boiling over, his every muscle tensed, ready to snap.

"Heh... ehe..." The woman's laughter faltered, like the wind being knocked out of her. Her amused expression twisted, but she didn't back down. She stared right back at him, her smile now cold and unsettling. "You're just like your father—"

"I don't even know who the hell my father is!" Kiaan's voice thundered through the air, his fist slamming down again, this time harder, splintering the table. "Shut. Up."

"Sir," an officer spoke quietly, his eyes flicking nervously to Kyros, searching for guidance.

"Wait," Kyros murmured without shifting his focus from the observation window. "He'll handle it."

The woman's lips curled into a cruel smile. "For him to destroy everything," she whispered, her voice dripping with insanity, "a sacrifice must be made." Her nails began to dig into her own skin, drawing blood as her grin stretched impossibly wider. "After the sacrifice, it will be so much easier... so much easier for him to... haha..."

Kiaan's entire body went rigid, his eyes narrowing with barely contained rage. "How are you going to make that sacrifice?"

"The seed is already in place," she purred, her voice eerily calm. "Dispersed by the Eye of Roula."

"Eye?" Kiaan's breath caught. The weight of realization crashed over him, like an avalanche. His pulse hammered in his ears, and his blood ran cold.

Before he could speak, the door slammed open with such force that the hinges groaned in protest. Kyros strode in, his presence like a storm. His eyes burned with fury, and without a word, he crossed the room in an instant. He grabbed the woman by her throat, lifting her off the ground with terrifying ease, his other hand forming blocks of solid energy that swirled ominously.

"Where is it?" Kyros growled, his voice low, almost inhuman. "I said, WHERE?!"

The woman choked, struggling in his grip, but her eyes held that same maddening gleam. Her breath rasped as she sneered at him. "The time is already up. Everyone within the radius of your girlfriend's house will die—and that includes her, too—"

Before she could finish, Kyros slammed her against the wall with such force that the room seemed to shake. She gasped for air, her body going limp, and her eyes rolled back in unconsciousness.

Kyros stepped back, turning his head, his jaw clenched in rage as he shoved past Kiaan and stormed out of the room, leaving destruction in his wake.

Kiaan stood frozen, staring at the woman's limp form on the floor, his chest heaving with a mixture of disbelief and fury. He whispered, barely audible, "Why... why did you turn out like this?" His voice cracked, the pain cutting deeper than he wanted to admit.

"That's because of you—"

Her words were cut short, the cold flash of a blade slicing through her neck with a sickening, finality. She blinked in shock, eyes wide, her last breath a gurgle as her body crumpled.

Kiaan stood over her, his face hard and unreadable, his other eye darkening. He stared at the corpse, the woman who had once been his mother, now nothing more than a broken thing.

"Someone like you can't be my mother," he muttered, the words bitter on his tongue.

Without another glance, Kiaan turned on his heel and bolted from the room, rushing to find Kyros. His footsteps were heavy, each one carrying him farther from the past, closer to whatever nightmare awaited him.

***

Kaia saw her house in the distance, the familiar silhouette barely visible through the blur of her exhausted eyes. I'll just ask sis for her cookies... The thought came unbidden, like an anchor in the storm of her mind. She won't get angry, right? Her lips barely moved as she murmured the words, but her chest felt tight. The word powerless echoed in her head, clinging like a weight. Her every step felt heavier than the last, each one a reminder of how small she truly was.

She stopped, feet rooted to the ground as she stared ahead, her gaze dropping to the dirt beneath her. Was this the end of our missions together?

Yona's words replayed, a cruel reminder that nothing lasts forever. The question hung in the air, unanswered.

Kaia straightened, wiping the weariness from her face, trying to shake the suffocating feeling that had taken root in her chest. She forced herself forward, step by hesitant step.

Then—

A flash. Blinding and sudden. A deafening roar split the sky, the earth itself trembling beneath her feet.

Her heart lurched. Eyes wide, Kaia barely registered the screams of chaos around her as the world exploded into a haze of fire and dust. Her vision blurred—then, just as quickly, her world was swallowed by smoke and ruin.

Her body froze. No. Her heart pounded in her ears, the air thick with the acrid stench of burnt rubble.

It wasn't a dream. It was real.

Kaia's legs moved before she had time to think, sprinting toward the inferno. But with every step, the ground seemed to crumble beneath her, the world she had known turning to ashes. She reached the ruins—collapsed, broken. The houses, the streets, all of it... gone.

