70. BetweenWorlds #2
Jett places the comm behind his ear and gives us a smirk. The air between the three of us is intense, history and tension all knotted into one giant ball of silence. Kael and Jett were childhood friends, like brothers once, just like he and Ash, but something has changed. They’re different.
A SoulReaver, a CoreCaster, and I’m the only person who makes either of their powers mean something.
I make the decision to speak to Kael one last time, just in case this all collapses. “Kael, can I talk to you for a minute? Just five minutes.”
“Of course, Taiyō.” He cuts me off with zero hesitation.
Jett turns to walk toward the cybernetics lab.
Over his shoulder, he gives us a long look.
“The coordinates are all set. I’ll need Lyra to be in DreamNet so I can find her when we begin.
I’ll wait in here with the robots. Try not to blow up your lab.
” He’s not funny, just arrogant, a man who knows he’s indispensable.
Kael turns and taps the comm, muting it as the doors to the cybernetics lab seal behind him. “Everything okay?” He touches the glass of the screens, exhaustion written across his face in heavy lines.
I pull the thread to the holo-program and appear in front of him, the sound of my bare feet against the floor breaking the quiet drone of the computer core. “You don’t have to pretend with me,” I say softly.
He reaches for me, his palm hovering just above my cheek. “Pretend about what?”
“That you’re fine,” I whisper. “That all of this isn’t costing you anything.”
For a moment, I think he’ll stay silent, that same mask he wears around everyone else locking into place. His shoulders lower a fraction, a telltale sign I’ve learned from him that means he’s letting me in.
“I’ve seen the files.” My voice is quiet.
He nods once and looks away over his shoulder.
“Ember didn’t mean to leave them open. So please don’t be angry with her, but I saw everything.
” I manage a half-smile, my heart feeling heavy at just how wrong I was about him.
“You’ve been sending anomalies to Jett. You’re not executing them like Vikktor ordered.
You’ve been relocating them,” I elaborate.
He exhales through his nose, slow and measured. “And here I thought you’d hate me for that, too.”
“Hate you?” I touch the back of his hand where it rests on my cheek. “Kael, I could never hate you for saving people.”
He finally looks at me, his eyes tense and dark, staring into mine.
“It’s hard. Every name I send to Jett is a risk.
Every time I move one, I have to make it look like an erasure, a deletion.
To Vikktor, I’m still the loyal engineer cleaning up anomalies.
To Jett, I’m the tool feeding him souls. Either side could turn on me.”
I squeeze his hand tighter. “I’m sorry.”
He laughs quietly, but he sounds broken. “I can’t save them all. Some are far too dangerous; they don’t want anything but destruction.” He steps away and runs his hands through his hair. They rest behind his head.
“Those, I have to let the CIC have and hope for the best. It’s taking a toll to continue to be the monster to decide someone else’s fate.”
The glow beneath his skin pulses faintly, his magic responding to his confession. I feel it so intensely, flowing between us, thrumming like a unified heartbeat.
I whisper softly, “You’re not a monster, Kael. I think you just might be the only one left in this city who remembers what being human really means. Empathy is honorable.”
He looks away again, out into the blackness of the darkened city. “You shouldn’t believe in me, Little Taiyō. I’ve done too many awful things in the name of this corporation.”
“You are who you are, Kael Ryudon, who Master Kenji taught you to be.” I step closer until our foreheads touch. “You’re not what Vikktor wants you to be.”
The silence weighs on both of us, heavy but very intimate. A flicker of his magic flares in those opaque eyes, painting my face in orange light.
Kael’s voice drops, almost reverent. “You almost make me want to believe that.”
I hope he does.
“I told Eli I would see him soon. That we’ll be back, together, to get him.” I change the subject to give Kael a break from all the emotion, but he looks startled and uneasy.
“Kael?” I question. “What? What is it? Eli is okay, isn’t he?” I take a step back.
He sighs, heavily. “I visited him just a little while ago.” Another confession from the man with the mask.
“You did?” I’m a bit surprised; he and Eli don’t exactly get along, but he tolerates him...for me.
