Ashes Beneath the Snow

The snow fell silently, covering the scorched remains of what once stood tall—a temple, perhaps, or a home. It didn't matter now. All that remained was ash buried beneath white silence.

Sunny stood at the edge of the ruins, his breath heavy, visible against the frost. His eyes were distant, yet fixed on something… someone.

Lysander.

The boy stood in the center of the ruin, untouched by the cold, dressed in black as if he belonged to the shadows. There was no anger in his eyes. Just calm. Too calm.

"You still think love is enough to save this world?" Lysander asked, his voice almost soft, like a lullaby for a dying child.

Sunny didn't respond. Something inside him stirred—a memory, not entirely his, not entirely foreign either. The image of a girl with bright eyes, reaching out to Lysander… and vanishing into flames.

"It was never about love," Lysander continued, stepping forward. "It was about silence. The silence after loss. The kind that eats you alive until you're not sure if you're still human or just a memory with a heartbeat."

Sunny's fists clenched. "You blame the world for your pain?"

"No," Lysander whispered. "I blame the illusion that pain should be hidden."

There was no fight. Not yet. Just the unbearable weight of emotion suspended in frozen air.

Sunny's ability flickered—his power activating on instinct. A flash. He saw Lysander's memory. A boy holding a dying girl's hand. Crying. Screaming. Alone. A promise etched in blood: "I will change this world… so no one suffers silently."

Sunny staggered back. His own memories blurred into the vision. He saw his own face—young, afraid—covered in blood not his own. And a voice… "You're a prodigy, Sunny. You don't belong to yourself anymore."

The connection snapped.

Sunny fell to one knee, gasping. Using the power came at a cost. The weight of another's soul dragged him into exhaustion, and now… now he had seen too much.

"You used your gift, didn't you?" Lysander's voice broke through the haze. "Careful, Sunny. Look into others long enough… and you'll forget who you are."

Snow continued to fall.

And behind that silence, revenge stirred.