The city did not stay still.
It only pretended to.
Kael stood where the entity had vanished, but something had changed. Not around him—
Within the space itself.
The air felt… misaligned.
Like reality had been placed back incorrectly.
He exhaled slowly.
"…It's still here."
Not the entity.
The effect.
A faint distortion rippled across the plaza.
At first, it looked like heat bending the air.
Then—
It deepened.
For a split second, the broken stone beneath his feet became whole.
Clean.
Uncracked.
Footsteps echoed—light, distant.
Kael's head snapped up.
Figures moved at the edge of his vision.
Blurry.
Incomplete.
A woman passing by.
A child running.
Voices overlapping—
Then—
Gone.
Silence slammed back into place.
Kael didn't move.
"…Not memories."
His shadows stirred uneasily.
They weren't reacting to him anymore.
They were reacting to it.
Another ripple.
Stronger this time.
The sky flickered.
Grey—
Blue—
Grey again.
Kael clenched his jaw.
"Stop."
The shadows froze.
But the world didn't.
A building nearby twisted slightly.
Not collapsing—
Shifting.
Like it couldn't decide which version of itself to be.
Kael stepped back.
For the first time—
There was hesitation in his movement.
"...This isn't just me losing control."
Something deeper was happening.
Something worse.
The ground beneath him pulsed.
Soft.
Rhythmic.
Like a heartbeat.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"…The city."
It wasn't dead.
It wasn't destroyed.
It was—
Interrupted.
His breath slowed.
A realization forming, piece by piece.
"When I lost control…"
His gaze lowered to his hands.
"…I didn't destroy it."
The shadows trembled.
"…I removed it."
Silence answered him.
But it wasn't empty anymore.
It was listening.
Far from the plaza—
Lira stopped walking.
Her hand tightened around the metal staff she carried.
"…You felt that too, right?"
One of the survivors beside her nodded slowly.
The air had shifted.
Subtly.
But unmistakably.
"What is that…?" he whispered.
Lira didn't answer.
Her eyes were fixed on the outer ruins.
Where Kael had gone.
"…It's him."
Not fear.
Not accusation.
Just certainty.
And something else beneath it—
Concern.
Back in the plaza—
Kael dropped to one knee.
Not from pain.
From pressure.
The air thickened again.
Stronger than before.
His shadows didn't rise this time.
They sank.
Flattening against the ground.
Submitting.
Kael's breath hitched.
"…No."
That wasn't his command.
That wasn't his will.
Something else—
Something deeper—
Was responding.
The space in front of him folded slightly.
Not opening.
Not breaking.
Remembering how to open.
Kael forced himself to stand.
"...If you're watching—"
His voice was steady now.
Not angry.
Not afraid.
Focused.
"—then stop hiding."
Silence.
Then—
A whisper.
Not from behind.
Not from ahead.
From every direction at once.
"…Not yet."
Kael's eyes sharpened.
"You're still here."
A pause.
Then—
"Always."
The pressure eased slightly.
But not completely.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"…Then watch closely."
His shadows stirred again.
This time—
He didn't force them.
He let them move.
They rose carefully.
Not violently.
Not chaotically.
Testing.
Learning.
Kael closed his eyes.
Just for a moment.
"...If this power isn't mine—"
The shadows circled him.
Quieter now.
Listening.
"—then I'll make it mine."
The ground beneath him trembled.
But this time—
It didn't break.