The first rays of sunlight stretched across the city of Thebes as Helios stirred from his sleep, sitting up and rubbing his temples. His body still ached from the battle with Sephiroth, but pared to yesterday, he felt alive again.

  Zack rawled out on the floor, sn loudly, while Sephiroth sat in his usual position by the window, his gaze distant, lost in thought. Zack then turned and started speaking in his sleep, “Skuld… Aqua… hehe.”

  Helios stretched and cracked his neck before throwing a pillow at Zack.

  "Wake up, sleepiy. Did you have a nice dream?" he said with a grin.

  Zack grumbled, rolling over before mumbling, "Five more minutes..."

  Sephiroth stood up ahe room without a word, and Helios chuckled, "See? Even he’s doh your ziness."

  Zack sat up, groggy, before rubbing his face. "You sure know how to ruin a good dream."

  Helios simply smirked. "e on. Time to check out the new pce."

  The walk to their new home took them outside the bustling streets of Thebes and toward the outskirts where the city met the wilderness.

  When they finally arrived, Helios, Skuld, Cloud, and Zack all stood before a rge Greek mansion, its white marble walls cracked from years of . The ardens were rown, and a few old statues of warriors had fallen over, some missing heads or arms.

  Ophei’s men seemed to have done a good job as the broken furniture was now gone and all of the dust and cobwebs had been ed. It was still far from looking pristi it was better than before by a mile.

  Zack whistled, "Wow. Talk about a fixer-upper."

  Helios grinned, "Yeah, but the bones are solid. Once I use a little magic to restore everything, it’ll be better than new."

  Skuld stepped forward, running her hand over the doorframe. "It’s… bigger than I expected."

  Cloud, as usual, remained silent, staring bnkly at the ruiructure.

  Helios turo Zack. "Alright, let’s go over the rules. This is your home now while I’m gone. Feel free to decorate it however you want. Make sure Cloud doesn’t wander off or, you know, get killed or something like that. And most importantly—"

  Zack raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, ‘don’t burn it down’?"

  Helios snapped his finger and poi him. "Exactly."

  Zack crossed his arms, looking at the pce again. It felt strange… but somewhat cozy. He had ayed in a house with others before. It was stra still, somehow he hoped here he would find a home.

  Helios spent the forty minutes or so casting the spell all round the house fixing the building and its foundatio it to a perfect dition. The cracks sealed themselves and the faded color of the marble wall turned white as they had been long ago.

  Now that the house was looking good, their small group gathered o time around a table found in what might have been the living room.

  The air was lighter than Helios expected. Even though he and Skuld were leaving, they simply rexed and drank a bottle of strange liquid that Zack brought along. Although Sephiroth did not partake in the drink or the versation it was iing to see the swordsman still at the table.

  Zack leaned ba his chair, grinning. "So, how long do you two think you’ll be gone?"

  Helios exhaled, pg his hands behind his head. "Could be a week. Could be years. The pce we’re going to isly on the map. Time works differently there."

  Zaodded, accepting the answer.

  Cloud… simply blinked. His expression was unreadable.

  Skuld tapped the table, lookiween them. "You guys will be okay, right?"

  Zack smirked. ", don’t uimate me."

  Helios grinned. "Yeah, yeah. You’re strong, I get it. Just go easy on him."

  Sephiroth remained silent, his gaze locked on Helios for a brief moment before looking away.

  And with that, the versation slowly faded into small talk, light banter, and quiet moments shared between friends.

  As the sun rose higher in the sky, Helios and Skuld stood outside the city gates.

  Skuld pulled her Keybde free and looked at Helios. "So… what now?"

  Helios smirked, holding out his hand and opening a dark corridor. The swirling portal would lead to The Dark Meridian a mysterious, foreboding world shrouded in shadow, existiween realms. It was an eerie, vast expanse featuring a dark sky and stra had been stated that the area ecial as it y on the "border" of the darkness.

  The swirling Dark Corridor pulsed before them, a gateway into the unknown. The abyss beyond it whispered with unseen voices, tendrils of shadow flickering at the edges of the portal like a living thing. The unnatural stillness sent a shiver down Skuld’s spine.

  Helios, however, stood rexed, hands in his pockets, watg the portal with an unreadable expression.

  Skuld exhaled slowly and reached down, fingers brushing against the bracelet on her wrist—a silver band adorned with blue wing-like engravings and a bck raven-shaped gemsto its ter. She pressed the gemstone. With a sudden gust of swirling wind, her Keybde armor materialized around her.

  Silver and blue ptes encased her body, lightweight yet resilient, the wind-like design givihe freedom to move effortlessly. The feathered pauldrons, the flowing translut cape, and the aerodynamic helm pleted her battle-ready form.

  She flexed her fingers, feeling the reassurilessness of the armor.

  Theuro Helios—who had dohing.

  Her brows furrowed. "Helios—"

  He waved a hand dismissively. "ht sorry, I was distracted by something. Give me a sed."

  Helios smirked and held up his left hand, revealing the bck ring ed around his finger—sleek and engraved with faint purple and white Ret's Sigils, glowing softly with restrained power.

  He twirled the ring once.

  A surge of purple lightning crackled around him. His armor fshed ience, c him in sleek, interwoven ptes of bck, white, and purple, the cwed gaus and jagged edges radiating raw power. His sharp, angur helm gleamed in the dim light, and a short, tattered cape fluttered behind him.

  Skuld huffed. "Show-off."

  Helios chuckled. "You think it looks cool. o deny it."

  With their armor now ihey turoward the Dark Corridor. Then—he and Skuld stepped into the abyss.

  The portal swallowed them whole. The moment they emerged, everything ged. Gone was the golden glow of Thebes.

  In its p endless sea of dark water, stretg iernity. The sky above was a swirling void of bd violet, speckled with faint, flickering stars.

  The air was dense. Heavy. Suffog.

  Skuld nded lightly beside Helios, the light of her armor casting a soft glow against the darkness. "So what is this pce?”

  Helios didn’t respond immediately. “…this is the Dark Meridian."

  Because the moment his boots touched the ground, Kurai’s familiar voice whispered in his mind. “You tried so hard to escape this pce before… and now you’re diving ba.”

  His breath hitched for a fra of a sed. Kurai’s voice was mog, amused—but there was something else beh it.

  Helios narrowed his eyes, f himself to ig. But the whisper tinued. “How does it feel to be back, Helios?”

  His fists ched.

  “Does being here help you remember?”

  The water beh his feet rippled.

  “Does it bring the memory of your parents' demise into clearer focus?”

  A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, but he forced his expression to remairal.

  Skuld was watg him.

  So Helios couldn’t react. He wouldn’t. “Stop messing around. I don’t know if you’re bored since you kept silent most of the time in that st world but now is not the time to act up.”

  Instead, he exhaled slowly and focused oh ahead.

  "Let’s move," he said, his voice steady.

  If Kurai wao poke at old wounds, it could talk all it wanted. Helios wasn’t going to let a shadow of the past trol him. Not anymore.