Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign

"Two in the -" Raizen sputtered, then hissed like the words were acid. "Two AM?!"

Atman nodded again, calm as ever. Yes, it has been 3894 seconds since Elin has left and I've been holding this fog.

Raizen's spine shivered in a different kind of panic now, the normal human kind.

"Saffi" Raizen said, half to himself. "Kenzo. Professor Eiden!" His eyes widened. "They've been waiting for me like crazy."

Atman laughed.

Not cruelly. Not loudly. Just a warm little laugh like Raizen's panic was adorable.

"I made sure not to alert them" Atman said, waving a hand like that was an easy task. "I sent word. Told them you were with a professor."

Raizen blinked. "With a professor?"

Atman winked. "Half a lie."

Raizen stared at him.

"Atman" he said slowly, "that's not half a lie. That's -"

Atman held up a finger. "You've been around professors today. Different kinds. I don't care what kind of professors they were."

Raizen's face twisted.

Atman looked down at his robe, then up at Raizen again, and finally seemed to notice something.

He squinted.

"Why did you hit me?" he asked like Raizen hurt his feelings in the most dramatic way possible.

Raizen's eyes widened in pure disbelief.

"Why were you sleeping?!" Raizen shot back.

Atman stared him dead in the eyes.

"I already told you!" Atman exclaimed. "I don't know. I just fell asleep."

Raizen sighed, rolled his eyes, and pulled the knife out.

The red threads were still there, circling the silvery blade, weaving slow patterns in the air. In the clearer night light, they looked even more unreal - delicate, precise, and oddly beautiful.

Atman's expression changed immediately.

He looked pleased.

Not surprised. Not relieved in a dramatic way, like you might expect.

"Oh" Atman said. "Finally."

Raizen narrowed his eyes. "Finally…?"

Atman nodded, eyes still on the threads.

"Now I can go sleep properly!" he exclaimed, tone brightening.

Raizen stared at him.

"You were literally sleeping already."

Atman shrugged. "Not properly."

Raizen made a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a groan.

Atman pushed himself to his feet with a stretch that cracked his shoulders, then lifted both hands again. Dark-blue smoke curled around his arms immediately, obedient as ever. This time, instead of weaving outward, the smoke pulled inward.

The fog around them shuddered.

Then it began to retreat.

Not like wind dispersing mist.

Like the mist was being reeled in.

The dark fog rolled backward in waves, collapsing one in another, all toward Atman, funneling inside his robe with a force that made Raizen step back. It felt like a storm reversing itself.

Raizen stared as ten kilometers worth of dark fog - if not more - began to vanish into Atman's robe.

The dark-blue fabric rippled slightly, swallowing the mist in thick swirls that disappeared into the folds as if the cloth was bottomless. The air pulled and shifted, pressure changing in Raizen's ears.

In minutes, the fog thinned.

In a few more, it was gone.

Completely.

The platform, the railing, the staircase carved with flowers - everything reappeared sharply in the clear night. The world looked freshly washed, as if someone had wiped a smudge off reality.

Raizen blinked.

His lungs expanded automatically.

And the moment the clean air hit him, it felt so good it shocked his body into rebellion.

He coughed.

Then sneezed.

Hard.

Then sneezed again.

And again.

Raizen stumbled slightly, sneezing like his soul was trying to escape through his nose. Each sneeze pulled air deeper into his chest, and each time he tried to inhale normally, his lungs reacted like they'd forgotten what normal was.

Atman watched him with mild interest.

"You okay?" Atman asked, sounding far too amused.

Raizen sneezed again, then glared at him between coughs. "I - hate - you."

Atman grinned, mocking the way Raizen tried to talk. "No - you - don't."

Raizen sneezed again.

Atman's grin widened, like this was the best entertainment he'd had in weeks.

After what felt like ten sneezes, Raizen finally managed a full breath without his body trying to betray him. He inhaled deeply through both nostrils, and the relief was so intense it made his eyes water.

We all know that feeling when you finally escaped a cold, and you can inhale in 4k quality. Imagine that, but two times better.

Raizen stared out into the night.

Without the fog, the tree-city's silhouettes spread outward like layered shadows under the sky. Lanterns glowed faintly in the distance, scattered along bridges like fallen stars. Above, the green canopy was a dark, living ceiling. Somewhere beyond that, the real sky existed, and Raizen could imagine pieces of it - deep and cold, with faint stars peeking through.

He looked down at the platform itself.

The steel railing along the edge wasn't plain - it had a clean, elegant curve, polished enough to catch moonlight. The staircase leading up toward the Ruler's home was carved with flowers, detailed and delicate, like someone had decided even steps needed beauty.

Raizen shook his head slowly.

"It's actually… Insane" he muttered. "This place."

Atman hummed, already turning away like Ukai's beauty was too normal to be worth staring at.

He gave Raizen a light tap on the shoulder - friendly, casual, like they weren't standing in the aftermath of something that could end the world.

"Thank you" Atman said again, finally with a normal, not-really-amused tone. "For doing what you did."

Raizen stared at him. "I don't even know what I did."

"Oh, no. I'd never thank someone for slapping me awake. I'll make you pay for that. I was thanking you for everything ELSE."

Raizen smiled like that wasn't his fault he had to slap Atman awake.

"No problem, but I still don't know how you maintained such a bit amount of Eon while… Asleep"

"Probably my Chasmis" Atman answered, simply.

Raizen blinked. "Your… Chasmis… Makes sense."

"Yep" Atman answered, entirely unhelpful.

Then he waved.

"Bye-bye" Atman said, and to Raizen's horror, he actually skipped off the platform like a kid leaving a party.

Raizen stood there for a moment, watching him disappear down into the seemingly peaceful night as if that was a normal way for a powerful Ukai official to leave after controlling a ten-kilometer fog wall.

He looked at the knife in his hand.

The red threads still circled it, weaving steadily, patient and alive.

He looked at the now-clear air.

And the lack of cover in the night.

And the fact that it was two in the morning.

Reality finally hit him fully.

Elin was gone - she did her job.

Atman was gone - he did his job.

And Raizen was still there, and still had one last step to do.

He tucked the knife away and turned toward the Ruler's home.

No guards in sight.

No footsteps either.

Just the quiet of Ukai at night, the kind of quiet that felt like the city was holding its breath.

Raizen walked up the carved stairs slowly, each step pulling him closer to a door he really didn't want to knock on.

The Ruler was inside.

A dying ruler.

A man who had anchored a fragment of an Anathema with his life.

A man who had just named Alan as his successor.

And Raizen had been ordered to walk in and tell him to break an Eon-binding contract.

He stopped in front of the door.

He insistently stared at it, really not wanting to knock.

Then, he drew some breath in.

This was the last thing he had to do.

And the worst one.