Betrayal in Bloom

When Kael emerged from the Sunken Temple of Resonance, the ocean no longer felt cold.

Not because the temperature had changed but because he had.

The pressure that once dragged him down now yielded to his presence. Water curled gently around him, bubbles of gravity shielding his breath like it was second nature.

He didn't need to concentrate anymore. His control had become… instinctual.

 "You're glowing," Aeris muttered as Kael floated up beside the submersible craft.

 "Didn't realize," he said, though his silver-blue aura pulsed like a calm heartbeat.

Sera stared at him for a moment longer than necessary. "You look… lighter. Not weaker—just... clearer."

 "I know who I am now," Kael replied. "And I know what I need to stop."

Return to the Archives

Back at the underground facility, Liora debriefed them in a sealed vault. The resonance data extracted from the Temple pulsed with harmonic runes. Even the Archives trembled gently at Kael's presence.

 "The Choir will sense this shift," she warned. "You've aligned yourself with an ancient frequency. That makes you a beacon—and a target."

Kael nodded. "Let them come."

But Liora didn't smile. Instead, she tapped a file open—one that flickered with restricted access warnings.

 "Before they do… we have a bigger problem."

The screen displayed surveillance footage from another Division.

It showed Elarys.

And next to her—Aeris.

Shattered Trust

The room froze.

Kael turned slowly toward Aeris, who stood stiff, expression unreadable.

 "You want to explain that?" Sera asked, stepping between her and Kael.

Aeris didn't answer right away. Then—calmly—she stepped forward and placed a blade on the table.

 "She contacted me. A while ago. Before Kael's gravity ever flickered."

 "And you didn't say anything?" Darius snapped. "You worked with her?"

"No," Aeris growled back. "I infiltrated. I fed her misinformation, bought us time. I never betrayed Kael."

But Kael wasn't looking at her.

He was listening—to the resonance in her voice.

And he could tell...

"You're lying," he said softly.

Aeris looked at him, and for the first time in a long time—she didn't smirk.

 "It's not betrayal," she whispered. "It's insurance."

 "For what?"

 "For when you lose control."

She vanished in a blur of windsteel and blade-light.

Fallout

Silence.

Liora didn't pursue. Neither did Darius.

 "She'll go to Elarys," Kael said, hands clenched. "To protect the version of me she thinks she can handle."

 "She still might care," Sera added. "Even traitors bleed."

Kael stood.

His staff reappeared in a slow flicker of gravity.

"She's not the enemy," he muttered. "But if she stands in the way… I'll tear down every illusion until she sees the truth."

Liora nodded, voice quiet. "Then we move now. Elarys is preparing the next verse. If she completes it—"

"Then the world sings itself into silence," Kael finished. "Not on my watch."