As she dreamed, Amy plunged into the abyss. Though she would rather search for Kristo, she focused on finding the only person left.

She found Milo waiting in the darkness and noted that four orbs were vanishing away. Her gaze rested on them as they faded into oblivion. Only the blue one remained.

"If you want to understand the world your mother recently ruled, you must first see the one I destroyed. Watch, Amy. This is where devotion, power, and fear began to unravel."

She swam forward and took his hand. “Where are we going?”

“To a memory even Aurora doesn’t know about yet. Back before she knew I existed.” He pressed her palm against the orb. It felt smooth and solid before she fell in.

And to her horror, she fell alone. Her eyes locked with Milo’s one last time as he remained standing on the other side, his face growing larger as if she were shrinking. “Milo!” she screamed.

She landed hard into more darkness. She couldn’t see him anymore, just a dark, rocky ceiling. It took her eyes a moment to adjust. The air was cool, crisp, and damp. She heard an eerie voice whisper that this was two and a half decades ago. She shuddered, trying to speak and walk. But she just floated alongside a man. She gaped as she realized it was her younger, oblivious father.

This is a memory.

Dark magic coursed through young Milo. Were they…in a cave? No…they were underground.

Her eyes widened as she unwillingly merged with Milo’s body. In Milo’s head, they heard Cerceras’ whispers, but they didn’t scare him. Amy felt her own thoughts quiet as she experienced all through Milo’s lens. She wasn’t a witness anymore. She was him. Her heartbeat vanished under his, her scream swallowed in his throat.

It felt strange and uncomfortable.

They heard Samantha call his name, desperate and trembling. A month ago, she had piqued his interest with a single proposal: to seek Cerceras’ magic. To the world she was endless beauty incarnate; to him, beauty dissolved under devotion.

And now that they were here, he had stolen some of the dark god’s power, only for her to collapse the bars to his prison.

Her reason as to why? Not even Cerceras knows.

And now a god was barreling toward Aurora’s kingdom.

“I did it for you,” she whispered, eyes shining. “To prove I belong at your side. Only with Ysalva’s magic can you defeat him. I made myself necessary. Don’t you see? You need me now.”

Milo stopped dead in his tracks. “So…you released an evil god…because of me?”

This was getting more disturbing by the second. It was true that he couldn’t defeat Cerceras on his own. But despite Samantha’s pleas, he didn’t turn. His gaze was already fixed beyond her.

No, she was not coming.

A kingdom was in danger.

Never mind that.

Aurora was in danger.

Dark clouds engulfed him, swallowing even his shadow—and when they cleared, he was gone.

————

Milo materialized, a high level teleportation skill, at the foot of the Blade Kingdom’s palace. He was a shadow along the stone walls as he ran swiftly, slipping past the guards’ gaze. Moonlight washed his path.

Cerceras could transform into anything — even smoke. His energy crawled under the stones of the kingdom. Milo’s breath slowed, eyes narrowing as he tracked its direction. The monster was already inside the palace walls. Hunting for power. And power radiated mostly from…

The king.

Milo’s borrowed shadows blasted a hole through the stone and he stepped through. Chaos erupted as Cerceras barreled for the throne room. Soldiers and guards within his perimeter slumped into sleep. Milo lifted his arm, and black clouds obeyed, exploding another thick wall.

From the rubble he stepped lazily into the open — and dodged a punch where his face had been. The older man was tall, half-masked, eyes sharp as steel. His reflexes were fast. But Milo’s was slightly faster. Power radiated from the man.

Recognition struck Milo as he noticed the man he read in history books.

Christopher, the Vivid warrior. Protector of the Blade Kingdom crown. Hero of the Inferno War.

And from his own personal research: the one who saved Aurora during the war. Aurora’s father. A legend made flesh, standing in his path. Glaring at him with the intent to kill.

Milo tilted his head, amused. Christopher was charging his energy to attack properly. “You’re looking at the wrong shadow,” he said, dark clouds swirling around his feet. “I’m not the one you want.”

Christopher’s jaw tightened, rage simmering.

Milo grinned wider, boyish and unbothered. “The god already slipped past you,” he pointed lazily. “He’s heading for your king.”

Christopher’s eyes widened as he let out a curse. Then, he turned and ran.

“Who are you?” Christopher snarled.

“The only partner you’ll get tonight,” Milo snapped back.

And confirming Milo’s words, they passed bodies strewn in the corridors, but not lifeless. Not yet.

Soldiers’ eyes rolled under closed lids, lips muttered fragments of words. Guards clutched at invisible wounds. Even Christopher’s hand flew to his head, resisting Cerceras’ whispers.

