The storm worsened without warning.

Mana lightning crawled across the sky in jagged veins, the air vibrating like a struck chord. Celeste felt it first — a deep, crawling ache at the base of her skull where her suppression rune sat.

Mezzo swore loudly.

His talons flickered — solid one second, translucent the next — snapping in and out of existence like faulty holograms.

“Stars—!” he hissed, flexing his claws. “I hate this. I really hate this.”

The Gwennan, their battered van, rattled violently as the storm battered against it. The engine whined in protest, fighting the surge like a stubborn animal refusing to lie down.

Hughes gripped the frame, steady as stone.
“Hold her straight,” he called calmly. “She’ll ride it out.”

Celeste pressed closer to the window, ears flattening.

Outside, the zombies were changing.

They glowed.

Not all at once — but gradually — candy flesh pulsing faintly with sickly light, veins of color crawling beneath sugar-cracked skin.

“They’re… glowing,” Celeste whispered. “That’s not normal. Is it?”

Arcade leaned over her shoulder, goggles flashing as he scanned the readings.
“…Okay. That’s new.”
He frowned. “That’s weird.”

Celeste swallowed.
“I’ve never seen a mana storm before.”

Arcade snorted softly.
“Yeah, nobody had — until about fifteen years ago.”

He tapped a console, pulling up erratic graphs.
“Storms started showing up after all the summon sites went live. Mana wells woke up. Or maybe they were forced awake.”
He shrugged.
“Everyone argues about it. No one actually knows.”

The van lurched again.

“All I know,” Arcade added dryly, “is they’re a colossal pain in the ass.”

Celeste glanced at Mezzo’s flickering talons, at the Arcbracers stuttering under the strain.
“What… what do they do?”

Arcade’s tone sobered.
“They flood the air with mana particles. Oversaturate everything.”
He looked at her carefully.
“Cores don’t handle that well.”

A beat.

“Back before suppression runes,” he continued, quieter now, “hybrids didn’t just lose control.”

Mezzo stopped flexing his claws.

“They went feral,” Arcade finished. “Completely. Burned themselves out. Or tore cities apart.”

Silence filled the van, broken only by the storm hammering against the metal.

Celeste’s paw drifted instinctively to the back of her neck.

The van bucked hard as another wave of mana washed over it.

Celeste braced herself against the dash.
“Arcade—check their Arcbracers. Please. Check again.”

Arcade didn’t even look up, fingers flying over the console.
“I have. Eleven times. Twelve if you count the one I did out of spite.”
He scowled at the screen. “Something’s distorting the signal. Not blocking it—warping it. Like it’s being bent around something big and noisy.”

Bracer turned slightly in his seat, voice calm but sharpened.
“What was their last contact point?”

Arcade tapped the holo-map, zooming in.
“Town center. Near the old castle.”

Ray’s ears flattened.
“…That narrows it down too much.”

“There are only so many places near the castle,” she continued, grim. “Old infrastructure. Commercial facilities. Things people stopped using for a reason.”

Before anyone could respond, the radio crackled violently.

“—Radio to Gwennan, do you copy—?”

Plum’s voice burst through, breathless and tight.

“Listen—there’s a large zombie approaching from the candy district. I mean large. Minotaur large. Jawbreaker plating. It’s not wandering, it’s marching.”

The van screeched as Bracer slammed the brakes.

Silence.

Then Ray was already moving.
“We turn around. Now.”

Pitch nodded immediately, jaw tight.
“She’s right. Base is full of civilians—purebloods, kids, people with pea-shooters and courage. They won’t slow that thing down.”

Celeste spun toward them.
“Lumina and Skye are out there.”

Mezzo stepped forward, tail twitching despite the storm interference.
“And they’re alone.”

Ray shot him a look.
“And at base there are hundreds of people who can’t defend themselves.”

Pitch slammed a fist into the wall.
“They’re civilians, Celeste! You saw the guns they’ve got. They won’t even scratch a minotaur like that!”

Celeste’s breath hitched.

