The storm had passed, but the battlefield was an alien wasteland. Crystals of pure Aether jutted from the ground like jagged teeth, twisting the landscape into something out of a nightmare. The rain still fell, but it wasn't normal rain—it was Animara, droplets of raw energy cascading down, touching everything. Each drop carried the potential to reshape reality, to heal, or destroy, but always to change.
I stood there, my heart heavier than ever, feeling the weight of the destruction I had unleashed. Nico was gone, taken by Alesta and Gritta into the Void, and with him went a piece of me. The world around us had warped, and it wasn't just the battlefield that had been reshaped—it was all of us.
Lilith, Vallen, Amara, and Rose had been touched by the rain, and the consequences were already showing.
Lilith collapsed first. Her hands clutched her head, her face contorted in agony. It wasn't just her body the Animara was affecting—it was her mind. I saw the way her eyes flickered with that strange, chaotic light, the way her breathing became ragged, erratic.
"Lucian," Kien's voice was steady beside me, though I could feel his urgency, "the Animara isn't just transforming her body—it's forcing an Awakening. Her mind wasn't ready."
"What do I do?" My voice cracked with panic. This was my fault. Again.
"Nothing you can do. This isn't something you can fix," Kien answered, his tone dark. "Tiamat's Cry—this version—wasn't under your control. It's far more potent than anything the Empress ever wielded. The backlash is inevitable."
Before I could respond, Lilith screamed—a piercing cry that echoed through the battlefield. I rushed to her side, but the moment I touched her, a wave of psychic energy exploded from her body, throwing me back. I hit the ground hard, gasping as raw power crackled in the air.
Her Awakening had triggered, and it was out of control.
Her psychic power reached out, blanketing everything within a 20-mile radius. I could feel the immense pressure, as if the very weight of her mind was pressing down on me. And I wasn't the only one. I heard screams—distant at first, then closer. The people in the area were collapsing, trapped in an unnatural sleep. But this sleep wasn't peaceful. It was filled with nightmares, and those nightmares were coming to life.
Phantasmal creatures crawled from the shadows, born from the darkest corners of the human mind. For twelve hours, everyone within range of Lilith's power would face their worst fears, not just in their dreams, but in reality.
"This... this isn't what I wanted..." The words tumbled out of me, my guilt consuming me. I caused this. I unleashed Tiamat's Cry. And now, Lilith's Awakening was destroying everything around us. Her mind was shattering, and I had no way to stop it.
I forced myself up just as Vallen dropped to one knee. His chest heaved, his eyes wide with panic as if he couldn't breathe. I rushed over, but as I got closer, I felt it—the heat radiating off his body. His lungs were burning, his body absorbing more Animara than it could handle.
"Vallen, hang on!" I called out, but even as I said the words, I knew it was too late. His skin was glowing—faintly at first, then brighter, like he was about to explode.
"His body… it's burning up from the inside." Rose's voice was grim as she rushed to his side. She reached for him, but pulled back instantly, wincing. "Lucian, we need to get him out of here. He's going to blow."
I nodded, my heart pounding. "Rose, take him! Get as far as you can!"
Without hesitation, she summoned one of her most powerful spirits—a Fire Dragon, its massive form coiling around Vallen. It took off into the sky, racing toward the outskirts of the city. But I knew—we all knew—they wouldn't make it far enough.
Moments later, the horizon lit up with a blinding flash of light, and my stomach dropped. Vallen's body had exploded, the force of his Awakening unleashing nuclear fire that obliterated everything in its path. The medical plantation, the most crucial source of medicine on the continent—gone, reduced to ash. The fertile soil was scorched, the rivers evaporated, and a thick cloud of radiation hung in the air.
The continent had lost its most precious resource. And it was my fault.
Amara had been rendered unconscious the moment the rain touched her. Her body couldn't handle the Animara. But Rose... Rose had been affected differently. She stood at the edge of the battlefield, her body glowing faintly. She looked younger, as if time had reversed, her strength and vitality renewed.
The rain had rejuvenated her. But even her newfound strength couldn't stop the chaos.
I looked around, feeling the world spiral out of control. Villages were flooding, cities submerged under the torrents of Animara-soaked rain. People weren't just battling the storm—they were fighting their own nightmares. The monsters that plagued us had become even more powerful, their strength augmented by the rain.
And I... I was the one who caused it all.
