After a moment, Akko approached the defeated boy and knelt beside him. His fingers brushed against Voltae's neck, feeling the faint, irregular pulse. Weak, yes, but alive. That was enough. Rolling his eyes, Akko muttered under his breath, a mix of exasperation and relief. Fooling Voltae hadn't been hard. The boy had just lost the man he called father. Emotions clouded judgment, and Akko had known that well.

With a sigh, he hoisted Voltae onto his shoulders. The boy was heavier than expected, but Akko adapted quickly, moving with the ease of someone used to carrying much worse burdens. Before leaving the wrecked mansion, Akko glanced back at the gaudy, golden building. Its brilliance, once a symbol of wealth and legacy, now felt oppressive. He raised both bokken and, with a controlled blast of energy, destroyed the mansion in an instant. "Good riddance," he muttered, tossing Voltae back onto his shoulders and walking away.

The streets of Yebbao stretched ahead -- sprawling, dazzling, and suffocating. The city, the second largest on Eaturn, was constantly bathed in snow and light. Skyscrapers of glass and steel pierced the sky, electronic billboards flashed messages and ads, and streets glowed under the weight of artificial luminescence. Despite its beauty, Akko hated the city's excess, how it boasted wealth and technology without thought. Wealthy residents zipped past in sleek flying cars, while poorer districts hovered in stagnation, lives lived in the shadow of progress. Akko's disdain was apparent, but his focus stayed on: delivering Voltae safely.

A few blocks later, he reached his vehicle—a small hover car painted in an ambiguous shade of muted green. Voltae's unconscious body was lifted into the trunk and secured inside a protective energy shield to prevent escape or harm. Sitting in the driver's seat, Akko pressed his hand to the console, and the car hummed to life. "Fuckin' hate when I have to do shit like this," he muttered, eyes narrowing. Yosei's death had added complications to a mission that should have been simple. Voltae would want answers, and Akko wasn't in the business of giving comfortable lies. Playing the "bad guy" was easier.

Voltae slowly regained consciousness. Pain stretched through his body like molten fire. His muscles burned, his joints cried out, and his mind throbbed with memories of blows and the overwhelming force of Akko's strength. The world around him was dim and strange — the air carried a faint scent of dust, oil, and old smoke. Every sound appeared muted and distorted by the vastness of the room in which he lay.

When he tried to sit up, weakness caused him to collapse back onto the floor. The space was enormous, much larger than the mansion he grew up in on Aokami Hill. High ceilings reached into shadowed rafters, cracked glass panels let in pale sunlight, and broken furniture was scattered among warped wood and rusted metal. The ruin of a home was hauntingly familiar — echoes of his dojo, the courtyard, and creaking walls — but distorted, darker, and scarred by battle.

The voice startled him. A figure stepped out of the shadows with precise grace. She had an athletic build, clearly hardened from battle. Her skin had an olive tone and a natural glow that made her presence feel warm and grounding. Her long, wavy hair reached her waist. It was dark green with streaks of pink and lavender that shimmered like flower petals in sunlight. Her eyes were a luminous golden hue, like sunlight reflected in dew. She wore flowing robes of pale green and ivory, embroidered with floral patterns that seemed to move as if alive.

Voltae couldn't describe it, but she seemed far more approachable than Akko was. "Who...?" Voltae's voice was weak, trembling.

"Seraphina," she said, her voice calm and relaxing. "Don't look so shocked. You've got that 'sun doesn't rise tomorrow' look about you."

He tried to rise, but his body betrayed him. "Where...? This place... where am I?"

"You're at my home. It's big and a bit run-down, but it works." Seraphina said, stepping closer. "You've been moved here. I've lived here for a while, hiding from the Consortium and anyone else who wants to use Stars like us as lab rats. Think of it as a sanctuary of sorts. Not the most comfortable, but safe enough for now."