Bonbon’s face flashed in her mind—
tiny paws, plushies, that sleepy smile.

Then Lumina—
humming nervously, trying to be brave.
Skye’s small hand in hers.

Her chest tightened painfully.

Hughes spoke quietly, carefully.
“Commander… we can’t be in two places at once.”

The storm howled outside, mana crackling like a living thing.

Celeste stood frozen between the two directions on the map.

Base.
The kids.

Lives she owed.
Lives she loved.

Her claws dug into her palms as the weight of command settled fully on her shoulders for the first time.

“…Stars,” she whispered.

And for a terrifying heartbeat—

Celeste Astallan had to choose
who she would save.

The van idled, stormlight crawling over its hull like living veins.

Pitch broke the silence first, voice low but urgent.
“Celeste. Remember what we talked about.”
He met her eyes in the rearview mirror. “This is it. We don’t get to hover forever. We need to make a choice. Now, Commander.”

Ray didn’t even hesitate.
“There is no choice.”
She leaned forward, eyes hard. “That minotaur needs killing. We stop it, we save hundreds of people in the process. Why are we even discussing this?”

Arcade spun in his seat, fury cutting through his usual sarcasm.
“Whoa—excuse me?”
He jabbed a finger at the map. “My cousin is out there. I’m not letting him die because you decided to play numbers game roulette.”

Ray snapped back instantly.
“And I’m not letting an entire base get flattened because two kids wandered off!”

Hughes slammed a fist against the side panel.
“Enough!”
His voice cut through them like a blade. “We’re wasting time. We could split—half go to the base, half—”

“No,” Bracer said firmly.
He finally turned fully around, silver eyes steady. “That brute isn’t something you chip away at. Not in this storm. Our mana levels are unstable. Suppression runes are already flickering.”
He gestured at Mezzo’s talons phasing in and out.
“We need the whole team if we’re taking that thing down.”

Ray was already climbing over the seats.

She grabbed the wheel.

“Wait—Ray,” Bracer barked. “I was driving.”

“Don’t care,” Ray shot back, wrenching the van around.
“The Council will tear us apart if we let that radio tower fall. They won’t ask why. They’ll just count bodies.”

The engine roared as she slammed the accelerator.

Celeste lunged forward, panic breaking through her composure.
“Ray—please.”
Her voice cracked. “My sister is out there. And Skye. They’re on their own.”

Ray didn’t look back.
“Too bad.”

Celeste swallowed, forcing her voice steady even as it shook.
“We don’t know why Lumina and Skye left,” she said quickly. “They could’ve been chased. They could’ve found something—zombies, a signal, anything. We can’t assume—”

“Stop.”

Ray’s voice cut through the van like a snapped cable.

“Stop making excuses.”

Celeste froze.

Ray glanced at her, eyes glassy, raw, almost pleading.
“You’re the leader,” Ray said. “Act like one. We save the civilians. Not one child.”

Her gaze locked onto Celeste’s, silently begging her to agree. To choose the bigger picture. To let go.

The van surged forward, tires screaming against wet asphalt as the storm swallowed the road ahead.

Celeste staggered back, gripping the seat to stay upright, her heart pounding so hard it hurt.

The map flickered.

The van tore through rain and mana-light, the storm screaming against the windows.

Celeste lunged forward again, desperation breaking through her voice.
“Ray—please—stop. I need my sister.”

Ray finally snapped.

She slammed a fist against the wheel, eyes blazing.
“Bonbon is two, Celeste!” she shouted. “Your sister made a stupid decision and now she’s paying the price!”

Celeste recoiled like she’d been struck.

Pitch swallowed hard, jaw tight.
“…I hate to say it,” he muttered, “but Ray’s right.”

That did it.

Arcade’s quills flared, lightning cracking across them as he surged to his feet.
“STOP THIS VAN. NOW.”
His voice shook with fury. “I am not losing my cousin for anyone.”

Ray spun on him.
“Stars’ sake—it’s one person!” she yelled. “If we fail here the Council will string us up! Don’t you get it?!”

