Sakamoto's Age: 6.5Location: Braelor outskirtsWorld Condition: Shaken by rumors of the Ash Crown's survivalCapital Orders: ClassifiedLucis: Now moving
The snow didn't fall today.
It just hung there — like the sky itself was waiting for something worse to happen.
Sakamoto stood on the crumbling walls of Braelor, Niris sheathed on his back, Ravian sitting cross-legged below sharpening a dagger. Eira leaned against the last unbroken fountain, tracing the glyphs on her arm again, lost in another memory that wasn't fully hers.
They all felt it.Change was coming.But not the kind you could fight with a sword.
"He's real, isn't he?" Sakamoto said aloud, breaking the silence.
Ravian glanced up, eyes narrowed.
"Lucis?"
Sakamoto nodded.
"If Niris knew, if the capital started moving, if the air itself feels like it's ready to snap... then yeah. He's real."
Ravian threw the dagger into the dirt with a grunt.
"Then we either run, or we bleed."
"I'm tired of running," Sakamoto muttered.
He looked at his hands — still small, still a child's hands. But there was no mistaking the pressure that wrapped around them. He had burned a city. Fought agents of the Cleansing Court. Watched friends almost die. Held the memory of someone he never got to save.
He wasn't a boy anymore.The world wouldn't let him be.
⚔️ News of Lucis Spreads
By noon, the outpost sent scouts — grim-faced, weathered men from the Free Holds.
Their captain, a woman with missing fingers, delivered the message herself.
"There's a figure moving through the Black Ash Wastes. Alone. No caravan. No supplies. No weapon."
"Alone?" Ravian frowned.
"He doesn't need anyone," she said, voice low."We found an entire guard squad turned to ash. No scorch marks. No spells detected.Just… dust."
She handed Sakamoto a shredded piece of leather armor.
Burned into it — not cut — was a spiral crest he had never seen before.
Niris shivered against his back.
"The Mirror Sigil," she whispered.
"The other half of the Ash Crown."
🌑 Eira Breaks
That night, Eira screamed herself awake.
Sakamoto was at her side instantly, gripping her shoulders.
Her glyphs bled white-blue light, staining the cracked floor around her.
"Eira—!"
"I remember it!" she sobbed."The fall of the old castle.The betrayal.The moment you turned your sword on yourself because you thought you failed her—!"
Sakamoto froze.
His fingers dug into the ground.
How could she know?How could she remember something even he hadn't unlocked yet?
"I don't want this," she gasped."I don't want your grief."
"I didn't give it to you," he whispered."This world did."
🛡️ Ravian's Warning
By the dead hours of night, Ravian and Sakamoto stood watch alone.
The stars were swallowed by gray mist.
"You're not ready," Ravian said quietly.
"No one is ever ready."
"That's not what I mean.""You're not ready… to let go of who you were before."
Sakamoto said nothing.
Ravian sighed and leaned against the battlement.
"If you don't — if you cling to the boy who thought he could save everyone — Lucis will kill you without even unsheathing a blade."
"And if I let him go?"
Ravian shrugged.
"Maybe you become the monster everyone thinks you already are.Maybe you survive long enough to change the world."
⚡ The Decision
At dawn, Sakamoto gathered the surviving villagers.
They begged him to stay.
To rebuild.
To fight for them.
One boy even offered him a hand-carved crown made from burned wood.
Sakamoto knelt.Accepted it.Held it against his chest.
And then placed it gently back into the boy's hands.
"I can't protect you by standing still," he said."I can't grow stronger while the world burns around you."
He stood.
Eyes hard.Jaw set.
"I'm leaving.Because when I return...I want to be the kind of king you deserve.Not the kind who burns cities behind him."
The boy cried.
The villagers bowed.
And Sakamoto turned away from Braelor — away from the last shred of innocence he had left.
🧊 Final Scene – Lucis' Smile
Far across the dead wastes, Lucis stood atop a hill of black ash.
The wind howled around him.
He wore no armor. No crown. No pride.
Only hunger.
He smiled faintly, almost kindly.
"Run faster, little brother," he whispered."I'll catch you when you're strong enough to matter."
The wind swallowed his words.
The hunt had begun.