"This is my fault," I muttered, the weight of my actions crashing down on me.
Kien hovered beside me, his calm demeanor replaced with a grim seriousness. "Lucian, the world is changing. Your power has reshaped it. But you need to understand something."
I turned to him, my voice hollow. "What?"
"The people," Kien hesitated, "they think this is the work of Tiamat."
"Tiamat?" I repeated, confused.
"They believe you've awoken her. They think this devastation is her return. They don't know it's you, Lucian. They believe Tiamat is going to flood the world and build an army."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. They didn't know it was me. They thought this was the work of some ancient god. But it wasn't Tiamat. It was me. And I couldn't take it back.
"All the gods are shams." The words spilled out before I even realized I was speaking. "Why give me power I can't control? Why give me a 'gift' that does this?"
Lilith stirred beside me, barely conscious. "Lucian… don't do this," she whispered, her voice weak.
But I couldn't stop. The truth was too clear, too painful. "The gods don't care. They never did. I don't need them. I don't need anyone. I'll stand on my own."
Rose's syndicate had taken us to their stronghold in New Genesis City. The city was alive with activity, but I felt dead inside. Nico was gone. Lilith was unconscious, Vallen was lost to his own power, and everything I had touched had been destroyed. The city's life felt distant, the noise a constant reminder that the world moved on, even if I couldn't.
Lilith and Vallen were being watched over by the syndicate's healers, but even they were struggling to stabilize them. The Animara had changed them irrevocably. Lilith's mind was still flaring with uncontrollable psychic energy, and Vallen's body barely held together under the strain of his own Awakening.
Rose pulled me aside to a quiet room in the base. I sat there, staring at nothing, my mind a storm of guilt and confusion.
"We need to talk," she said, her voice calm but firm. I didn't answer, didn't move. But she wasn't leaving. She sat across from me, her eyes studying me closely. "You've been holding it in too long, Lucian. You can't do this alone."
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. "I didn't want any of this," I muttered, the words bitter in my mouth. "I didn't know..."
"You couldn't have known," she said softly. "But that doesn't mean you can carry it all by yourself. You're breaking, and if you don't stop, you'll shatter."
Her words pierced through the wall I had built. I wanted to deny it, to tell her I was fine, but the truth was, I was breaking. Everything was spiraling out of control, and I didn't know how to stop it.
"I'm fine," I lied.
Rose didn't flinch. "No, you're not. And if you keep this up, you're going to destroy yourself."
The anger bubbled up inside me. "You don't get it!" I snapped. "Everything is falling apart. My power... Nico... Lilith and Vallen... I don't know what to do!" My voice cracked, the weight of everything threatening to crush me. I dug my nails into my arms, hard enough to draw blood, but the pain wasn't enough to stop the storm inside me.
"Stop." Rose grabbed my wrists, her grip firm. "You can't keep doing this to yourself."
I met her eyes, my vision blurring as I felt the tears well up. "I've ruined everything," I whispered. "Everything I touch falls apart."
"Lucian..." Her voice was soft, but there was a strength in it that cut through the chaos. "You didn't cause this. You didn't destroy them. The Void is using Nico, and your power... it's not your enemy. But you're killing yourself trying to carry all of this."
I bit my tongue, the pain sharp and grounding. But I couldn't stop the tears anymore. They came, slow at first, then all at once. I let it out—everything. The guilt, the fear, the anger. Rose didn't say anything. She just stayed with me, her grip never loosening.
When the storm inside me finally quieted, I was left hollow and exhausted. Rose's grip never faltered. She let me breathe, let me finally break. And when the tears stopped, she spoke again.
"You need help, Lucian. You need a team."
I shook my head. "I can't... not after this."
"You don't have to do it alone." Her voice was calm, but her words struck hard. "Join us. The Wave Riders need you."
I hesitated. Could I trust her? Could I trust myself?
"I need to train," I said. "I need to understand my power. I won't join a strike team. I need to fly solo."
Rose studied me for a moment before nodding. "It'll be difficult, but we can make it happen."
I nodded, though a part of me still felt uncertain. "Alright. I'll join."
"Welcome to the Wave Riders," she said with a small smile.
But deep down, I knew this was just the beginning. Nico was still out there, lost to the Void. Lilith and Vallen were out of commission. And the world was changing in ways none of us were prepared for. I wasn't ready.
But I didn't have a choice.