Rain hammered against the windows like the world itself was grieving. Megumi sat alone on the edge of a rooftop, legs dangling, body soaked, his eyes distant and empty. The city below moved like normal, unaware of the storm raging within him.
But in his mind, he wasn't on a rooftop.
He was in a different world entirely.
One Month Ago
The Day the Light Died
Chloe's laughter echoed through the small apartment as she spun in circles with a plate of scrambled eggs. "Megumi, hurry or it's going to get cold!"
"I'm coming," he mumbled, dragging his feet from the bedroom, hair still a mess. His sister always had energy, always filled the room with warmth he couldn't match.
He didn't know it was the last morning he'd ever hear her laugh.
Later that day, they took their usual route through the park. Cherry blossoms bloomed overhead, petals drifting like dreams waiting to fall. She was humming. He was quiet. He always was.
Then everything stopped.
The sky didn't darken—it shattered.
Cracks in the air itself splintered open as if the world were made of glass. A voice tore through the silence—a deep, ancient growl that didn't belong to anything human.
"There you are."
The being stepped through the fracture—eight feet tall, its body cloaked in writhing smoke, eyes burning with violet fire. Lythic.
Before Megumi could move, a black tendril lashed out and struck him in the chest, hurling him into a tree. Chloe screamed.
"Run…!" Megumi gasped, pain splintering his ribs.
But she didn't run. She ran to him. Kneeling beside him, Chloe cradled his head. "Stay awake. Megumi, stay with me."
"Touching," Lythic hissed, approaching slowly. "But pointless."
He lifted her into the air without touching her. She kicked and screamed, the air around her shimmering with dark energy.
Megumi forced himself up, every breath a blade in his lungs. "Let her go!"
Lythic tilted his head. "You hurt me once. You made me believe you were more than a boy."
His voice dropped. "I see now… I was wrong. You're not a threat. You're a vessel. A container for something old and dangerous. But not yet awakened."
Chloe's sobbing voice cried out again. "Megumi, please!"
He took one step forward—
And Lythic stabbed her.
The blade wasn't metal. It was shadow given form, a cruel lance of energy that pierced her chest clean through. Her eyes widened in shock. Blood sprayed the petals below.
Megumi's scream was pure, unfiltered agony.
She dropped like a doll, landing in a heap of red and white.
"No… no, no, no, no…" Megumi crawled to her, hands shaking. "Chloe, please…"
Her lips trembled, and for a second, he thought maybe—maybe—
"I'm scared…" she whispered.
"I'm here," he said, clutching her close. "I'm here."
Her final breath escaped as a soft exhale. Her body went limp.
Now
The storm mirrored his grief. On the rooftop, Megumi didn't cry—he had no tears left. Just silence. Just that moment, again and again.
The world didn't deserve her. She was everything he wasn't. Kind. Bright. Brave.
And now she was gone.
"I failed you," he whispered to the rain.
Behind him, a shadow stirred.
"You didn't fail," said a voice—deep, yet regal. The air thickened, rippled like a veil being lifted. A figure stepped forward: long black coat, silver pauldrons, horns curled like a crown. Leonidas.
Megumi didn't flinch.
"You let her die," he said.
Leonidas knelt beside him. "No. Lythic killed her. And he will kill many more. Unless you stop him."
"I couldn't even move," Megumi muttered.
"You weren't ready."
"I'll never be ready."
Leonidas extended his hand. "Then let me make you ready."
A pulse of energy hummed in the air. A small orb hovered in Leonidas' palm—white, gold, and black. It shimmered like a living heartbeat. "This power belongs to a king. But it comes with a cost."
Megumi stared at it, eyes hollow. "What cost?"
"Pain. Sacrifice. Isolation. The world will call you monster before it calls you savior."
He thought of Chloe—her blood on his hands, her voice in his ears. "Will it help me kill him?"
Leonidas nodded. "Yes."
Megumi reached out and touched the orb. It sank into his chest, light and shadow swirling into his core.
He screamed—not from pain, but from release. From everything inside finally bursting free. The rooftop blurred around him. A portal opened, pulling him into another world—one of fire and shadows and broken skies.
As the portal closed, rain stopped falling.
And the boy who once lived in a world of cherry blossoms and soft mornings was gone.
Only the vessel remained.
The Fallen King had begun to awaken