It had been three days since Ava Takabi sat beside Megumi on the rooftop and shared a drink with him like he wasn't invisible. Three days since the silence in his world cracked just enough to let in something warm. Something terrifying.
He didn't know what to make of her.
Ava was still popular. Still bold. Still sharp when people got out of line. But when she spoke to him, it wasn't with pity. It wasn't forced. It was like… she saw him.
And that was scarier than the nightmares.
The rooftop had become their unspoken refuge.
Today, the sky was heavy with overcast clouds. The kind of sky that looked like it could either pour rain or swallow the sun whole.
Ava handed him a steamed bun wrapped in wax paper. "Eat. You've looked half-dead since second period."
Megumi took it without complaint. "Didn't sleep much."
"Nightmares again?"
He nodded. "They're getting clearer."
"Same dream?"
"Same… and worse."
She tilted her head. "Tell me?"
Megumi hesitated, chewing slowly as he looked out across the city. "I'm in a place that feels like it's alive—but it's made of shadows. There's this… tree. Twisted. Burning with blue fire. And under it, I see my sister—Chloe. She's calling for help, but I can't move. And then there's the halo."
Ava's expression didn't change, but she shifted closer, brushing her arm against his.
"It's above me. Black. Not shining—just hovering. Like it's waiting for something. And I feel like… I belong to it."
A gust of wind pushed her hair across her face. She didn't move it, just stared at him through the strands.
"I believe you," she said finally. "It sounds like something's pulling at you from the other side of the veil."
He blinked. "That's oddly specific."
Ava smiled faintly. "My grandmother used to say that. She believed there are layers to the world. The one we see, and the one that watches."
Megumi looked at her then—not just glanced. Looked. Ava was strange in all the right ways.
And yet, he felt a knot in his chest tighten.
That night, Megumi stood in the hallway of their tiny apartment, watching Chloe laugh over some dumb TV show. Her laugh filled the space with warmth it didn't deserve.
"Hey," he said. "You should go to bed early. I'll do the dishes."
She gave him a sideways look. "Since when are you responsible?"
He shrugged. "Trying it out."
She smiled, but her eyes lingered on him longer than usual. "You've been quieter than normal."
"I'm okay."
"That's not what I asked."
Megumi didn't answer.
Chloe stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. It caught him off guard, but he returned it slowly.
"You're allowed to be scared, you know," she whispered. "Even strong people break."
"I'm not strong," he muttered.
Chloe pulled back and looked him in the eye. "Then hang on to me until you are."
The next day, the rooftop felt colder than usual.
Ava was already there when Megumi arrived, sitting against the fence, legs stretched out, face turned toward the clouds.
"You okay?" he asked.
She looked up. "I had a weird dream last night."
His brow lifted.
"There was this… voice. Kept saying 'he's not ready.' Over and over. It sounded like it echoed from inside the wind."
Megumi froze.
"And then…" Ava hesitated. "I saw you. Standing in the middle of a field of ash, with wings made of shadow and light. You weren't… you. But I knew it was you."
He couldn't breathe.
"I know that sounds crazy—"
"No," Megumi interrupted, voice low. "It doesn't."
The air around them shifted.
It was slight, but real. Like gravity had dipped for just a second.
They both stood, instinctively.
Wind whipped up around them, harder now. Fiercer. The clouds above spun slowly in an unnatural spiral.
"Ava," he said quietly, "stay behind me."
"What is this—?"
The air snapped. A tearing sound, like the sky itself had been sliced open.
A shimmering crack split the space just beyond the fence. Light bled from it—black and gold, pulsing.
Megumi's head throbbed.
His heart pounded.
And then…
It opened.
A rift. A portal. A doorway into something not meant for mortal eyes.
On the other side, Megumi saw fragments. Flames. Towers that twisted into the sky. Masks without faces.
And that halo—black, spinning—hovered above it all.
His knees gave out. He clutched his head. Voices poured into his skull like a thousand whispers.
You are chosen.
You are bound.
The light will break, and you will fall.
Ava grabbed his shoulders. "Megumi! What's happening?!"
"I—I don't know—"
The light surged.
And then—he vanished.
Just like that.
No flash. No scream. No sound.
Only a girl standing alone on a rooftop, staring at an empty space where a boy used to be.
Ava didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Only the wind answered her silence, carrying with it the faintest echo of a whisper:
The Fallen King will awake..
End of Chapter 2