After the Red Widow stirred, the world forgot how.
Dust hung midair, suspended like ash in space. The cathedral's pulse still echoed—soft, low, like a memory refusing to die.
Somewhere beneath its cracked foundations, a boot crunched glass.
Kai.
But not as before.
His coat dragged behind him like smoke. His eyes, once twin storms of rage and memory, were calm now—too calm. As if the boy had drowned and something else crawled back in his skin.
He stood where the chains had once bound him.
Now they were gone.
Melted into the altar. Burned into the glyphs. The whispers were quiet now—but not silent. Just... watching.
"I wasn't supposed to break yet."
His own voice. He hated how human it sounded.
Above him, the stained-glass mural depicting the old heroes shattered fully, raining down like the past refusing to be worshiped.
He didn't flinch.
Elsewhere – Lower Ninth Ward
Smoke bled into the sky.
Shin sat beneath a tilted light post, sword stabbed into the ground, his breath a slow rhythm. Ryuu stood above him, hands in his pockets, watching the Red Widow's signal fade into the clouds.
"She's awake," Ryuu muttered.
Shin didn't respond.
"She's looking for him."
Still nothing.
Ryuu clicked his tongue. "You really gonna pretend that last slash didn't mess you up?"
"I'm listening," Shin finally muttered. "To the sword. It's quieter now."
Ryuu raised an eyebrow. "That's good?"
"No," Shin whispered. "That means it's waiting."
Back to Kai – Underground Transit Hub, Sector Zero
A child's voice echoed.
Not real.
Not anymore.
"Do you remember what it felt like to be whole?"
He didn't.
He remembered bleeding. He remembered burning. He remembered protecting them—and failing.
The air shimmered as the Red Widow stepped through.
Not ran. Not lunged.
Stepped.
Barefoot. Long hair dragging like liquid night. Wires still pulsing at her wrists.
She looked twelve.
She was older than ruin.
Kai didn't speak.
Neither did she.
Then, in a whisper that folded the walls around them:
"You saw it too."
He didn't ask what.
He only nodded.
And the world… tilted.
Flash Cut – Ryuu
He stopped laughing.
He never stopped laughing.
But something gripped his spine.
He looked east.
"Kai… what did you see?"