The sky over Nova City was torn.
A fracture ran from one horizon to the next, a glowing scar of pure energy—a final warning that the Ember Core's power was no longer bound to the earth. Buildings flickered between dimensions. Storms churned in the clouds above, lightning bolts streaking purple and gold across the heavens. And in the center of it all, on the shattered platform of the Vault's apex, stood Jalen Grey.
His pulse beat in time with the Core. Not just because it lived inside him—but because it was him now.
Behind him, Reyka's voice was trembling through the comms:
"Jalen, the Rift is opening fully. You've got minutes before it destabilizes everything. You need to end this—now."
But Jalen was frozen. Not in fear. In awareness.
All his life, he had feared losing control—of his powers, his emotions, his purpose. Now, he was being asked to become the very thing he'd tried to suppress. To use it. To become it. He could feel the Ember Core burning through his cells, his breath catching with every surge.
And still... the Rift widened.
Across the sky, through the glowing tear in reality, shadows moved—beings not of this world. Creatures with wings of metal and eyes of molten gold. Armored figures with cloaks of starlight. Whole civilizations gazing through the crack between dimensions.
And one of them stepped through.
A tall figure, its face covered by an obsidian mask, descended from the sky like a god. It landed with a pulse that sent waves through the ground. Energy rippled off its body like heat off a sun. It spoke with no mouth, but Jalen heard it clearly.
"You have ignited the Core. The lock is broken. The Eclipse is upon us."
Jalen stepped forward, the Ember fire glowing from beneath his skin. "I didn't ignite it. I contained it. I'm not giving it up."
The figure cocked its head. "You misunderstand. You don't hold the Core. The Core holds you."
A shockwave hit, blasting Jalen backward. He tumbled through debris, landing hard against the remnants of a collapsed beam. His vision flickered, pain screaming through his ribs—but he pushed to his feet. He wasn't going to run. Not anymore.
As the Rift split wider, lightning cascaded down, lashing through buildings. The city below screamed as reality buckled. Time fractured—one second stretched into eternity, and then snapped back like glass. All around him, ghosts of possible futures shimmered.
One showed Nova City turned to ash.
One showed Jalen on a throne of flame.
And another—flickered just long enough for him to see himself, older, standing in peace beneath a whole sky.
He clenched his fists. That future was possible. But only if he acted now.
Reyka's voice cracked through again.
"Jalen—we found something in the old Vault logs. There's a failsafe. If you channel the Core's full power into the Rift, you can collapse it from the inside. But—"
"But I won't survive," he finished quietly.
There was a pause.
"You were never meant to survive this. But you're not just Jalen anymore. You're the Eclipse."
Jalen turned to face the masked figure again. "You came to take the Core."
"Yes," it replied. "But you are too unstable. You must be erased."
"Then come try."
With a cry, Jalen launched forward, fire exploding from his hands. The air turned to glass as the Ember Core surged through him, every cell burning with purpose. He struck the figure with a blow that cratered the rooftop, sending molten shards spiraling into the air.
They clashed like titans—Jalen fueled by the Core, the being wielding anti-energy, shadows bent to its will. Blasts lit the sky. Every impact threatened to collapse the world around them.
And all the while, the Rift grew.
You have to make the choice, Jalen told himself. Not as a weapon. As a guardian.
He looked at the Rift, now a storm of timelines, futures, and ruin.
He turned to Reyka through the comms. "Tell them I'm sorry."
"No," she said, her voice breaking. "Tell them yourself."
Jalen smiled. "Maybe. One day."
Then he turned back to the Rift.
He raised both arms, Core-light streaming from his body like a second sun. The being lunged for him—but too late. Jalen let go. Not just of control—but of fear. Of limits. Of the human part of him that believed he couldn't handle this.
The Core answered.
A column of golden-white light erupted from him into the Rift. Time shattered around it. The creature screamed as it was disintegrated mid-charge, sucked back into the fracture it came from. All across the city, the chaos paused—energy reversing, reality healing.
And then the light went silent.
The Rift sealed with a final pulse that shook the world. A soundless boom swept through Nova City, scattering the clouds and washing the sky in pure daylight. And then—
Stillness.
No explosion. No collapse.
Just... stillness.
On the rooftop, there was only scorched stone. No sign of Jalen.
He was gone.
---
A Week Later
The city remembered him as a myth. A flare in the dark. The one who closed the sky.
Reyka kept his pendant in her pocket.
Ari visited the old rooftop every morning.
No one ever found a body.
But sometimes, when the wind was high and the sun hit the towers just right, a glow shimmered above the skyline. Like someone was watching.
Like he was still there.