Dante stood hidden atop a shadowed balcony overlooking the market square, watching the unfolding scene with narrowed eyes. His attention wasn't on the eerie procession of the Fog Walkers or the growing murmurs of unease from the market crowd. It was on Bob's crew.
More specifically, it was on Iris standing beside him.
She wasn't just watching the returning pilgrims, she was talking to Bob, standing close to him like they had been through hell together. And maybe they had, but that wasn't the point. Dante had known Iris before everything fell apart. Before the fog, before the chaos, before she vanished from the world, he knew her. And now here she was, next to Bob, trusting him like he was someone important.
Dante clenched his jaw, exhaling slowly. He wouldn't say it out loud, but it annoyed him more than he wanted to admit.
Then he saw it, that shift in Bob's posture, the way his eyes followed the Fog Walkers, studying them like he was already coming up with something stupid. Dante could barely hear them from this distance. But Bob was planning something.
"You're thinking something dumb, aren't you?" Gabe muttered beside him, arms crossed.
Bob grinned. "Oh, yeah."
Iris groaned. "Bob, don't say it."
"I'm gonna join them."
Sly slapped a hand over his face. "For the love of—Bob, no."
Bob raised a hand. "Hear me out. If I go with them, I can find out what's happening firsthand. We've all been asking what's going on inside the Fog Walkers, right? How they're walking through the Pink Fog in human form without getting torn apart? It doesn't make sense. Why aren't the Fades attacking them? Maybe they really believe in something, or maybe there's something else going on. Either way, let's just ask them."
Iris crossed her arms. "You think they'll just tell you?"
Bob shrugged. "Eventually."
Gabe sighed. "You mean after they try to brainwash you, sacrifice you, or whatever else cults do?"
Sly jabbed a finger at Bob's chest. "How about, and just stay with me here, we don't let them take you?"
Bob smirked. "That's the thing, Sly. I let them take me."
There was a brief, stunned silence before Iris pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is the worst plan I've ever heard."
Bob spread his arms. "But is it?"
"Yes!" she, Gabe, and Sly said in unison.
Iris sighed but then frowned. "And there's a problem. The moment you step into the Pink Fog, you'll turn into Goliath instantly. You can't walk with them during the pilgrimage."
Bob blinked, then grinned. "Then I'll just stay human in the fog."
Gabe raised an eyebrow. "You don't say??"
Bob nodded confidently. "Yeah, I've mastered it. I can shift between human and Glint form whenever I want in the fog."
Everyone stared at him, surprised.
Sly narrowed his eyes. "And you just conveniently forgot to mention that?"
Bob shrugged. "Didn't think it was important."
Iris looked like she wanted to hit him. Dante, still watching from his balcony, couldn't catch everything they were saying, but from the way the others reacted, he knew something had landed. Maybe he misheard. Maybe it was nonsense. But one thing was clear… Bob intended to join the pilgrimage. And that made no sense at all.
Bob, undeterred, turned back to the Fog Walkers as the last of them disappeared into the streets. "Alright, so how do I get in?"
Dante exhaled slowly, shaking his head. This guy was actually serious.
Then, a thought occurred to him. If Bob went, he would come back with some ridiculous victory. People would talk. Iris would talk. And Dante couldn't let that happen, not without making sure his name was part of the story too.
Dante clenched his fists. If Bob could do it, so could he.
Before he even thought it through, his feet were already moving. He stepped forward, smirking slightly to himself.
"If he can do it, I can do it better."
-----
The streets of Graves Safe Zone were filled with murmurs of uncertainty as more people gathered near the outskirts of the city. The events of the last pilgrimage still weighed heavily on the minds of those watching from the safety of their homes. Yet, despite the eerie return of the previous group, the number of those willing to follow the Fog Walkers had only grown.
Among them stood Harren, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as he watched the growing assembly. His son, Marek, stood a few feet away, his gaze locked onto the hooded figures preparing to lead the next pilgrimage. There was a tension between them, one neither of them dared to speak aloud.
"You don't have to do this," Harren muttered, breaking the silence.
Marek didn't look at him. "You don't understand."
Harren's fingers twitched, but he didn't reach out. "She walked away from us. She didn't even look back."
Marek's throat tightened. "Then I'll make her look back."
Harren's expression darkened. "That thing isn't your mother. She hasn't even looked at us since she returned. She doesn't speak. She doesn't recognize us."
Marek shook his head, gripping his arms tightly. "What if she does? What if she just needs help? What if she's still in there?"
Harren stayed silent. He didn't want to acknowledge the possibility. It was easier to believe she was lost than to accept the shell of a person she had become.
Marek took a deep breath. "She's right there. I'm bringing her back, no matter what."
That was the real reason he was joining the next pilgrimage. It wasn't about faith. It was about her. He was going to bring his mother home.
Without waiting for a response, he turned, stepping forward into the sea of believers, swallowed by the movement of the crowd.
