The eye of the storm, The Fallen king arises

 The Eye of the Storm

Smoke still lingered in the air, rising from the cracked earth like the last breath of a dying beast. Trees lay shattered, streetlights flickered, and the playground where children once laughed had been reduced to rubble. In the center of it all stood Megumi—shoulders hunched, chest heaving, fists clenched so tight his knuckles had turned white. The battle with Lythic had left him shaken, but not broken.

Not yet.

He stood alone in the crater he'd made, the fractured ground glowing faintly beneath his feet. A golden haze still shimmered around him, crackling with residual energy. His wings had vanished, but the memory of their weight still lingered on his back.

Then—her voice cut through the silence.

"Megumi!"

Ava's footsteps echoed as she rushed onto the scene, eyes wide with disbelief as she took in the destruction. Her breath hitched when she saw him—torn clothes, glowing veins, a strange emptiness in his eyes.

"Megumi, what happened?" she whispered, stepping carefully down the uneven path.

He didn't answer. He couldn't. His mind was still caught in the storm—Chloe's scream, Lythic's laughter, the moment Ava's life had been threatened. He trembled as memories crashed down like a tidal wave.

Ava knelt beside him. "You're hurt…"

"I'm fine," Megumi muttered, voice barely audible.

But she wasn't convinced. "You're shaking."

He turned his head slowly toward her, as if afraid she'd see too much. "He came for me. And this time… he wanted to take you."

Before Ava could respond, a ripple of darkness sliced through the air like a knife.

A rift tore open behind them—violet and black, pulsing like a wound in reality. From within stepped Lythic, battered and bloodied, but very much alive. His cloak was torn, and one of his horns had cracked, but his eyes still burned with that twisted hunger.

"I told you," Lythic sneered, dragging a black spear behind him, "I'd take everything you loved."

Ava instinctively backed up, but Lythic was fast—too fast. In a blink, he appeared behind her, his hand gripping her arm with monstrous strength.

Megumi's breath caught. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

"No…" he said, his voice low.

Lythic leaned in close to Ava's ear. "Let's see if you scream like your sister did."

That was it.

Something inside Megumi snapped.

The world stilled for a second. Then—

BOOM.

The ground beneath him exploded outward, sending rocks and debris into the air. Lightning spiraled into the sky. Cracks tore through the earth in all directions. Wind howled violently, spiraling around him like a vortex of fury.

"You…" Megumi's voice deepened, warping with rage and sorrow. His eyes blazed gold and crimson.

"You won't take anyone else—"

White feathers burst from one side of his back.

"—or her—"

Black feathers erupted from the other.

"—FROM ME!!"

The entire city block shook.

A radiant light engulfed Megumi's body. A halo—no longer gold, but black and glowing—appeared above his head, spinning like a celestial crown. His wings fully unfurled: one a majestic white with divine shimmer, the other pure black, like a shadow torn from the abyss.

His aura exploded outward. Trees bent and snapped under the pressure. Even Lythic staggered, shielding himself from the blast as dust and light obscured everything.

Megumi hovered above the ground now—his expression unreadable, his hair drifting weightlessly, eyes glowing like twin eclipses.

"You're not him," Lythic muttered, his voice trembling. "You're not supposed to be this strong yet!"

Megumi didn't answer.

He raised his hand, and a spear of light and shadow formed—crackling with divine and demonic energy. The moment he hurled it, Lythic barely managed to phase out of the way, the projectile slicing a chasm through the park and into the sky like a lance thrown by a god.

Lythic was panting now, real fear on his face.

"This isn't over, Fallen King!" he snarled. "You think this power makes you strong? It'll devour you!"

And with a violent ripple, a portal opened behind him. Lythic stepped backward into it, his gaze never leaving Megumi as he vanished.

Silence fell.

Megumi dropped to his knees, the transformation flickering. His wings slowly faded as exhaustion overtook him. The crater was still smoking, and the air was heavy with ozone and ash.

Then—soft footsteps.

Ava stood at the edge of the crater, her face pale, eyes wide with shock—and something else. Grief. Worry. Awe.

"Megumi?" she whispered.

He turned his head weakly toward her. "I… I didn't mean to scare you."

Her eyes welled up, and she dropped beside him, wrapping her arms around his shaking form.

"You didn't scare me," she said, voice trembling. "You protected me."

He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "I almost lost myself…"

"But you didn't," she said, holding him tighter. "You came back to me."

And for a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to believe her.

BOOM.

A bolt of lightning split the sky. The clouds above twisted and churned as thunder echoed across the city.

Megumi and Ava both looked up—and froze.

Descending through the storm clouds was a chariot of golden light, pulled by two celestial lions. Standing tall at its center was a man draped in white robes and gold armor, his presence radiating divine authority.

Zeus.

Flanking him were other figures—twelve in total. The Olympians.

"So the prophecy was true…" Zeus said, his voice like rolling thunder. "The Fallen King has risen."