The Eclipse Engine was dismantled.
It took weeks careful work, delicate work, work that required the combined efforts of the Emerald Coalition, the surviving Lotus defenders, and a team of soul specialists from the Sunken Court. The souls inside were freed, one by one, and sent to whatever afterlife awaited them.
Inyocha helped.
It was the hardest thing he'd ever done. Every soul he freed was a reminder of what he'd done of the lives he'd taken, the families he'd destroyed, the world he'd almost ended. But he kept working. Kept freeing. Kept trying.
Lee worked beside him. Not speaking. Just being there. A presence. A reminder that he wasn't alone anymore.
On the last day, when the final soul was freed and the tower collapsed into rubble, Inyocha turned to Lee.
"What now?" he asked.
Lee smiled. "Now we go home."
"Where's home?"
Lee looked at his friends. At Kira, who was arguing with a merchant about the price of supplies. At Taro, who was doing stretches on a pile of rubble. At Ren, who was watching the horizon with those calm, ancient eyes.
"Wherever they are," Lee said. "That's home."
Inyocha was quiet for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Okay," he said. "Let's go home."
They walked together five figures against the setting sun away from the tower, away from the engine, away from the darkness.
Behind them, the Lotus Archipelago began to heal.
And somewhere, beyond the stars, the Hollow King watched.
And waited.