After everything, you'd think life would slow down.
It didn't.
Lucala doesn't rest just because your party nearly exploded emotionally and magically.
---
Aelira
Aelira had been quiet since the surge.
Not sad. Not panicking.
Just… quiet.
The girl who once named a chicken Sir Cluckles and threatened to marry a spellbook now sat beside rivers, staring at her hands like they were cursed.
> "You good?" I asked one morning.
> "I don't know how to feel power that could destroy a forest just because I got embarrassed."
> "You also accidentally summoned a bunny made of lightning."
> "That thing bit a merchant's shoe."
> "It also bowed before you."
She smiled. Barely.
> "What if I hurt someone?"
> "Then you try again. Learn. Grow. We've got your back."
She leaned her head against my shoulder.
> "...thanks, Sakamoto."
---
Kael's Training
Later that day, Kael called me into the woods.
Just the two of us.
No Ravian. No Aelira. No Niris.
Just a father and the boy who carried a sword that once ended armies.
> "You swing better now," he said. "But you still don't move like a warrior."
> "I'm four."
> "And?"
> "Fair."
He taught me how to fall without breaking bones.
How to breathe when surrounded.
How to read pressure in someone's stance.
Then he stopped.
> "We're being watched."
I turned — nothing.
But Kael stared at the treeline.
> "Out now."
From behind the brush, a man stepped forward.
He was tall, lean, wrapped in light blue robes with silver embroidery.
Eyes hidden beneath a wide hat.
> "Forgive me," he said. "I am Marev. A Seer from the Frostwind Circle."
Kael tensed.
> "What do the Frostwinds want here?"
> "To observe. The blade awakens again. And her wielder… sings."
> "What the hell does that mean?" I asked.
Marev smiled.
> "You'll understand… when she cries."
He vanished like mist.
---
Ravian's Letter
That night, Ravian sat beside a candle, reading a scroll sealed with red wax and a holy flame insignia.
> "You okay?" I asked.
> "No."
He handed it to me.
> To Ravian of the Embersight Lineage,
The Church requests your return.
The Moon will soon bleed.
The boy must be tested.
You are to confirm… if he is the vessel.
> "What vessel?"
> "No clue," Ravian said. "But I hate the tone."
> "You going back?"
> "Not without you."
> "I'm not ready for politics."
> "Neither am I. That's why we're perfect."
---
Final Scene: The Star
Somewhere far beyond the cliffs north of Velduin…
In the dead of night…
A child stood barefoot in the snow, gazing upward.
Above them, a bright streak cut through the sky.
It wasn't a meteor.
It wasn't magic.
It was a pod.
Metal. Cracked. Screaming with old energy.
And inside?
A girl.
Eyes closed. Floating. Wrapped in violet flame.
> "...wake up," she whispered in her sleep. "The sword is calling…"