Chiyo sat on the very edge of the ruined building, her legs dangling freely over the abyss of ocean below. Wind brushed past her long hair, but she did not move to adjust it. Her eyes were fixed on the ocean bio beneath her.
Far below, iling was struggling.
She was dragging a man out of the endless water, her breaths uneven, her body shaking with exhaustion. Each step toward the shore looked like it took everything she had.
Chiyo narrowed her eyes.
"That face…" she whispered softly. "How nostalgic."
Her fingers tightened against the concrete edge.
"It is happening again," she murmured. "Sa way. Again and again."
Standing beside her was an angel.
Tall, pale, and silent.
White wings rested neatly behind her back, not a single feather disturbed by the wind. Her face was beautiful, but empty. Her eyes held no curiosity, no judgnt, no emotion at all.
She looked like a statue given breath.
Chiyo turned her head slightly toward her.
"Do you want to hear a story, niece?" Chiyo asked casually.
The angel did not respond.
Her gaze remained locked on iling as she pulled the man closer to the shore.
Chiyo chuckled.
"Figures."
She leaned back, placing her palms behind her for support, and began speaking anyway.
"Imagine this," Chiyo said. "There is a woman."
The angel did not move.
"This woman falls in love," Chiyo continued. "Not just a little. Not foolish puppy love. I an truly, deeply, hopelessly."
Her lips curled faintly.
"She gives him everything. Her trust. Her warmth. Her body. Her soul."
The angel's wings rustled lightly in the wind, but her expression remained unchanged.
Chiyo tilted her head.
"She believes the affection she feels is real. She believes the affection she gives is returned. She believes every word, every promise, every touch."
Chiyo's eyes darkened.
"But then," she said softly, "she finds out sothing amusing."
The angel finally blinked.
Chiyo smiled.
"She finds out that everything she felt was planned. That every emotion she gave him was part of soone else's joke. A bad taste joke."
She let out a quiet laugh.
"Tell , Angel," Chiyo said, her voice turning light. "What do you think such a woman would do?"
Silence.
The angel did not answer.
Chiyo sighed theatrically.
"Of course you would not know," she muttered. "You were never human enough."
She leaned forward again, resting her elbows on her knees.
"Any sane woman," Chiyo said, "would go insane."
She smiled slowly.
"Wouldn't they?"
Her gaze drifted downward again, toward iling.
"I feel bad for such a woman," Chiyo muttered.
Below, iling finally reached solid ground.
She collapsed to her knees for a mont, coughing violently as water poured from her lungs. Her hands trembled as she tried to steady herself.
The man she dragged out lay motionless for a second, then groaned.
iling gasped.
"You're alive," she said quickly. "Thank goodness."
She grabbed his shoulder and shook him gently.
"Hey. Wake up."
The man opened his eyes slowly.
Gray eyes.
Sharp, tired, and filled with fear.
"They are coming," he muttered hoarsely.
iling froze.
"Who?" she asked.
The man pushed himself up with effort, coughing seawater onto the sand.
"We need to find Ren," he said urgently. "As fast as possible."
iling frowned.
"Ren?" she repeated.
The man looked at her, eyes burning with desperation.
"He is the only thing that can keep safe from her," he said.
From above, Chiyo watched closely.
"That voice," she whispered. "No doubt about it."
She stood up slowly and brushed dust off the back of her clothes.
Her expression twisted into irritation.
"I wonder where my useless son is now," she muttered. "Probably sowhere still being useless."
She clicked her tongue.
"I hate that boy with a passion," she said coldly. "He is the symbol of weakness."
Her fingers curled into a fist.
"Weakness between and him," she muttered.
Beside her, the angel remained silent.
Chiyo turned toward her and stepped closer.
"Still not talking?" she asked lightly.
The angel's eyes did not shift.
Chiyo shrugged.
"Suit yourself."
She reached up and plucked a single feather from the angel's wing.
The angel did not react.
Chiyo brought the feather to her lips and blew it gently toward the ocean bio.
The feather drifted downward.
Then it disintegrated midair, turning to light and fading into nothing.
Chiyo scowled.
"Not here too?" she muttered. "Last loop she was here."
She narrowed her eyes.
"It looks like that is the only thing that changed this ti."
She turned away, beginning to walk toward the edge of the rooftop exit.
