The silence after the thunder

The sky was still trembling.

Even though the battle was over, the clouds above hadn't yet settled. Faint rumbles echoed like the fading heartbeat of a giant. Where once there was chaos—explosions of void energy, dimensional ruptures, warping winds—now there was only silence. Silence… and a broken crater carved deep into the earth.

In the center of it, Megumi knelt.

His wings—one white and feathered, one black and shadowy—had vanished.

Only the blackened halo above his head remained, flickering faintly like a dying flame. His eyes were closed. Blood lined his jaw, his arm hung limply, and his breath came in slow, shallow gasps.

Ava was the first to move.

She stumbled forward, falling to her knees beside him, uncaring that the earth still radiated heat or that his skin shimmered with unstable power.

"Megumi," she whispered, cupping his face. "Can you hear me?"

He didn't respond.

"Please," she begged, her voice cracking. "Don't leave me too."

The stormlight faded. Trees creaked. Debris floated slowly back to the ground. Megumi's head tipped forward—but before it could fall, Ava pulled him into her arms.

Her heartbeat was loud. Fast. Wild.

She held him close.

"I'm here," she said into his ear. "You protected me. You came back."

And somewhere inside his broken body, that reached him.

His eyes flickered open—just barely.

"…Ava."

She gasped. "I'm here! You're safe. You're okay—"

"I couldn't… control it," he rasped.

"You did," she said. "You stopped Erebus. You stayed you."

A breath escaped his lips. Half relief. Half agony.

"I don't want to lose myself," he muttered. "I felt it. That power. It wanted to keep going… to keep killing."

Ava pulled his face to her shoulder, her voice trembling.

"You didn't. That's what matters."

Later that night

The crater was still scorched, but the winds had settled.

Leonidas emerged from the shadows like a ghost. He said nothing at first—just stood above the two of them, watching as Ava kept Megumi wrapped in her arms.

"So," Leonidas finally said. "He defeated Erebus."

Ava flinched at the sudden voice. "Who are you?"

"His teacher," Leonidas replied. "Though… he may be outgrowing even that."

She narrowed her eyes. "You're the one who gave him this power, aren't you?"

"I gave him a chance," Leonidas said, voice calm and deep. "It was the world that gave him reasons to use it."

He walked slowly around the edge of the crater, his dark cloak fluttering behind him.

"They don't send Erebus unless they're scared. Not of threats, no. Of change. Of prophecy." He looked toward the stars. "The gods don't trust what they can't control."

Ava held Megumi tighter. "They'll come again, won't they?"

Leonidas nodded. "Zeus never stops with one warning."

He looked at Megumi's halo—flickering in pulses of black and gold.

"The real war… has already begun."

Before Ava could ask more, Leonidas stepped backward and vanished into shadow.

Somewhere above, in Olympus

Twelve thrones circled the divine court.

Zeus stood at the center, his eyes locked on the divine mirror displaying the battlefield.

Even now, the flickers of Megumi's last attack replayed in haunting detail—reality tearing, void twisting, space folding in unnatural ways.

Athena folded her arms. "He controlled it."

"For now," said Ares. "But what happens when he doesn't? When he stops choosing?"

Hera's voice was cold. "He's already crossed too many lines. Mortal souls were never meant to wield that form."

Zeus didn't speak. His grip on his staff was iron-tight.

Poseidon leaned forward. "You saw what he did to Erebus. No one else—mortal or divine—has ever walked away from a battle with him."

The gods fell into silence.

Until Athena said, quietly, "So it begins again."

Back on Earth

Megumi sat at the edge of the crater, half-conscious, Ava supporting him as he looked out over the still-burning earth.

His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"…Why me?"

Ava tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I wasn't anyone special. I was weak. Powerless. I couldn't even save Chloe."

Her fingers gently found his.

"You didn't choose this," she said. "But you chose to protect people anyway. Even when you knew the cost."

He looked down at their joined hands.

"I don't know if I'm the hero… or the monster."

"You're not a monster," she said firmly.

He looked at her.

"You're the boy who gave up everything… just to keep one person safe."

For the first time since the battle ended, Megumi smiled.

Only faintly.

But it was real.

Final Scene: The Watching King

On the highest tower of Olympus, Zeus watched the two through a shimmering veil of lightning.

He said nothing for several long moments.

Then finally, to himself:

"…Soon, boy. Very soon."

He lifted his hand—and lightning danced across the stars.