The wind had changed.
Ezra didn't notice it at first. The Garden had left a hollow ringing in his bones, the type of silence that hummed even louder than battle cries. He stood for a long time in the valley beyond the trial gate, eyes fixed on the scythe in his hand.
Hollow Mercy had grown colder.
He could feel it now—not just as a weapon, but as something alive. Not sentient, no—but steeped in purpose. It no longer waited for him to give it commands. It pulsed with suggestion, like a tide constantly nudging him forward. The four Gems embedded in its curved spine gleamed faintly in the falling dusk—Soul, Time, Space, and Balance—each humming with their own distinct frequency.
Rei sat a few feet away, arms resting on her knees, eyes fixed on the mist-covered horizon. She hadn't spoken since they'd left the Garden. Neither had he.
It wasn't tension. It wasn't fear.
It was something deeper.
Reverence, maybe. Or the slow, creeping understanding that something had fundamentally shifted.
Ezra glanced at her, then looked up at the darkening sky. Stars blinked into place like distant, watchful eyes.
The system chimed.
[Gem Resonance – Final Sequence Unlocked]
Fifth Gem Signature Detected
Location: Unavailable
Status: Bonded
Holder: Host Detected – "Rei Elowen"
Gem Affinity: POWER
He read it twice.
Then a third time.
"…No."
The word slipped out before he could stop it.
Rei turned toward him. "What is it?"
Ezra didn't speak. He turned the interface toward her.
She read it—and for a moment, her expression didn't change.
Then slowly… her shoulders sank. Her jaw tightened. And her fingers dug into the dirt beneath her.
"The last Gem," she said quietly. "It's in me."
The silence that followed wasn't empty—it was full of realization. Of weight. Of paths closing, and others opening with edges like razors.
Ezra looked at Hollow Mercy. The weapon trembled faintly in his grip, already reacting to the information. It wanted the final piece. The last fragment of its ancient self. And it didn't care who had to die for it.
"Ezra," Rei whispered. "What does this mean?"
He didn't answer. Not yet. Because he wasn't sure.
The system pinged again, as if sensing his hesitation.
[Warning: Hollow Mercy's Completion Protocol Engaged]
Final Gem must be acquired to stabilize weapon.
Delay may result in uncontrolled surge of scythe's core.
User soul: 84% stable.
Suggestion: Choose now.
He hated how the system said it.
Not "claim."
Not "ask."
Choose.
Like this wasn't a matter of consent or trust—just mechanics.
Like Rei was a chest that needed to be unlocked.
He stood.
Rei stood with him, facing him full on now. Her eyes were firm, but not afraid.
"Say it," she said.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"That's not what I asked. Say what the system wants. Out loud."
Ezra looked down.
"It wants me to take the Gem. From you."
She nodded once.
"And what happens if you don't?"
He exhaled.
"I don't know."
Another system prompt. Like a whisper brushing his ear.
[Weapon Core approaching instability threshold. Estimated detonation: 31 days.]
He didn't say it aloud.
Rei took a step forward. Her hand came to rest on his forearm.
"Then we find a way to remove it without killing me."
He met her eyes. "And if there isn't one?"
"Then you better make one."
That was Rei. Always defiant. Even when her life was at stake. Especially then.
Ezra sheathed Hollow Mercy across his back.
"We'll go to New Terra."
Rei frowned. "That place is locked down. Entire sector collapsed after the Nova Collapse. It's still off-grid."
"Exactly," he said. "And there's one person left alive who might know how to separate a bonded Gem."
Rei narrowed her eyes.
"Who?"
Ezra didn't blink.
"Nyra Vale."
They left the valley at sunrise.
The route to New Terra wasn't on any functioning map anymore. Most of the satellite networks had gone dark after the third wave of mana storms, and what little remained had been seized by Guild strongholds or rogue data syndicates. They'd have to travel the old way—on foot, through hostile sectors and broken cities.
They passed the ruins of Ironwreath by midday—a city that once held the largest mana reactor on the eastern seaboard. Now, it was a twisted jungle of metal and root, where trees grew through skyscrapers and vines pulsed with semi-sentient mana. The Bone Rat refused to enter, its ears twitching as it backed away from the perimeter.
Ezra understood.
Places like this remembered violence.
And not the kind you could reason with.
As night fell, they camped in a half-collapsed metro tunnel.
Rei worked in silence, cleaning her blade with slow, precise motions.
Ezra sat opposite her, checking his undead.
He'd learned recently—they remembered things now.
Not just echoes of pain or fragments of past life.
Full emotions.
Gravetusk, for instance, had started growling whenever Ezra got too close to the scythe. The Bone Walkers had begun mimicking each other, as though learning coordination. And the Bone Rat… it had taken to curling around Rei's legs when she slept.
It was hard not to think of them as more than tools.
He fed them from his own mana reserves now. It wasn't required. But it felt… right.
The system had stopped correcting him for it.
Ezra lay back on the stone, staring at the rusted ceiling.
There was a time he thought power would fix everything.
That if he just got strong enough, he could survive. Then thrive. Then protect.
But power had its own rules.
And its own hunger.
It didn't care about kindness. It didn't wait for morality.
It took. And if you didn't learn to hold the reins, it would take you.
He turned his head.
Rei had fallen asleep sitting up, chin tucked, fingers still resting on the hilt of her weapon.
She looked peaceful. And that, more than anything, scared him.
Because peace wasn't real. Not in this world. And every time he saw it in her face, he knew the world would try to shatter it.
Just like it had shattered his.
Ezra closed his eyes.
And dreamed of stars made of bone.
The next day, they reached the border.
New Terra lay across a collapsed ravine, bridged only by twisted metal and the remains of what might've once been a rail line. The city beyond rose like a forgotten god—towers swallowed in fog, walls wrapped in shifting glyphs, and lights that pulsed in no human rhythm.
[Zone Entered: New Terra – Access Level: Restricted]
Warning: Unauthorized entry will trigger Domain Protocols.
Affiliation Detected: Hollowborn – Access: Contested.
Current Occupant: Nyra Vale (Status: Unknown | Power Level: Unknown)
Ezra exhaled slowly.
The gates weren't guarded. There were no soldiers. No defense drones.
Just the pressure of a place that had locked itself in time.
Rei stepped beside him.
"I thought your mother was dead."
Ezra didn't respond at first.
Then: "So did I."
And with Hollow Mercy humming softly across his back…
They stepped forward.