The stars felt too close tonight.
They pressed down like watching eyes—each one a judgment, each one a reminder that the world above had turned its gaze on him. Megumi stood outside the cabin, the stone tablet resting beside his feet, its inscription still glowing faintly with golden light.
"The one named in silence."
He closed his eyes.
He could still hear Chloe's voice in his head. Could still see her smile.
But now, beneath that memory, something else lingered.
The scream of Erebus as his mask cracked.
The hiss of reality as it folded under Megumi's hand.
The thunder when his wings—one holy, one damned—spread wide.
That wasn't her brother anymore.
That was the Fallen King.
And it terrified him.
Inside the Cabin
Ava sat on the bed, her hands wrapped around a chipped mug of tea, her eyes never leaving the fire.
She could feel it.
Not just the power… but the weight of it pressing down on Megumi like a storm on the edge of breaking.
When he stepped back inside, she didn't look up right away.
Only when he sat across from her—close, but not too close—did she speak.
"Do you remember what it felt like?" she asked. "When you changed?"
Megumi's fingers curled around his knees.
"Yes."
She looked into the fire. "What did it feel like?"
He stared at the flickering flames.
"Like… I wasn't alone in my own body."
Ava's eyes flicked toward him.
He continued, his voice low. "It was me—but it wasn't. Every time someone I care about is in danger, something… awakens. And all the pain, the rage, the grief—" his hands trembled—"they turn into power. And then, I can't tell if I'm saving someone or just destroying everything around them."
Ava set her mug down.
"You're not a monster."
"I killed Erebus."
"You stopped Erebus."
Megumi stood up. Paced.
"I wanted to. I wanted him to suffer. And that scares me more than anything."
He clenched his fists.
"What if I lose control again? What if next time it's you standing in front of me when I break?"
Silence.
Then Ava rose too. She crossed to him and gently placed her hand on his chest.
"I'm not afraid of you," she said. "But I am afraid of you giving up on yourself."
Megumi looked down at her, eyes wide.
"I've watched you fight alone for too long," she said. "So stop doing it. You have me. Whether you like it or not."
A breath escaped him. Shaky. But real.
He nodded.
Dream Realm
That night, Megumi dreamed.
He stood in a place without sky, without ground. Just swirling gold and shadow.
In the distance, a throne made of bone and fire waited.
He approached it slowly—and on the throne sat a silhouette. Tall. Broad. Wearing a crown that looked like shattered halos fused together.
The figure raised its head.
Megumi froze.
Because it was him.
Older. Sharper. His face was the same, but his eyes glowed with a deep, knowing emptiness. His wings were massive—entire galaxies bending behind them. His aura was absolute.
"Do you see it now?" the version of him said.
"See what?" Megumi asked.
"What you're becoming."
Megumi shook his head. "No. I won't be like you."
"You already are. You just haven't accepted it."
Megumi stepped back.
"You want to protect her, don't you? You want to stop Lythic. Save the world. Bring justice to the gods."
His voice was a mirror of Megumi's own—just older. Wiser. Colder.
"Then be me. Stop hiding behind what you were, and embrace what you are."
"I'm not you," Megumi said again, louder.
"You will be."
And with that, the world shattered.
Back in the Waking World
Megumi woke with a gasp, sweat clinging to his skin. He sat up, heart pounding, hand instinctively reaching for his halo—still there. Still humming.
Ava stirred from the nearby chair she'd fallen asleep in.
She rubbed her eyes. "Bad dream?"
"…Worse."
She stood and walked to him, concern soft in her expression.
"What happened?"
"I saw… me. Or something like me. Sitting on a throne."
Her brows furrowed. "What did he say?"
Megumi looked down at his trembling hands.
"He said I'd become him. That I'm already on the path."
Ava sat beside him, silent for a long while.
Then she said, "Then we change the path."
He turned to her.
"We make a new one," she said. "That's what Chloe would've wanted, right?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah… it is."
Olympus – Throne of Thunder
Zeus stood overlooking the earth, his robes swirling with divine energy.
Hermes approached, silent as lightning.
"He's stirring," Hermes said. "The boy grows stronger."
Zeus didn't look away. "He has tasted the throne of the Fallen King. The dream was no accident."
Hermes hesitated. "Should we intervene?"
Zeus's voice rumbled like thunder on a distant cliff.
"No. Not yet."
He narrowed his eyes.
"But when he claims the name… then Olympus will move."