---
It was like falling into a dream where nothing made sense—then waking up and realizing the nightmare was real.
Aiko opened her eyes first.
Darkness surrounded her, not the usual absence of light, but something heavier. Breathing felt harder here, like the air was thick with secrets and whispers. She wasn't restrained, but she couldn't move far—some invisible force held her within a certain boundary.
Then she heard it: breathing. Not hers.
"Ren?" she called out, voice shaking.
"I'm here," came Ren's voice from the other side of the gloom. He sounded calm, but Aiko could feel the tension in his aura. "Don't move too much. This place reacts when we do."
A soft blue flame flickered to life, illuminating Himari seated silently in a meditative position, her hair swaying gently as if underwater. Haru sat near her, gripping his shoulder where something had burned through his skin. The black mark still pulsed slightly.
"This place…" Himari murmured. "It's not just another realm. It's alive."
"Alive?" Aiko asked, eyes narrowing.
"Sentient," Himari said. "A sealed place, older than even mythics like us remember. I think this was meant to trap things—things that should never be freed."
A deep, mechanical hum rolled through the void-like prison. The ground beneath them shuddered, and shapes began to form in the dark—like watchers. Eyes. Dozens of them, blinking in and out of view.
A figure approached.
Not cloaked in shadow, but draped in flowing silver robes that shimmered unnaturally. His face was half-covered by a smooth mask that shifted shape every few seconds.
"Welcome, broken ones," the figure said. "You are guests of the Forgotten Gate."
"What do you want?" Haru barked, flaring his aura.
The figure tilted his head. "Not me. It. It chose you… because you are the key to what's coming."
Ren stepped forward, shielding Aiko slightly. "Where is Yuki?"
The figure smiled—his mask twisted into a fox's grin. "Where he must be. Where time breaks, so he may become the fracture."
And then he vanished.
A heavy silence followed. The prison pulsed again—echoes of something stirring far beneath them.
Something was waking up.
---
"If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to leave a power stone or a comment—it really helps this grow!"