Before leaving, she glanced back one last ti.
Her gaze landed on iling.
"Good luck to you, little girl," Chiyo whispered. "I hope you won't end up the sa way again."
Then she vanished.
On the shore, iling finally managed to stand.
Her legs felt weak, but she forced herself upright and looked back toward the ocean bio.
The endless water stretched behind them, dark and shifting.
She shivered.
"You really showed the way," iling muttered quietly. "There is no way I could have found the end of this bio if it wasn't for you."
She looked down at the man.
"Thank you."
The man did not smile.
He was staring at the horizon, his jaw tight.
"We cannot stay here," he said. "They are already close."
iling blinked.
"They?" she asked.
"Yes."
He clenched his fists.
"You will soon see," he added.
iling opened her mouth to ask more, but suddenly she gasped.
A strange warmth spread through her body.
Her soaked clothes began to steam.
Water evaporated from her skin, rising into the air like mist.
"What is happening?" she whispered.
The man's eyes widened.
"Unlucky," he muttered. "Sothing is already here."
Before iling could react, the ground shook.
A massive explosion tore through the building in front of them.
Concrete shattered.
Flas erupted outward, blasting debris into the air.
iling scread and shielded her face.
The shockwave knocked her backward, sending her crashing into the sand.
Her ears rang.
When the dust finally settled, sothing enormous stood before them.
It was a giant creature.
Its body resembled a chaleon, massive and scaled, with thick limbs and a long tail that dragged across the ground. Fire burned along its spine, flas licking its scales as if they were part of its flesh.
Its eyes rotated independently, locking onto iling and the man.
Heat radiated from it, warping the air.
iling pushed herself up, staring at the monster.
"…This," she muttered, her lips trembling, "is much better than those ocean monsters."
The creature opened its mouth.
Fire roared.
And iling knew sothing was about to change her life what she didn't know was it for better or worse.
***
Ren moved with purpose, but the city refused to let him forget where he was.
The deeper he went, the more controlled everything beca.
Security checkpoints appeared at every major junction. Identification scans. Behavioral monitoring. Ard patrols that did not look like ordinary guards but like soldiers waiting for permission to act. Screens mounted on tall pylons played looping announcents about safety, unity, and stability under the current administration.
Judith Harrington's face appeared again and again.
Calm. Composed. Untouchable.
Ren slowed without realizing it.
"So this is what she built," he murmured.
The safe zone of Norbata was not just a refuge anymore. It was a capital in everything but na. Trade flowed through it. Information flowed faster. Power pooled here, thick and heavy, like stagnant water hiding sothing sharp underneath.
And Judith stood at the center of it.
Reaching her would not be simple.
Ren quickly learned that asking questions was a mistake.
The mont he ntioned her na, people reacted. So straightened with pride, voices lowering as if speaking of a symbol rather than a person. Others grew tense, eyes darting to caras before giving clipped, careful answers. A few scoffed openly, muttering about false saviors and manufactured order.
"She is the only reason this place still stands," a shopkeeper told him with fierce conviction.
"She is turning Norbata into her personal throne," a dock worker spat later, barely moving herlips.
Ren listened. Watched. Counted patterns.
Judith had followers who treated her like a revolutionary icon. People who believed she had dragged Norbata out of chaos with her own hands. They wore subtle symbols, pins, armbands, coded colors. Not official, but unmistakable. They organized rallies disguised as community gatherings. They spoke about rebuilding, about strength, about cutting away corruption no matter the cost.
Opposing them were those who feared her rise.
Not criminals or rebels in the obvious sense, but politicians, guild leaders, old families who had lost influence. They whispered about overreach. About militarization. About how one woman held too much authority for soone who claid she was not ruling.
And between those two sides, tension stretched tight.
Ren felt it everywhere.
"So even getting close to you is a problem now."
Judith was no longer soone you could simply visit. Her location shifted constantly. Public appearances were rare and heavily guarded. Any attempt to approach her directly required layers of authorization. Even her na triggered alerts in the system if spoken too often in the wrong places.
Ren could feel eyes on him already.
He ducked into a side street and leaned against a wall, letting people pass as he gathered his thoughts. For the first ti since entering the safe zone, frustration crept in.
Not fear.
Frustration.
"Fuck! Why does everything needs to be this complex? She could have remained the principal she is..."
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