Helios sat in his darkened room, the only light ing from the puter s illuminating his tired, pale face. Hours had turned into a day as he monitored the security feed, his gaze unwaverie the fatigue gnawing at his mind. The glowing s’s brightness pierced his eyes, giving him a splitting headache. Each sed that ticked by was like a grain of sand slipping through an hss—eae ted, and eae could bring the moment he had been waiting for.

  Malefit was satisfied for now, Skuld was busy honing her spells, and Sephiroth remained indifferent to anything uo himself. This gave Helios the time he desperately needed. He couldn’t afford distras; the events unfolding at the castle were far too important to miss. Xehanort atient, but Helios khe man would act soon. He had spent enough time watg Xehanort the subtle movements that preceded his maations—the calm before the storm.

  By the time midnight approached on the sed day, Helios’s body had begun to betray him. His eyelids drooped, his breathing slowed, and the ache in his neck from staring at the s for so long pulsed with every heartbeat. He nearly nodded off, his head jerking up just as a faint sound echoed through his speakers—footsteps. Helios sat up, his fatigue evaporating in an instant.

  His attention snapped back to the monitor, where the grainy bd-white feed dispyed Ahe Wise walking briskly into the secret b, his long coat flowing behind him. Xehanort followed close behind, his gait measured, his hands csped calmly behind his back as though he were esc the headmaster on a simple tour.

  Helios’s expression hardened. It’s happening.

  He leaned forward, his gaze locked on the s as the frontation began.

  Ahe Wise came to a stop in the ter of the b, his sharp eyes darting across the room, taking in the sight of maes humming aless-filled tai cells blinking with ominous light. He turned abruptly, his face flushed with anger, and his voice rang through the cavernous space.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Ansem barked, his voice reverberating through the b. “Xehanort, expin yourself at once!”

  Xehanort, as calm and posed as ever, walked a few steps forward but kept his hands behind his back. His golden eyes glinted with quiet triumph as he answered, “We’re dug research, Master Ansem. Researto the heart—a field of study you yourself sought to uand once upon a time.”

  Aiffened, his fists trembling at his sides. “This is madness! You disobeyed my direct orders and sullied my castle with this… this heresy!” His voice grew louder, his tone livid. “Hoeople have you sacrificed for this abomination of research?”

  Xehanort tilted his head slightly, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “No more than you did, Master, when you sought answers in the same darkness you now n.”

  Ansem’s face torted with shod fury. “Do not twist my as to justify your atrocities!” he shouted, stepping forward. “I was a fool to take someone like you as my apprentice! I should have seen the darkness festering inside you!”

  Xehanort chuckled softly, a sound that sent chills down Helios’s spine even through the s. “I couldn’t agree more, Master,” he said smoothly. “You were a fool.”

  Ansem pointed a shaking fi Xehanort. “Enough! I will put ao this now. I will tear down this wretched b and put a stop to your madness! You and the others—you’re finished! You will all leave this castle!”

  Helios’s eyes narrowed, his fiwitg slightly as he readied himself. The tension was rising to its breaking point.

  Xehanort’s demeanor darkened, his smile fading into something far more sinister. He took a slow, deliberate step toward Ansem. “I admire your resolve, truly,” he said, his voice dropping to an icy calm. “But you misuand the situation, Master. I’ve already takehing from you—your castle, your knowledge, your apprehe only thi… is your name.”

  With that, Xehanort’s hand moved to the trol panel beside him. Helihe moment for what it was—now.

  He pushed back his chair and summoned a dark corridor, slipping through the swirling shadows in his dark form. When he emerged, he was cloaked in darkness, shrouded in the farthest er of the b where the flickering lights barely reached.

  In that moment, Xehanort pressed the button on the sole. A deep rumble reverberated through the b, and a portal of darkness roared open behind Ahe Wise. It was wild and unstable, crag with energy like a bck hole desperate to e everything around it. Papers as flew off desks, equipment rattled, and the pull of the dark portal began t anything not bolted down into its maw.

  Aurned, his face frozen in shock as the dark corridor surged to life, its pull nearly sweeping him off his feet. “Xehanort, what is this madness?!”

  Xehanort stood with his arms behind his back, watg the chaos unfold with a quiet satisfa. “A fitting farewell for you, Master,” he said coldly. “I’ve learned much from your mistakes. sider this my first step in transding them.”

  Helios remained hidden in the er, his golden eyes glowing faintly beh the shroud of his darkness. He whispered under his breath, “Kurai, you trol it? Make sure he ends up on The Dark Margin?”

  The voice of Kurai echoed softly in his mind, its torained but fident. “It’s unstable… but I ma. I’ll ensure he nds where you need him to.”

  Helios nodded silently, his gaze never leaving Ansem.

  Ansem fought to hold his ground as the portal’s pull grew stronger, dragging maery, books, and shards of broken gss into its swirlier. “You will regret this, Xehanort!” Ansem shouted, his voice filled with rage and desperation. “Everything you build will colpse around you! In the end, you will stand aloh nothing!”

  Xehanort’s eyes glinted with amusement as he responded, his voice calm and cruel. “Then I suppose I’ll truly take after you, Master. After all, isn’t that the ending you’ve earned for yourself?”

  With that final retort, the portal surged. Helios saw his d stepped forward, stretg his hand discreetly toward the unstable darkness. With Kurai’s influence guiding it, the portal shifted ever so slightly, its chaotic pull aligning to send Ansem not just anywhere—but to the Realm of Darkness, specifically The Dark Margin.

  Ansem cried out as the force of the portal finally overcame him, sweeping him off his feet. Helios watched as the former ruler of Radiant Garden was ed by the swirling darkness, his figure vanishing pletely into its depths.

  The room fell silent save for the hum of maery and the faint crackle of lingering dark energy. Xehanort stood tall, gazing at the now-closed portal with satisfa. His expression held no remorse, only cold determination.

  Helios slipped bato the shadows, opening his own dark corridor to leave. He cast o g Xehanort, who was already turning back to the sole, undoubtedly ready to erase any evidence of what had occurred.

  As Helios vanished into the dark corridor, he murmured softly to himself, “The pieces are falling into pce.”

  When he reemerged in his own room, the faint hum of the puter greeted him once more. His golden eyes glowed faintly as he stared at the monitor, watg the empty b where Ansem had oood.

  “Good luck, Ansem,” Helios muttered under his breath, his voice carrying a hint of grim satisfa. “You’ll .”

  He turned off the monitor and leaned ba his chair, closing his eyes. His pn was ba track—for now.