"I..." Voltae faltered, trying to push past grief. Every strike he had taken, every moment of despair, felt heavier now that he was conscious. "He... he just left me here?"

Seraphina softened, giving him a kind smile. "Voltae, he saved you. You wouldn't have survived roaming Yebbao. The Consortium would have found you. They've been hunting Stars for decades, and if they'd gotten their hands on you right after the Blitz Gem awakened... well, it wouldn't have been a pretty picture."

"What do you mean?" His crimson eyes flashed with anger and confusion. "Akko almost killed me. Why? What's going on?"

Voltae's gaze sharpened. "The Consortium?" Despite his age, Yosei often spoke about them. "Yosei seemed to know something about them. When he spoke of them, his face was constantly wracked with guilt."

While he didn't entirely appreciate the comment about how he got his ass whooped, betrayal and grief collided in Voltae's chest. "Yosei... my master... my father... all this... was it a lie?"

"Not entirely," Seraphina said softly. "It was just... incomplete. Yosei trained you, prepared you, gave you everything he could. But some secrets... some truths... had to stay hidden, even from you, to keep you alive. And there were others, like Akko, outside of his control."

Seraphina laughed lightly. "Not anymore, Voltae. As for that other person..." She thought about him for a second and couldn't help but worry that his personality might have made things worse now. "Yeah, there is one more person. But I'm pretty sure he's off doing some dumb shit, probably thinking he's saving the world. Don't worry about him. You've got bigger things to deal with."

Voltae sank, trying to process it all. Every lesson, every punishment, every encouraging word -- was it manipulation, protection, or both? He didn't know.

Voltae looked at his nodachi, the Blitz Gem embedded in the hilt. It pulsed faintly, the faint green veins that had burned across his arm during the ritual now etched permanently in his palm like a tattoo. The power was alive, yet dormant, and still barely restrained. "I... I can't control it yet."

"Not surprising," Seraphina said, standing and stretching. "The first ritual for almost every Star nearly kills them. Most Stars experience the awakening of their Gem slowly—pain, light, awakening—you went straight through the gauntlet. That Gem is one of a kind. Very few Stars ever unlock their Gem like you did."

Voltae's crimson eyes widened. "Unique... like... what do you mean?"

Seraphina walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder again, steadying him. "You're a Star, Voltae. Stars aren't just warriors. They're anomalies, chosen by their Gems. Each Gem pGems its bearer based on... potential, maybe fate, maybe something we don't understand yet. That's why the Blitz Gem responded to you. You didn't just wield it -- you unlocked it. That's why Akko showed up the way he did. You would have been cooked if he didn't get there when he did."

The boy sank onto the ground, chest heaving. "I don't... I'm not sure if I can even forgive Yosei. He trained me, raised me, and then... all this. He chose me, and yet... I feel like I was set up to fail."

"You're angry. That's good," Seraphina said firmly. "Let it fuel you. Betrayal, grief, all of it – that's what makes a Star. But don't waste it in self-pity. You survived your skirmish with Akko. You survived the awakening. You're alive because of skill, determination, and luck. Now, you train. You learn. You prepare. You become more than what Yosei or the Consortium ever imagined."

Voltae clenched his fists, feeling the weight of destiny pressing down on him. "Fine. I'll do it," he whispered, crimson eyes burning with renewed determination. "I'll train. I'll fight. I'll make sure the Consortium… doesn't touch me. Or anyone else."

Seraphina's lips curved faintly, a glimmer of respect in her eyes. "Good. We start with training your Gem. That's priority one. Once you can control it, we plan. Orion'll show up eventually, but for now… you're here, and you're alive. That's what matters."

Voltae's gaze fell to the nodachi. The green veins of the Blitz Gem pulsed faintly, a heartbeat in the darkness. The anger, the grief, the betrayal — they coalesced into a single, burning purpose. He was alive. He was a Star. And the Consortium would learn, soon enough, that he would not be broken.