Arcade leaned forward, electricity snapping at his fingertips.
“I do,” he said flatly. “And I don’t care.”

“Arcade—” Bracer started.

A bolt jumped from Arcade’s quills.

Ray screamed.

Pain ripped through her as electricity arced across her shoulder, her grip jerking on the wheel. The van swerved violently.

She snarled—feral, furious—and swung.

Her fist connected with Arcade’s jaw in a brutal arc.

He went flying.

The door burst open as the van fishtailed. Arcade hit the road hard, rolling across wet asphalt as sparks scattered behind him.

Ray slammed the brakes just long enough to scream out the open door,
“YOU CAN WALK BACK!”

Celeste screamed his name and was out the door before the echo faded.

She dropped to her knees beside Arcade, hauling him up as rain soaked them both.
“Arcade—are you okay—stars I’m so sorry—”

Arcade spat blood, grinning grimly.
“I’ve had worse at family dinners.”

He turned toward the distant silhouette of the castle, stormlight flashing behind it.
“I’m going.”

Celeste froze.

Behind her, Ray leaned out the driver’s side, rain plastering her fur flat.
“Well?” she barked. “You in—or walking too?”

Celeste stood there, the storm howling around her, heart tearing itself in two.

Bonbon’s face.
Small hands.
Soft laughter.

Then Lumina.
Humming when she was scared.
Skye holding her hand.

Celeste looked back at Ray, eyes wet but blazing.

“Keep Bonbon safe,” she said quietly.

Then she turned—and ran after Arcade.

Ray stared after her, disbelief twisting into fury.
“You godsdamn selfish ass, Celeste!”

Another door slammed.

Mezzo jumped out, wings flickering wildly in the storm.
Ray’s head snapped toward him. “You too?!”

Mezzo didn’t hesitate.
“She won’t survive alone, Ray.”

Ray snarled.
“Stop thinking with your dick and get back in the van—now!”

Mezzo was already running.

Ray watched them disappear into the storm, chest heaving.

“…Fuck them,” she muttered.

The Gwennan tore through the storm, tyres screaming as Ray pushed it harder than the road deserved.

“Selfish. Absolutely selfish,” Ray snarled, knuckles white on the wheel. “All three of them. Running off like heroes in a bloody tragedy play.”

Mana lightning cracked overhead. The radio tower loomed closer.

Hughes exhaled slowly from the passenger seat, rubbing a hand over his face.
“…I should’ve dragged her back in.”
His voice was rough, thick with regret. “Commander or not, she was panicking.”

Ray barked a laugh without humour.
“Too right she was. And panic gets people killed.”

Bracer stood steady in the back, one hand braced against the wall as the van lurched. His tone was calm—measured—but no less firm for it.
“It would’ve been different if Arcade and Mezzo had gone alone,” he said. “Risky, but understandable.”

Ray shot him a sharp glance in the mirror.
“But Celeste?” Bracer continued. “Celeste needed to stay. She’s the Commander. Her job is to think in numbers now. In outcomes.”

Silence filled the van, broken only by the storm.

Bracer went on, carefully.
“I understand why she chose her sister. Truly. But leadership means choosing the lives you can save over the ones you want to.”
He paused. “And there are civilians at base who can’t summon weapons. Can’t fight. Unlike Lumina and Skye.”

Ray slammed her palm against the wheel.
“Don’t you dare,” she snapped. “Don’t compare this.”

“I’m not,” Bracer replied evenly. “I’m stating the cost.”

Ray’s jaw tightened, anger bleeding into something sharper.
“She left Bonbon. She left the base. She left me holding the bag while she plays saviour somewhere else.”

Hughes closed his eyes briefly.
“…I’ll have a word with her when she gets back,” he said quietly. “If she gets back.”

Ray scoffed.
“Oh, I’ll have words too. Stars help her.”

The van sped on toward the radio tower, stormlight swallowing the road ahead—

while far behind them, three figures ran toward the castle,

and two children waited in the dark.