Milo slapped a hand onto his shoulder, refocusing the older man. “Do try to keep up.”

The air thickened, heavy with whispers that didn’t belong to humans. Cerceras’ presence soaked the halls like a dream turned rancid.

By the time they reached the throne room, the nightmare had already finished its work. The king sat slumped on his throne, eyes glassy and crown tilted.

Christopher almost fell to his knees, a “no” escaping his lips.

“I suggest you get up,” Milo muttered, eyes alert.

Cerceras solidified into a monster, frustrated his possession didn't work. He threw shadows which they dodged, Christopher’s water crashing back toward Cerceras. Cerceras flung Milo and Christopher aside. Cerceras’ presence pressed against them, a thousand whispers worming into their ears, each one promising comfort, power, surrender. They stumbled. For a time, they were losing.

Amy felt it too. The whispers slithered under her skin, promising they wouldn’t leave her until her death. Her stomach turned tighter as she felt Milo enjoy the resistance, his grin stretching wider the harder the monster pressed.

How? Why? Why does Cerceras have to be inside me?

While she wanted to claw her way out of his body, her father hungered for the storm.

Christopher moved with unyielding precision, every strike steady and patient. He was an experienced fighter, his calm composure and calculated movements making his past battle experience evident despite their losing position. He refused to lose his composure, and Amy felt Milo’s mild respect for him. Her chest ached with something sharp and nameless. This was her grandfather—the one who had somehow freed Aurora from the dark god — and he would never know her.

Then, with a shared look and a nod, Milo and Christopher rushed forward, arcs of ice and dark magic flinging the dark god back.

Eventually, Cerceras hissed, clutching an eye. He tried to turn back into smoke, but Milo extended a hand, pulling Cerceras’s clouds into himself. The shadows sank into his veins, darkening his blood.

Amy flinched. Something lodged inside them—a shard of Cerceras. It gnawed into his brain, and she wanted to claw her way out of Milo’s skin and scream.

Stop absorbing him, he’s eating us alive!

But Milo grinned. He savored the burn as if it were fire he had been thirsting for. Where Amy felt infection, he felt exhilaration. Where she begged for silence, he dared the whispers to sing louder.

To him, this was all very amusing.

Cerceras snarled, his one eye full of fury.

He can’t transform into smoke anymore!

The monster dashed away.

Milo raised his hand, forcing the black clouds into a dome. They stepped out of the palace and saw the entire capital city becoming engulfed, the dome spreading quickly.

Christopher looked up at the dome that was spreading fast. “That’s…” Christopher panted.

“A cage,” Milo rasped, panting from the exertion. “It won’t hold him long. And we need to escape before the dome traps us too. He’s not defeated, only delayed. The final battle will come soon. Right now he’s confused and recuperating. By the time he comes out for revenge, he’ll be trapped. Well, hopefully.”

They ran out of the dome’s closing exit. When they stepped out of the dome, Milo turned, grin fading.

Christopher raised an eyebrow.

“You’ll have to sever it,” Milo said.

Christopher’s jaw clenched, glaring at Milo, eyebrow still raised.

Milo’s voice quieted as he clarified: “Your bond with your daughter. Aurora. He saw her in your thoughts. And now he’s obsessed. That bond is a thread. Keep it, and he will find her. If you want her to live—” he straightened, dark clouds swirling at his feet. “— you must teach her to live without you.”

Christopher froze. His hand hovered at his side before turning to fists. For the first time, his composure cracked. “How do you know…” He shook his head, face falling as he processed what Milo said. “You expect me to abandon her?” “No. If he wants to get to her, he’ll have to get through me.”

Amy’s heart plummeted. Christopher’s defiance hurt her more than his grief, because she already knew what came next. Milo would win. Because he always did.

She wanted to scream don’t listen to him, don’t leave her. She needs you. But though the scream tore her throat raw inside Milo’s body, his teeth never parted. Her voice was trapped within. Her silence echoed against Christopher’s grief.

Milo only shook his head. “Noble words, but foolish considering that decision would mark her for death. And going through you?” He laughed. “Would be easy.

Milo’s smile faded. “I revere her too much to have her snuffed out before she can flourish. So hide her among the nameless. Let her believe she was never yours. That is the only way he won’t see her. Abandon her, and she’ll be beyond his reach.”

Dark clouds coiled around him, pulling him back into shadow. He was doing what he did best. Again.

“Wait—” Christopher staggered forward, rage breaking into desperation.

Wait, Amy echoed.

Milo’s voice lingered, already fading. “The bond goes both ways. Sever it… or, when this cage shatters, she dies.”