Her eyes scanned frantically for anything—anyone. But there was nothing. Just rubble. No bodies.

Her chest tightened, her breath shallow and erratic as she stumbled forward, her feet heavy with dread. She didn't want to see it, didn't want to face what her gut already knew.

The emptiness of it all suffocated her.

Then, she felt it. Her boot struck something soft, something wrong.

Kaia's heart stopped.

She looked down, her eyes widening as she saw the hand—small, delicate, fingers mangled beneath the weight of stone. Her breath caught in her throat. The bracelet. That familiar teddy wrist bracelet—the one with the K and T—it was unmistakable.

No.

"Sissssssss!" The scream tore from her throat, raw and jagged. She fell to her knees, hands trembling as she clawed at the rubble, frantic. Blood smeared across her fingers, warm and sticky as she dug deeper, her breath ragged.

"No, no, no, no…" She whispered to herself, over and over, as tears blurred her vision. Her hands moved faster, desperation coating every motion, but there was only more blood. More rubble.

The last stone crumbled away.

And there she was. The body. Her sister.

Kaia froze, her breath catching in her throat. The world stilled. Thalia's face—once so full of light, so full of warmth—was now cold. Her skin pale and lifeless.

"Sis…" Kaia's voice cracked as she pulled her sister's body close, clutching it to her chest. Her lips trembled, but she forced a smile, a broken one. "I found you… I—"

"She's dead."

The voice came from behind her, sharp and final.

Kaia's blood ran cold as she turned. Meryt stood there, her eyes void of any empathy, her expression as cold as the grave.

"Your sister…" Meryt's words sliced through the air, each one a shard of glass, "...is gone."

Kaia's mind splintered. Words danced and twisted in her thoughts, a chaos she couldn't grasp. She wanted to scream, to fight it, but it was too much. She wanted to hold on to her sister's warmth, to cling to the hope that this wasn't real, that she wasn't gone.

But the hope flickered and died. The image of Thalia's face, her smiling face, began to blur. It melted away like mist in the wind.

"No..." Kaia whispered. "Nooooooooooooo....."

Her scream rang out, loud enough to shatter the very air, a primal sound that broke through the chaos and into the hollow of her chest.

"Thalia..." The word was a sob, a cry of anguish that stole her breath, made her knees buckle as she cradled her sister's cold body tighter, as if doing so would make it real again, make the warmth return.

"Don't die… Please… Sis…" The words were barely audible, drowned in sobs that wracked her entire body, hiccupping between every breath.

Meryt's gaze never wavered. She stood like a shadow, her voice cutting through the silence.

"Do you realize now?" she asked, her words dripping with cold indifference.

Kaia glared at her through tear-filled eyes, a mixture of defiance and heartbreak. Her lips trembled as she tried to speak, but the words were stuck, lodged deep in her chest.

"Just how weak..." Meryt turned her back, her words cruel, final. "And powerless you are...."

"You couldn't save anyone." Meryt's voice sliced through the air, cold and merciless, her gaze locking onto Kaia's. "Not even your own sister."

The words hit Kaia like a physical blow, but she didn't flinch. Her eyes, once filled with uncertainty, hardened—shifting from pain to something darker. Her voice was quiet at first, but it carried the weight of an impending storm. "Where are the other bodies?"

Meryt's eyes widened, a flicker of panic darting across her face.

Kaia's gaze grew sharper, her fists clenching at her sides. She took a step forward, every movement predatory. "Where are they?" Her eyes burned red with fury, each word dripping with venom, her very presence threatening to crush Meryt's resolve.

"They…" Meryt hesitated, her voice faltering for the first time. A bead of sweat slid down her temple. Why am I hesitating? By a powerless person? Her instincts screamed for her to run—to flee from the girl standing before her. But she held her ground, forcing the words out. "They're safe... I saved them…"

"Why not Sis then?" Kaia's voice dropped dangerously low, almost a growl. The temperature in the surroundings seemed to drop with the shift in her tone. "Why didn't you save her?!"

Kaia screamed, her voice a razor-sharp threat, tearing through the silence like a storm tearing through calm waters. It was more than a question—it was a threat. Every muscle in Meryt's body screamed to run, but the words kept her pinned, her heart racing in a cold panic. She knew—she felt—how Kaia's fury was about to swallow her whole.