CHAPTER 11: Ashes Beneath the Morning Sun

Kael POV

Yami had dropped me here, and left to world knows where, telling "try" and "don't kill unless it's absolutely necessary", typical him.

The cold didn't bite anymore. Maybe it never had—maybe the pain just became another color in the palette of numbness that painted every inch of me. I walked with my head lowered, steps slow but deliberate, as if the earth itself might tear open and reject me like everything else had. The air felt softer in this part of the world… warmer. Wrong.

'It smells like peace… I hate it.'

Ahead lay Hage Village. Quiet. Unassuming. Ordinary. The kind of place meant for dreams, not monsters. I wasn't supposed to be here. Not with these scars. Not with blood still crusted on my sleeves—blood that wasn't mine, but clung to me like guilt I couldn't wash away.

The trees gave way to fences, and the fences to dirt roads. Children laughed in the distance. I froze.

'Don't look at them. Don't let them see.'

I pulled the hood lower over my face and adjusted the wrappings on my left arm. It twitched again—always when I was near too much… life. I clenched my fist until the bones ached.

"Hey, you there!"

A sharp voice cracked through the stillness like a whip. My head rose.

A boy stood ahead of me. White hair. Green eyes. Shirtless, despite the morning chill. Another followed him—taller, composed, serious. The second one stared at me like I was something he'd read about in a textbook.

"I said—hey! You okay? You look like a ghost!" the white-haired one asked again. "You lost or something?"

I stared at him. Not a word. Not a twitch.

'Don't answer. They'll forget you. That's best.'

But he didn't go away. He came closer. That… idiot.

"You're hurt, aren't you?" His voice had softened. "Are you from a war or somethin'?"

"Back off, Asta," the other said firmly. "You don't know who this is."

"I know what pain looks like," Asta muttered. "And I'm not gonna ignore it."

'Why… do you sound like someone who still believes in people?'

I turned. Walked away. Fast.

"Wait—!"

I didn't run. I don't run. But I heard footsteps behind me. I stopped, turned fast. My left arm twitched. The runes under the wrappings glowed faintly.

"Don't follow me."

The words surprised even me. Cold. Dry. Final.

Asta froze. His eyes widened at the glow beneath my sleeve. For a second… just one second… he looked scared.

'Good.'

But he didn't back away. "I'm not afraid of you," he said. "Whatever you've been through… you're here now, right? You survived. That's not somethin' to be ashamed of."

Yuno spoke next. "You're dangerous. But not hostile. So I won't interfere."

Smart one. He watched like someone trained to measure threats.

I gave a slight nod. "Don't come near me again."

Asta frowned, but said nothing else.

I turned back toward the village, walking past them. I heard Yuno whisper: "He's not from any noble house. But that mana… it's overwhelming. It felt… cold."

'Let them talk. Let them guess. I don't belong in their world.'

---

Sister Lily POV

From the church porch, I watched the figure approach.

Tattered cloak. Chains. Runes pulsing faintly like dying embers. His aura was unlike anything I'd ever felt. It wasn't holy. It wasn't demonic. It was something else entirely—raw and pained and… ancient.

Asta and Yuno trailed behind at a distance. Asta looked concerned. Yuno looked thoughtful.

"Children, go inside," I said quietly. The little ones didn't argue. They never did when I used that tone.

The stranger stopped at the steps. Didn't speak. Didn't bow. Just looked at me with those eyes—silver and violet, and yet devoid of all light.

"You're welcome here," I said gently.

"No, I'm not."

My heart caught in my throat. His voice—low, broken, like it had forgotten how to be human.

"This is the church. A place for the forsaken," I said.

"I am not forsaken. I am discarded."

I stepped forward. "What's your name?"

He hesitated. I could see him struggle, like even that was painful.

"…Kael."

He didn't sit when I offered a seat. He didn't ask for food, water, or rest. He simply stood there, like an animal unsure if the warmth was a trap.

"You can stay here tonight."

His lips moved, but no sound came. Eventually, he nodded once.

---

Kael POV

That night, I lay in the farthest corner of the orphanage. The bed was soft. I hated it.

Children whispered. Laughed. Their joy scraped against my brain like knives. I stared at the ceiling, hands folded over my chest, eyes never closing.

'It's too clean here. Too quiet. I hate it.'

Sleep didn't come. It never does.

I saw the fire again. The witches' forest burning. I smelled ash, flesh, and the crying of broken things. My body twitched. I almost screamed.

Then… a voice.

"You okay?"

It was Asta again. He sat at the edge of a bed across the room.

"I couldn't sleep either," he added. "Not since I was little. Nightmares."

I didn't answer.

"You fight too, right?" he asked. "I saw the scars. The aura. You're a fighter."

I turned slowly. "No. I'm a survivor. There's a difference."

He blinked. "But… isn't surviving the hardest part?"

That shut me up.

For the first time, I didn't know what to say.

---

Next morning,

Yuno POV

I stood outside the church and watched him leave.

Kael moved like someone who had walked through fire and didn't trust sunlight anymore.

He stopped at the cliff edge. The same place I always came to think. The wind whipped his cloak, and the sun rose behind him like a silent witness.

I approached, but didn't speak.

Kael didn't look at me.

"I don't belong here," he said after a long pause.

"You're not the only one."

He turned then, studying me. I didn't flinch.

"You're like me," he said. "But still whole."

"For now."

He gave a single, bitter chuckle. "That'll change. This world eats hope."

Then he turned away and said something that made my blood chill:

"I'm not here to heal. I'm here to wait."

"For what?"

He walked away without answering.

---

Later that day,

Kael POV

They asked me to stay longer. Sister Lily offered to make tea. Asta said he'd show me how to train with a blade if I wanted.

'Why do they care?'

I should've left. But something made me stay.

And that night, as I stared again at the ceiling, I whispered something I hadn't said in years:

"...thank you."

No one heard it. That was fine.

The grimoire hadn't shown itself again. The book of living runes. It was quiet. Watching.

I could feel it… waiting to write another page. Another trauma.

'But maybe… this chapter will be different.'

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This is the rewrite of chapter 11, the previous one didn't feel right, so I changed it hope you liked this....Thank you for reading the chapter ><.