The door closed behind Kane with a soft click, but the weight of his presence lingered. The air felt thick, oppressive, as though it carried the echoes of everything Kane had left unsaid. Kaius tried to shake off the feeling, but it clung to him, like an invisible hand tightening around his throat.
He glanced at his father, whose back was still turned toward him, facing the door as if expecting it to burst open again. Gareth's body was tense, his shoulders rigid. Kaius noticed the small tremor in his father's hand, the way his fingers flexed subtly, as if preparing for something else to go wrong.
Sura sat quietly on the couch, testing the new prosthetic leg that Kane's doctor had fitted her with. The soft click of the metallic limb against the floor seemed out of place in the suffocating stillness that filled the room. Her fingers trailed over the smooth, cold surface, and as she stood, her movements were slow, deliberate.
"You've got some time," she finally said, her voice low and even.
"But don't think you're safe. They'll be watching."
Kaius felt the warning hit him like a cold breeze. A shiver ran down his spine, and for the first time, the enormity of what they were involved in truly sank in. They were being watched.
His heart pounded in his chest, the sound loud in his ears, as he turned toward his father.
"Dad…" His voice cracked slightly, but Gareth remained frozen, eyes still fixed on the door.
Sura moved toward the exit, her new leg making a soft, metallic clink with every step. It wasn't smooth yet, but there was a determination in the way she walked. With each step, she seemed to reclaim a piece of herself, a bit of the strength she had lost.
"Take the money," she said softly, her eyes flicking to Kaius for a brief moment before resting on Gareth.
"Forget all of this. Go back to whatever life you had before."
Kaius's breath caught in his throat. Go back? He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. There was no going back, not after what had happened. Not after what they had seen and felt. But before he could say anything, Sura was at the shattered door.
Her hand rested on the doorknob for a moment, her head turned slightly as if she wanted to say something else, but then she left the apartment and closed the fragmented door and stepped out. The soft click of the door closing behind her echoed through the room, leaving an unsettling silence in its wake.
Gareth exhaled sharply, finally turning away from the door. His face was pale, his eyes wide with a fear that Kaius had rarely seen. But it was more than fear—it was something deeper, something that gnawed at the edges of his father's usually steady demeanor.
"This…" Gareth began, but his voice faltered. He swallowed hard, his throat was dry and shallow.
"This isn't something we can just walk away from, is it?"
Kaius shook his head slowly. The pressure in his chest hadn't lifted, and his body still felt tense, like he was waiting for something else to happen, for another shoe to drop. He could still feel the faint pull of the red string, the connection to something far beyond their control.
"No," Kaius said, his voice barely a whisper. "We can't go back."
Gareth's lips pressed into a thin line, and for the first time in Kaius's life, he saw something in his father that unnerved him—helplessness. The man who had always been a rock, unshaken by the world's chaos, now stood before him like a man lost at sea.
"We should take the money, Kaius," Gareth said finally, his voice rough.
"Take the money, and don't get tangled up with them. I'll help you with your research, rebuild what we've lost, rebuild us." His voice cracked at the end, and Kaius's chest tightened.
For a moment, the room felt too small, the air too thick, and Kaius could barely breathe. His father's words hung heavy between them, but there was something in his father's tone—something deeper.
"I care about you, Kaius," Gareth continued, his voice trembling.
"I don't want you to end up on their radar. I don't want you to make the mistakes I made."
Gareth's hands clenched into fists at his sides, his knuckles white. "I've been there before, fighting against the Sky District. I've tried it, and it destroyed me. Do you understand?"
Kaius blinked, his mind racing to catch up. "What do you mean?"
Gareth took a deep breath, his gaze shifting toward the window, where the faint glow of the city lights barely penetrated the darkness of their small home. "I wasn't always down here," he said softly, his voice carrying the weight of long-buried memories. "I was once part of the Sky District. Noble by birth."
Kaius's heart skipped a beat. "Wh- What are you talking about?"
Gareth turned back toward him, the corner of his mouth twitching into a bitter smile.
"My family was respected. We weren't the wealthiest, but we had status. My mother… she was brilliant. My father… he was an addict, but she tried to keep the family together."
The words hit Kaius like a punch to the gut. He had never known this. His father had never mentioned anything about the Sky District or their family's past. It felt like a whole new world had opened up in front of him, one that had been hidden away for years.
"They called me a peasant with a slut mother and an addict father," Gareth said, his voice growing harder, more bitter. "They kicked me out on my 18th birthday. Threw me into the streets without a second thought."
Kaius swallowed hard, his throat dry. "I had no idea…"
"I never wanted you to know," Gareth said, his voice softening slightly.
"But you have to understand, Kaius—I've fought them before. Your mother and I, we tried to stand against them, but we failed. They chewed us up and spit us out. And I don't want that for you."
The pain in his father's voice was raw, cutting through the air like a blade. Kaius could feel the weight of those words settling on his shoulders, the responsibility, the fear.
Gareth took a step closer, his eyes locking onto Kaius's.
"Please, let's just take the money. I'll help you with your research. We'll make a life for ourselves. But we don't need to fight them. We don't need to risk everything."
Kaius's hands trembled at his sides. He could feel his heart racing, his thoughts swirling in a storm of confusion and doubt. But deep down, he knew—he knew that there was no going back. Not for him.
"I'm not you, Dad," Kaius said quietly, though his voice held a firmness he didn't know he possessed. "I'm not going to fail."
Gareth's face twisted with emotion, and for a moment, Kaius thought his father might argue. But instead, Gareth just nodded slowly, the fight draining out of him. He looked tired, so.. so tired.
"We'll talk more in the morning," Gareth said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Just… promise me you'll think about it."
Kaius nodded, though his mind was already made up. The red string still lingered in the back of his mind, pulling him toward something bigger—something that he couldn't ignore.
As Gareth turned and walked toward his room, the sound of his footsteps echoed through the stillness. Kaius watched him go, his heart aching with a mixture of love, frustration, and something else—something unnameable.
There was no going back. Not for him. Not anymore.