Before Harren could say anything else, the distant chime of a bell echoed across the district, this one came from a smaller temple, repurposed by the Fog Walkers. It was their signal, their final call for those who wished to walk into the mist. The crowd stirred, some stepped forward eagerly, others paused in a final moment of doubt.
-----
The final pilgrimage was the largest yet. Hundreds now stood in formation, waiting for their march to begin.
Elise stood at the edge of the crowd, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. Somewhere in that mass of people was her brother. She scanned the faces, trying to spot him, but they all blended together, the same empty expressions, the same unwavering stares forward. It was the same look Marek's mother had when she returned. Just like the others, she had come back, but she wasn't the same. She didn't remember them, didn't acknowledge her past life, only the teachings of the Fog Walkers. Elise knew that if her brother returned, he wouldn't be the same either. And that terrified her.
Bob, standing nearby, watched the crowd with a different kind of focus. "It's bigger than last time," he muttered.
Gabe nodded. "And we still don't know what's happening to them."
Sly glanced between Bob and the crowd. "So, what's the plan?"
Bob smirked. "Simple. We walk in."
Dante, hidden on a rooftop overlooking the procession, crossed his arms as he observed Bob and his crew. He already knew what Bob was thinking. He could see it in the way he studied the movement of the Fog Walkers, how he mirrored their pace, how he was waiting for the right moment to slip into formation. Dante exhaled sharply. Unlike Bob, he couldn't just walk in. The moment he stepped into the fog, he would transform, just like Iris and the others.
Instead, he would do what they were doing, follow from a distance.
The Graves Family had already backed this operation. The Fog Walkers were a threat not only to Blood Creed but to their authority as well. Dante had gathered a group of his elite guards, all stationed outside the safe zone, they were waiting to activate their Glint forms. If something happened later, they would be ready.
Then the march began.
Bob took a deep breath as he stepped into the fog. Almost immediately, his body reacted, the familiar surge of power coiling in his muscles, his frame beginning to expand. His vision sharpened, his skin tingled, and the transformation into his Glint form started to take hold.
From his hidden vantage point, Gabe tensed. "Damn it, Bob, hold it back!" he hissed under his breath.
Bob clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay calm. His transformation surged forward, his body growing larger, but then… he pulled it back. The change that had started to take hold receded, his muscles shrinking back to normal, his form stabilizing just before anyone in the pilgrimage noticed.
His crew, watching from the shadows, stared in stunned silence. Hearing Bob claim he could control his transformation had been one thing. Seeing it with their own eyes was another.
Gabe exhaled slowly. "No way… he actually did it."
Sly muttered a curse. "Since when can he pull something like that off?"
Even Iris, who rarely let surprise show on her face, had a moment of hesitation. "I thought he was just bluffing."
From his rooftop perch, Dante frowned. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but something had changed. For a moment, he thought he saw Bob's frame shift unnaturally before settling back to normal. His eyes narrowed.
He can control his transformation in the Fog? The thought hit hard. That wasn't supposed to be possible.
Maybe he'd misjudged him. Or maybe Bob was just far more dangerous than he looked.
The Fog Walkers led the crowd forward, their hooded figures moving like ghosts through the mist, guiding the believers toward the edge of the old world city, now swallowed by the Pink Fog.
Bob alone blended in, slipping into the mass of followers, his presence unnoticed in the sea of eager faith. The rest of his crew stayed behind, hidden. Gabe, Sly, and Iris followed from a distance, careful not to be seen. They couldn't risk stepping into the fog themselves, not when Iris and Gabe would turn into their Glint forms after an hour of exposure. Sly would follow shortly after. If they got too close, they wouldn't be able to remain hidden for long.
The deeper they walked, the thicker the Pink Fog became. The subway entrance loomed ahead, its tunnels stretching into darkness, swallowed by the mist.
Bob felt his skin crawl, but he kept his expression neutral. No one else reacted. No hesitation, no fear, only unwavering devotion.
Is this the secret? he wondered. Are they about to reveal why they can walk in the Fog unharmed?
He soon realized they were not alone.
Figures emerged in the fog, humanoid creatures covered in chitinous plating, their elongated limbs twitching beneath tattered robes. Their multifaceted eyes gleamed faintly, mandibles clicking softly as they observed the passing believers. Fades.
Bob barely noticed them at first, there were only a few, standing at a distance, blending into the fog like shadows. They did not move to attack, only watching, unmoving, as long as the pilgrims stayed in formation.
Then Bob saw more. Many more.
The deeper they descended into the subway, the clearer it became. The fades all looked alike. Too alike. A single race.
And when Bob finally laid eyes on the towering figure at the center of it all, a realization struck him like a hammer.
This wasn't just a gathering.
This was a Boss lair.
A sharp, clicking sound echoed through the chamber, reverberating off the walls like a signal. The creatures around them froze, their heads tilting in eerie unison.
And then, from the darkness, she emerged, larger than the rest, armored in thick chitin, her massive, multifaceted eyes gleaming with intelligence and hunger.
Bob exhaled sharply as realization hit him.
This was her nest.
The Hive Queen had been waiting.
The secret has been revealed, Bob thought.