"So," Sasa asked, tilting his head, "you want to go back first?"
Dirga nodded, his voice quiet but firm. "Yeah. Just for a bit."
He needed to see her. Naya.
No matter how far he'd come, or how deep into Hell he'd fallen, there was still a tether that pulled at his chest. He wasn't ready to let it fray.
He took the shimmering marble from Sasa's hand, felt the faint thrum of Zarion pulsing inside it like a heart.
With a breath—
He crushed it.
ZARION surged. The world folded inward—colors inverted, sound warped, and reality blinked like a shutter—and Dirga was gone.
The room fell silent again.
Sasa remained slouched on the velvet couch, one leg draped lazily over the other, a Devil Gold coin spinning effortlessly between his fingers.
The soft clink of metal filled the silence. Light from the chandelier caught the coin's edge, throwing quicksilver flashes across his salt-white hair and the sharp, boyish lines of his face.