As Alyssa went back inside, the silence of the porch became deafening.
Skyler stared at the empty road.
The dust of the Inspector's horse had settled. But the weight he left behind remained.
He could still feel the residual pressure.
The golden drop of law.
The Veritas Gauge that nearly gave him.
He tried to stand, but his legs felt heavy like lead.
Dense and unmovable, like something that refused to obey him.
The "Nothingness" he had drawn from his past was not receding.
It was spreading.
Cold. Hungry.
He had used the "original" Skyler Albestar to fuel the mask he had shown the inspector.
He had burned his own existence to stay unnoticed. Now, the void that followed was absolute.
A flicker of light appeared in his vision.
Brutal. Clinical.
A warning from a world that didn't want him.
[Warning: Core Integrity Critical]
The prompt didn't flash with the usual coldness.
It was dim.
Flickering like a dying candle.
Then...
The snap.
Sharp snap in his chest.
It wasn't physical pain. It was the sensation of a thread fraying.
A single, silver strand holding him to the earth.
The memories of the house.
The smell of flour on his mother's hands.
The specific warmth of the Forlon sun.
They did not vanish. But they grew thin.
They became distant, like scenes from a movie he had watched long ago.
The emotional tether that made him "native" to this world was dissolving.
Memories, becoming fuzzy.
"…so this is the cost," Skyler murmured quietly.
[1.2%]
The number appeared faintly.
Flickering.
The wind moved across the porch.
It blew past him.
It didn't go through him, but it felt... heavy.
As if the air itself was trying to push him out of the frame.
He looked down at his hands.
They were trembling.
Not from fear.
It was a vibration.
They seemed to bleed… not blood, but null..
Thin, wispy trails of "Nothingness" leaking from his fingertips.
The world was retracting its permission for him to exist.
"So existence here… is not a right. It's permission," Skyler murmured quietly.
[1.1%]
The smell of the forest remained. But it was bitter.
The damp pine smelled like rot.
The mountain breeze felt like a shroud.
The sun on his neck was a needle.
Sharp. Judgmental.
'I'm still here,' he thought. 'But barely.'
He fought to breathe.
Each inhale felt like pulling glass shards into his lungs.
The world was making it hard for him to occupy space.
He watched as the "original" blurred.
Like a face in a mirror covered in steam.
[Status: Critical Anomaly]
[Integrity: Partially Stabilized]
The silence followed, it was heavy.
The hum remained.
The vibration that had stitched itself into his soul. But it was distorted now. Out of sync.
The law could still see him. But it was squinting. Confused by the shape of the error.
The weight remained.
Skyler opened his eyes.
The colors were ashen. Greyed out.
The wind blew.
It hit him like a physical blow.
He was a stone in a river, and the current was trying to grind him down.
He stood up.
The heaviness stayed.
He felt hollow, and in that hollowness, there was a desperate hunger.
The world was telling him how to fall.
Gravity was a chain.
Heavy and real.
The mandate.
The Hall.
They still had a grip. A faint, clawed hold on his throat.
He looked at the road.
"Not yet."
His voice was a rasp.
Dry. Failing.
The man who died in the dark was fighting for air.
Skyler Albestar was still hidden. But the mask was cracked.
Inside, Alyssa gasped. A sudden throb in her chest.
The feeling of a glass dropping, but not yet shattering.
Fear. Cold. Lingering.
Lia came out, stepped onto the porch.
She saw him staggering. A silhouette against the fading light.
"Skyle?"
The voice brought him back from his thoughts.
He turned.
His eyes were bloodshot. Sunken.
"Are you alright? You look... like you're dying."
"The Inspector is gone," Skyler said. His voice was a ghost of itself.
"But I'm still here."
Lia's expression hardened. Firm. Unmoving.
"You just woke up. You need rest. We can continue tomorrow."
She stepped forward. She reached out, her hand hovering near his shoulder, afraid to touch him.
Then she supported him.
"Don't push yourself. It makes me worried. And it breaks your mother down."
Skyler looked at the door.
He wanted to train.
Then he thought.
Lia was right.
He had survived the Gaze, but the toll had left him hollowed.
He needed to recover. And to sever the thread.
"Okay," he said.
Lia gave a relieved nod. A smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"You know, Skyle... the first time we trained, I was excited."
She laughed quietly. A hint of exhaustion.
"I wanted to see you smile. Instead, you blew up the forest. You almost took yourself with it."
Skyler watched her.
Measuring. Observing.
"The Watcher was unexpected, but not surprising," Lia continued. "But seeing you fight... you surprised me. You're different now."
Skyler didn't respond.
He looked at his hands.
The null had stopped leaking. For now.
"I surprised myself."
The wind picked up. Lia's hair swayed.
Skyler sensed the Aether.
Faint, but visible.
It was everywhere. A web. A trap.
"Lia. There will be more surprises."
He turned to her.
The exhaustion in his eyes.
"I'm planning on traveling. I want to explore beyond the horizon."
He paused.
"But first, I need to learn to walk. Will you hold my hand? Until I can become steady?"
Lia's eyes widened.
Silence followed.
The air grew heavy.
"Skyle... I want to learn too."
Sharpness. Fear masked as strength.
"You remember me saying that I wanted to discuss something."
"I want to see the world myself."
She stepped closer.
"Let me tag along. Until we both start running."
This put Skyler in a dilemma. To him kindness is a debt.
Involving her makes her a target.
But the bond was set.
The chain was forged.
He couldn't forget the moment.
"The world is a miracle bringer," Skyler said. His voice was gaining strength.
"I'll need a cipher's help. Will you be my companion, Miss Lia Edenberg?"
Lia smiled.
Bright. Defiant.
"Okay," she said.
"Preparation is the only thing that will keep us alive out there," Lia said, her voice firm.
"We train until you're stable, but no more creating crater."
Skyler smirks.
Then he turned back to the forest.
Rihito Takasuki was still a guest. But he was learning the structure of the house.
He was ready.
Inside the house, the air was still.
An incoherent voice echoed in his quiet mind
[Warning: Synchronisation Failure Escalating]
[Threshold Event Approaching]