The Wraithborn was gone.
But its echo lingered.
The next morning, Elena sat in the back of a run-down diner, her hands still trembling slightly around a cup of cheap coffee. Across from her sat Rico — casual, calm, like they hadn't just fought a nightmare creature in a back alley twelve hours ago.
He barely touched his food.
"I need answers," she said finally.
Rico nodded. "And you'll get them. But you need to understand what you're really part of first."
She leaned forward. "That thing—what was it? Really?"
He met her eyes. "A Wraithborn. Born from flux that's twisted, corrupted by extreme human emotion. Trauma. Hate. Grief. But it's not random anymore. Someone is cultivating them."
________________________________________
✦✦✦
Back at the gym, Thorne waited with arms crossed. As soon as he saw them, he said nothing — just lit a flame of blue flux from his palm and waved them inside like they were late to war.
"The Wraithborn are getting bolder," he said. "And you shouldn't have had to face one this early."
Elena swallowed. "What are they exactly? Spirits?"
"No. Not spirits. Not demons. Not people. They're the afterbirth of broken flux — when a person's unresolved emotions become so strong, their energy doesn't dissipate. It lingers. It festers. Then something — or someone — gives it form."
"And someone's creating them?" Rico asked.
Thorne nodded grimly. "There's a faction. I thought they were dead. Gone. But if Wraithborns are showing up again in packs, it means the Eclipsed Circle is moving."
Elena frowned. "Who are they?"
Thorne hesitated.
"Let me show you."
________________________________________
✦✦✦
The gym's basement was colder than expected — hidden beneath rusted iron grates and layers of dust. Thorne unlocked a trapdoor under the ring and led them down into a bunker-like room filled with ancient scrolls, old training manuals, and flickering holo-screens.
He pressed a switch, and a digital map blinked on the wall — pulsing red marks dotting cities across the globe.
"Long ago," Thorne began, "some awakened realized the truth — flux is infinite. But the human mind isn't. Not everyone can handle full awakening. And when people break..."
He pointed to a video feed. Footage — grainy and unstable — showed a Wraithborn tearing through a facility before blinking out of existence.
"…the fragments they leave behind become Echo-tier entities. Wraithborns."
Rico crossed his arms. "And the Circle?"
"They believe the human form is a limitation," Thorne said. "They want to push people into breaking — triggering forced awakenings, releasing energy without consent. They think that's evolution."
Elena's blood chilled.
"They make people awaken through trauma?"
"They create pressure," Thorne said, turning to her. "Pain. Crisis. They feed the storm."
________________________________________
✦✦✦
Meanwhile…
Somewhere else in Southridge, the storm was already brewing.
A man in a black coat sat inside an abandoned church — its windows shattered, the floor littered with shattered pews. He watched a girl kneel in front of a cracked mirror, tears running silently down her face.
Her flux was weak. Unstable.
But grief pulsed off her like waves.
He stepped closer.
"Do you miss her?" he asked.
The girl looked up, startled.
"My sister," she whispered. "I want to forget. I need to forget."
He knelt beside her, voice soft. "You don't have to suffer. I can take the pain away."
Her flux shimmered. Pale blue.
He touched her forehead.
A flash of violet energy surged. The mirror shattered.
Moments later, she stood still — hollow-eyed, blank-faced.
The man rose.
Behind him, shadows twisted into shape.
The Eclipsed Circle had found their next Wraithborn.
________________________________________
✦✦✦
Back in the gym, Thorne handed Elena a tattered journal.
"Keep this. Start recording your flux patterns, thoughts, energy spikes. The more you understand yourself, the stronger your awakening will become."
Elena took it carefully. "You think I'm close?"
"You've already shifted gravity without meaning to," Thorne said. "Imagine what'll happen when you do it on purpose."
Rico looked over. "We'll need more than just her. If the Circle's moving again, we need allies."
Thorne nodded. "There are others out there. Some awakening. Some awakened. We need to find them. Before the Circle does."
Elena stood up straighter.
"I'll help," she said.
"Even after what you saw?" Thorne asked.
"Because of what I saw."