The void swallowed Kael, a weightless expanse of violet light and shifting shadows that pressed against his skin like cold water. His shard-pistol hung useless in his grip, the Red Veil shard pulsing against his chest, its hum a beacon in the disorienting dark. His wounds throbbed, blood crusting his sleeve, but the pain felt distant, dulled by the void's eerie calm. Rhea floated nearby, her shock-knife sparking faintly, her implants glinting as she scanned the nothingness. Mira clutched the original shard-case, her analyzer silent, its screen black. The air, if it was air, tasted of ash and static, sharp on Kael's tongue.
The bone gate's vortex had spat them here, wherever here was. Kael's shard pulsed, syncing with the Red Veil shard, and a vision flickered: a star-field, a bone temple suspended in void, a woman's voice whispering, *The cycle binds.* He shook it off, his breath ragged, and grabbed Rhea's arm to steady himself. "You seeing this?"
"Seeing nothing," Rhea said, her voice tight but steady. Her bloody thigh glistened, her grin forced. "Feels like we're nowhere. Mira, your fancy tech got anything?"
Mira fumbled with her analyzer, its circuits sparking back to life. "The gate's a conduit," she said, her cyber-lenses flickering. "Pre-Fall tech, built to channel Aether across dimensions. We're not in Neo-Shanra anymore. Or Earth, maybe."
Kael's stomach twisted, his shard humming louder. "Dimensions? You saying we're in some god's backyard?"
"Close enough," Mira said, her voice low. "The shards activated the gate. They're keys to this place, tied to the Oblivion Cycle. But something's wrong. The resonance is unstable."
The void shimmered, violet light rippling like a disturbed pond. Shapes formed in the distance, faint outlines of bone spires and Aether crystals, pulsing in time with Kael's shard. His vision hit again: *the hunter's star-shard blazing, a temple's core glowing, the woman's voice: The spark lives.* He staggered, his pistol slipping, but Rhea caught him, her grip firm.
"Stay with us, Varn," she said, her implants scanning the void. "Your head's a mess, and we're not exactly on vacation."
Kael nodded, pain grounding him. "The hunter's coming. They followed us."
As if summoned, a violet pulse flared behind them, the void warping. The hunter emerged, their black armor glinting, star-shard glowing like a captured sun. Their violet eyes locked onto Kael, and their voice echoed, cold and resonant. "You cannot hide. The cycle claims its due."
Rhea raised her shock-knife, sparks dancing. "Keep talking, asshole. I've got a blade with your name on it."
Mira's analyzer beeped, its readings spiking. "The hunter's shard is amplifying the void's Aether. It's destabilizing this space. If we don't move, it'll collapse."
Kael's shard burned, the Red Veil shard tugging him toward the distant spires. "Move where?" he growled, raising his pistol. "This place is a nightmare."
Mira pointed to the spires, their Aether crystals glowing brighter. "There. The temple's core. The shards are drawn to it. It's the only stable point here."
The hunter advanced, their star-shard flaring, Aether coiling into a whip. Kael fired, the Aether-shot streaking through the void, but the hunter's barrier deflected it, sparks scattering like stars. The void trembled, bone fragments and crystal shards floating past, drawn toward the spires. Kael's shard pulsed, urging him forward, its hum deafening.
"Run!" he shouted, kicking off the void's strange surface, propelling himself toward the spires. Rhea followed, her knife sparking, while Mira struggled, her analyzer weighing her down. The hunter's Aether-whip lashed out, grazing Kael's leg, searing flesh. He grunted, spinning to fire another shot, but the hunter was relentless, gliding through the void with unnatural grace.
The spires grew closer, a massive bone temple suspended in the void, its walls etched with runes that pulsed violet. Aether crystals lined its core, their glow syncing with Kael's shard. The Red Veil shard in his jacket hummed louder, its heat crawling up his spine. Another vision: *the temple's core, a star-shard pulsing, the woman's voice: The cycle is you.* He gasped, his pistol wavering, but kept moving, pain pushing him forward.
Rhea reached the temple's entrance, a jagged arch of bone and crystal. "In here!" she yelled, her implants flaring as she scanned for traps. Mira stumbled beside her, her analyzer sparking, its readings chaotic. Kael landed hard, his wounded leg buckling, but he hauled himself up, firing at the hunter to cover their retreat.
The hunter's star-shard flared, Aether lashing out, shattering a nearby spire. Bone fragments rained, and the void shook, its violet light fracturing. Kael's shard screamed, the Red Veil shard's pulse overwhelming. He shoved Mira through the arch, Rhea diving after, and followed, the temple's interior swallowing them.
The core was a vast chamber, its walls pulsing with Aether crystals, their light bathing the space in violet. A central platform held a massive shard, larger than any Kael had seen, its surface etched with runes that seemed to breathe. The shards in his chest and jacket hummed in sync, drawn to it. Mira's analyzer went wild, its alarm shrill.
"This is it," Mira whispered, her voice awed. "The cycle's heart. The gate's purpose. It's a machine to remake reality."
Kael's vision hit hard: *the core shard blazing, the void splitting, the woman's voice: You are the spark.* He dropped to one knee, blood dripping, his shard burning. "Remake reality? What the hell does that mean?"
Before Mira could answer, the hunter's voice echoed from the arch. "It means the end." They stepped into the chamber, their star-shard glowing, Aether coiling. "The cycle requires the shards. All of them. Including yours, Varn."
Rhea raised her knife, her thigh bleeding but her grin defiant. "Come and take 'em, then."
The void trembled, the temple's crystals cracking under the hunter's Aether. Kael stood, his pistol aimed, his shard pulsing with kinetic energy. The core shard flared, its runes shifting, and a low hum shook the chamber, like a heartbeat waking. Mira's analyzer sparked, its screen showing a new signal, not the hunter's, converging on the temple.
Kael's shard burned, the woman's voice clear: *The cycle turns.* The core shard pulsed, and a crack split the platform, violet light spilling out, revealing something beneath: a figure, suspended in Aether, their eyes opening with a violet glow.