Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign

The silence after Eiden's reveal felt thicker than smoke.

Nobody bothered to speak. Nobody even knew what to say.

Raizen sat on the crate a moment longer. His ribs ached just enough to remind him it wasn't a dream.

His wristband buzzed once, a soft vibration against his skin.

Tim.

He glanced down. The little green icon on the display blinked at him, patient.

"I should go" he said, pushing his hands against the crate. "My time's almost up."

Eiden flinched like he had forgotten the rest of the world had rules. He tugged his glove back on fast, covering the stone-dark skin and those thin golden lines before anyone could look too long.

For a second his fingers fumbled at the edge, then the fabric slid into place. Normal again. Pretend normal.

Kenzo took a half step forward, eyes still locked on Eiden.

"We aren't done" he said.

Obi moved before anyone else. He put a hand on Kenzo's shoulder, not hard, just enough to mark a line.

"Woah, there. Yes, we are" Obi said. "For tonight. I like my shop intact. We can yell at the haunted scientist another day."

Eiden snorted softly at that. There was no real humor in it, but no anger either.

Raizen stood. His legs took the weight without trembling, which was something. He adjusted his jacket, more to give his hands something to do.

"Kenzo has questions" Raizen said.

"Kenzo has too many questions" Obi said. "And too much arm strength."

"I am right here" Kenzo muttered.

Eiden finally looked up at them. His eyes were tired. Not the simple tired of someone who stayed up too late, but the kind that built up over years.

"You should go back" he told Raizen. "They won't be happy if you overstay."

"You think they are ever happy with this dumbass?" Obi said.

Eiden ignored that. He nodded once to Raizen. Not a bow, not exactly respect. More like recognition.

"We will talk again" Eiden said. "If you still want to."

Raizen held his gaze for a second. "We will."

Eiden took that in, then turned toward the side door. He walked out into the narrow alley without looking back, shoulders a little hunched, glove pulled a bit too tight around the wrist. The door clicked shut behind him.

Kenzo blew out a long breath through his nose.

"I have some work at the Academy" he said.

Obi patted his arm. "Try not to strangle any more professors on the way."

"No promises" Kenzo said, but his voice was duller now. He gave Raizen a short nod and left through the front, boots heavy on the step.

Then it was just Obi and Raizen and the quiet forge.

"You good to walk?" Obi asked.

Raizen rolled his shoulders and tested a breath. It hurt, but not sharp. Manageable. "Of course. I'm not helpless"

"Good" Obi said, grabbing his coat from a peg. "I told the nurse I'd bring you back in one piece. Two would be a bit inconvenient."

"Did you tell her you are the definition of inconvenience?" Raizen asked.

"Rude" Obi laughed. "Move."

They stepped out into the Underworks. Lantern strings hummed above the alley. And the streets felt thinner than earlier. A few stalls were closing, metal shutters rattling down. Someone swept scraps into a pile. Kids dragged their cart-slash-toy back home, wheels squeaking.

They walked side by side.

Raizen replayed Eiden's words in his head. Fourteen bodies with no wounds. A weapon that "malfunctioned." Something that killed without burning or breaking. Nyxes that watched and did not attack.

And that hand.

"You're pretty quiet" Obi said after a while.

"You are, too" Raizen answered.

"Yeah" Obi said. "I guess... I finally know who - or what made me under the "orphan" category. Hard to make jokes about that. Not even I joke about those things."

They passed a group arguing over prices at a food stall. The smell of fried something followed them for a few steps, then faded.

"He didn't tell us everything" Raizen said.

Obi nodded without looking at him. "I know. I just don't know how to explain"

"You think he's... Lying?" Raizen asked.

"I think he is telling the clean version" Obi said. "The kind you put in reports. Not the one that wakes you up at night."

Raizen's steps slowed for a moment, then found rhythm again.

"Does knowing help?" he asked quietly.

Obi's jaw clenched. "Helps me pick the right person to punch in my head, at least."

They turned up a wider tunnel where the light was whiter, less warm. Signs on the walls pointed to upper levels, to transport lines.

Raizen's ribs complained a little more on the incline. Obi noticed and shortened his stride without saying anything.

"You can still back out, you know" Obi said at last. "From all this digging. You have mountains to blow up, classes to ace, girls waiting outside your door with gift bags."

Raizen almost tripped at that. "Pardon?"

"Nothing" Obi said too fast. "Anyway, I don't get that luxury."

"You have plants on ceilings... A loving gas grenade disguised as a girlfriend, and the whole Underworks to renovate"

They reached the base of the lift and rode it up. The Underworks fell away below, lanterns shrinking into a scattered pattern of gold. The air changed as they rose - less smoke, more disinfectant.

Above, Neoshima wasn't putting on any show. Same drones, same shops, same suspended rails, same glass towers knit together by bridges.

The Med Wing corridors were too clean, too bright. The floor reflected their feet. Terminals beeped behind doors. The smell of metal and medicine washed over them.

A nurse spotted them from the main desk and broke into a grin.

"You actually brought him back!" she said to Obi. "Walking and everything. I owe my colleague five crowns."

Obi put a hand to his chest. "I am offended at your low expectations."

"We had a pool going" she said. "Top bet was you would return him on a stretcher."

"Please. Stretchers are heavy" Obi said. "I prefer my rescues self propelled."

Raizen shook his head, but the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Any pain spikes?" the nurse asked Raizen, switching to work voice.

"Nothing bad" he said honestly.

"I don't really believe you. But if it's true, keep it that way" she said. "Room is the same. Try not to escape through the window this time."

"I never escaped through the window" Raizen protested.

"Yet" Obi added.

The nurse waved them on.

They walked the last few meters down the hall. The Med Wing was a tone quieter than usual. Weekend. Fewer staff, fewer cases. Lights dimmed a notch.

Raizen's room door was half pulled to. Someone stood beside it.

Saffi.

She had one shoulder against the wall, a folder hugged to her chest with both hands. Her hair was tied back, a few strands loose around her face. She looked like she had been standing there for a while.

Obi slowed at the sight of her. Something in his expression tightened for a heartbeat, then smoothed. "I will leave you to it" he murmured under his breath, then added a little louder, "I have a date with an anvil."

He turned and headed down the hall, hands in his pockets.

Raizen took the last steps alone.

Saffi straightened when she saw him. Her eyes flicked over him fast - face, shoulders, the way he held himself. Checking for damage before anything else. Then she seemed to remember she was holding the folder and clutched it tighter.

"Hey" Raizen said. His voice came out softer than he expected.

"Hey" she answered. There was a small hitch in the word. She swallowed it. Her usual work face tried to slide into place, calm and sharp, but there was something under it. Nerves. Something heavier.

"You have been waiting long?" he asked.

"A bit" she said. Then, after a breath, more firmly, "I need to show you something."

She lifted the folder slightly as she spoke.

"You won't like this..."