“He’s...” Kael hesitates. I don’t like it. This is the man who’s always so sure, logical, and in control of every precise word that comes out of his mouth. “He’s fine. I asked him to anchor LINK from inside. It’s all good, nothing to worry about.”
For a moment, neither of us moves. My holo-form wavers, my emotion driving my magic to surge. He’s keeping something from me. I resist the urge to push. “Kael...” My voice comes out full of doubt. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing is wrong...nothing will go wrong.” He kisses me gently, both hands on each side of my face. “It won’t.”
Is he convincing himself or me?
I smile sadly. “You always say that.” The realization slams into my chest, that he actually believes it. Because if he lets himself doubt any of this, even for a second, the whole thing unravels. And so do I.
My hand lifts, fingers splayed, and he matches it with his hand. The energy of our magic flares bright and warm.
The lights on his DataLINK flicker red. He touches the comm to re-engage. “I’m here.” He walks away and approaches the console. With a swipe of the hand, Ash appears in the most beautiful setting I have ever seen in my life.
He fills the frame, grinning like he’s the light in the middle of the blackout. Behind him, the dark city glows in patches of warm gold, lanterns rising one by one, like souls breaking free from the earth’s gravity.
“Tell me you’re seeing this,” he says, voice fuzzy through the comm feed. “Lanterns. Real fire, real paper. I thought the people of the city forgot what real looks like.”
I step closer to the screens, my holographic light bleeding into the monitors, softening it. “It’s beautiful.”
I’m awestruck. The first beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time that isn’t digital, isn’t coded. Just plain human.
Ash spins his DataLINK camera toward the crowd.
Dozens of people hold glowing lanterns. Shaped like cylinders, words painted in black across them, wishes being sent into the stars for health, prosperity, and love.
Somewhere in the background, a soft, acoustic riff begins; his band, NeonGods, plays unplugged and breathtakingly haunting.
Ash turns the camera back to his face, his expression a mixture of appreciation and mischief. “Kael, my brother, this was spectacular. Good call.”
I turn to Kael. He’s staring at the screen, lost in his own mind. “You did this?” I ask him excitedly.
He nods and lets a smile escape. “Chochin—bucket lights. My mom used to take us to the Kyoto lantern festival each year to send them off. It’s supposed to guide the souls.
” He continues to admire their beauty, “The lanterns’ light guides the spirits of the deceased back to the spirit world or to the afterlife.
Figured it couldn’t hurt. Lead your soul back to life... and back to me.” His eyes dart to mine.
“I told them I’d handle the sound tonight. I’ve got us covered here. I’m using my magic to keep everyone chill while you guys pull off your whole ‘defy the laws of reality’ routine,” Ash interrupts proudly.
Kael’s voice cuts in from the shadows behind me. “By ‘chill,’ you mean sedated?” He chuckles to himself.
Ash shrugs. “Semantics, Brother. Let me do my thing, okay?” His grin widens. “If anyone notices you trying to play god in there, they’ll just think it’s part of the show.”
I laugh joyfully, and by the look that flickers across Kael’s face, it tells me he hasn’t heard it in a long time.
Ash’s expression softens. His stare locks on me through the feed. “You’ll make it out, Lyra. I can feel it.” A blue pulse accompanies his handsome grin.
“You can feel everything,” I tease. “That’s your magic.”
He winks. “Maybe. But this time it’s more than that. You’re an EchoWeaver. You’ve got this. You’re meant to survive.”
My smile widens, even as a faint ache tugs in my chest. “You really believe that?”
“I do,” he reassures me. “And when you’re out, I’ll play you a real song. No tech. Just me, a guitar, and whatever’s left of this world worth singing to.”
The music behind him swells as another wave of lanterns lift into the dark, their light reflected in his eyes.
For a moment, even the lab feels softer, less sterile, like maybe the world outside isn’t ending, but beginning again. My eyes fill as I look over at Kael.
Maybe the stars decided we were fated. Maybe StarFell was meant to happen, but I know that nothing in my life has ever felt this right.
This is where I’m supposed to be. Here and in Kael’s arms.
I know this...