Sephiroth rose from his seat with the grace of a predator, his t form casting long shadows across the room. His eyes never left Helios’s, their cold iy sending a shiver down Helios’s spine. “I’ll ask again,” Sephiroth said, his tone icy. “What are you doing with him?”

  Helios took a slow, deliberate step back, keeping the distaweeeady. “I’m trying to keep him alive,” he said holy, though his voice carried an uone of defiance. “His dition is critical. If he dies, let’s just say your existence might bee... unstable.”

  Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into a faint, humorless smirk. “You think his survival is necessary for mine?” he asked, his tone almost mog. “You misuand our e.”

  Helios tilted his head slightly, feigning curiosity. “Do I? You and I both know you’re tied to him in more ways than one. If his heart fails pletely, I doubt you’d remain ued. Call it a hunch.”

  For a moment, the room was filled with a charged silehen, without warning, Sephiroth raised a hand, a surge of dark energy pooling around him. Helios braced himself, his barrier shimmering brighter in respoo the sudden threat.

  “I don’t need him,” Sephiroth said coldly, his voice ced with disdain. “I exist beyond him. But you…” His gaze sharpened, and his aura grew heavier. “You’ve been meddling in things you shouldn’t. That makes you a liability.”

  Helios’s smirk returhough it didn’t reach his eyes. “A liability?” he echoed, his voice calm despite the rising danger. “Funny. I thought I was an ally. After all, I’m the one who will give you a new purpose. A’s not fet, I’m the only one keeping you eained with our little sparring sessions.”

  Sephiroth took a slow, deliberate step forward, his presence growing more menag with eaent. The dark energy around him pressed harder against Helios’s barrier, causing it to flicker uhe strain. “You have an infted sense of importance,” Sephiroth said, his voice cutting. “The word ‘ally’ is not something you’ve earned. Not yet.”

  Helios didn’t flinch, though his grip on the Keybde tightened subtly. “Earned or not, I’ve been doing my part,” he said, his voice steady. “I’ve stayed out of your way, I’ve grown stronger under yuidance, and I’ve kept your existeact. If that’s not enough for you, then maybe you o reevaluate what you want out of this partnership.”

  Sephiroth’s lips twitched into something resembling a smirk, though it was devoid of any real humor. “Partnership?” he echoed, his tone dripping with derision. “You mistake venience for camaraderie. I tolerate you because you amuse me. Nothing more.”

  The oppressive energy in the room grew heavier, and Helios could feel the weight of Sephiroth’s power pressing against him. Despite this, he refused to back down. “Then I’ll keep amusing you,” Helios said evenly, meeting Sephiroth’s gaze without wavering. “Because whether you admit it or not, you need me just as much as I need you. Actually, since I have to keep your other half alive you need me more than I currently need you. So I guess you owe me a favor.”

  For a moment, the tension in the room seemed poised to snap. Then, as suddenly as it had fred, Sephiroth’s dark energy began to recede. The air grew lighter, though the mena his gaze remained. “I’m warn you,” Sephiroth said quietly, his tone carrying a deadly edge. “The liween usefulness and expendability is thihan you think.”

  Helios exhaled slowly, l his Keybde as the shimmering barrier around them faded. His smirk returned, faint but defiant. “And the liween ally and leech is just as thin,” he said, his voice calm but firm.

  Sephiroth’s eyes narrowed slightly, though he made no move to attack. After a moment, he turned away, his steps eg ominously as he disappeared into the shadows.

  Helios walked into the dining room after ying Cloud in his bed, his thoughts still weighed down by the frontation with Sephiroth. To his surprise, Malefit was seated at the table, a por cup of tea in her elegant hand. Across from her, another cup was set, steam curling softly from the surface of the liquid. She gestured wordlessly for him to take the empty seat.

  “Trouble in paradise?” she asked, her voice carrying a smooth edge of mockery.

  Helios didn’t respond immediately. He moved to the chair, sitting down with a trolled grace. Lifting the cup to his lips, he drank deeply, sav the ued warmth. It had been days—weeks, maybe—since he’d felt even a fleeting sense of calm. The tea’s soothi seemed to spread through his veins, momentarily loosening the knots of tension in his muscles.

  But Malefit’s voice broke through that fragile peace. “When I expect this army of mine?” she asked, her tone sharp and anding. Her green eyes fixed on him with a pierg gaze. “My patience, dear boy, is wearing thin.”

  Helios sighed, setting the cup down with deliberate care. He met her gaze evenly, his expression guarded but resolute. “Any day now,” he said, his voice carrying a calm assurahat masked the turmoil beh.

  Malefit leaned ba her chair, her fiapping lightly on the edge of her cup. “Any day,” she echoed, her tone filled with doubt. “That phrase has bee a mantra of yours. Are you stalling, Helios? Or have you simply overestimated your abilities?”

  Helios’s jaw tightehough he kept his toral. “her,” he replied. “The pieces are falling into pce. But creating something like this takes time and precision. If you want an army worth anding, you’ll have to wait a little longer.”

  Malefit’s smirk returned, her amusement cold and desding. “How ve,” she said. “It seems your setbacks grow with every passing day. First, your mysterious excursions, then this guest of yours iher room. Noparent falling-out with our mutual acquaintance.” She gestured vaguely, clearly alluding to Sephiroth.

  Helios’s expression remained impassive, though his eyes glinted with defiance. “Everything I do is to ehat your army will be everything you’ve envisioned and more. Or have you grown tired of waiting for perfe?”

  Malefit chuckled softly, her voice low ay. “Perfe is an illusion, my dear. But power—true, unyielding power—that is worth the wait. I only hope you’re not allowing... distras to promise your work.”

  Helios leaned forward slightly, his voice calm but ced with a subtle warning. “Distras don’t promise my work. They’re part of the process. Every move I make, every decision—it’s all ected to the endgame. You’ll have your army, Malefit. But only if you trust me to do what o be done.”