Sakamoto's Age: 6.5
Location: Braelor's crumbling walls
Time: Three days after Lucis was confirmed alive
State of Mind: Resolved. Wounded. Determined.
---
The fire cracked weakly in the center of the broken hall, casting Sakamoto's shadow long against the ruined stone walls. Around him, Braelor slept fitfully — a village rebuilt by willpower alone, stitched together by people who whispered his name when they thought he couldn't hear.
But Sakamoto had already made his decision.
He wasn't staying.
He couldn't.
Every hour he lingered, more scouts reported seeing the spiral sigil burning into the forests nearby.
Lucis wasn't just hunting.
He was calling.
And Sakamoto knew — if he stayed, Braelor would burn again.
And this time, no amount of ash would be enough to forgive him.
---
He sat across from Ravian and Eira now.
They hadn't spoken much since the siege. Not because they hated each other — but because words weren't strong enough anymore.
The silence between them had grown heavy. Final.
Sakamoto broke it first.
> "I'm leaving."
Neither of them flinched.
Neither of them pretended to misunderstand.
Ravian looked up, his soulband mark flickering dull red along his ribs.
> "When?"
> "Tomorrow."
> "Where?"
> "Doesn't matter."
> "Why?"
Sakamoto hesitated — not because he doubted, but because he knew what it would cost.
He placed a hand over his chest where Niris's new pulse beat in sync with his own.
> "Because if I stay...
I stay a boy who burns everything he touches."
He looked at them. His only two companions in a world that feared his very breath.
> "I need to become the monster they're already afraid I am.
And then become the man that can survive it."
---
Eira's hand trembled where it rested on her lap.
Not from fear — but from the pressure of the memories blooming inside her.
Memories of battles she'd never fought.
Promises she'd never made.
Goodbyes she'd never earned.
And yet… she felt them crack inside her like old glass.
> "You'll forget us," she whispered.
Sakamoto shook his head.
> "I'll spend every step remembering you."
He stood. Walked to the shattered doorway where the cold wind howled through. He placed his hand against the frame, feeling the bite of the stone under his fingers.
> "I don't know how long it'll take.
I don't know if I'll even survive.
But when I come back…
I want to come back able to protect everything I couldn't before."
---
Ravian rose unsteadily, stepping beside him.
The bond between them pulsed — weak, fragile. But there.
He extended a hand — the old way, the way warriors did before battles they didn't expect to win.
Sakamoto clasped it tight.
No words.
Only understanding.
> "Don't die stupidly," Ravian muttered.
> "You too."
They shared a broken grin.
The kind you only give when you know you'll never see the other smile again for a long, long time.
---
Before dawn, Sakamoto left Braelor.
No ceremony.
No parade.
Just footsteps fading into frozen dirt.
He carried only three things:
A cracked sword on his back.
A worn cloak stitched from ash-feather cloth.
And a heart heavy enough to drown in.
---
🌑 Across the Horizon
Lucis watched from atop a hill of glassed earth.
He saw the small figure vanish into the Wilds.
He smiled faintly.
> "Good," he murmured.
"Suffer, little brother.
Suffer enough that when you find me again, you'll either be a king…
or a corpse."
He turned back toward the capital's broken roads.
The world was moving again.
---
⚔️ Final Scene – The Whisper of Time
Two days later, far across the Frostline Wilds, a hunter glimpsed a boy sitting by a dying fire.
Alone.
No banners.
No guards.
No armies.
Only a small figure sharpening a blade under a blackened sky.
And when the hunter returned to town, he told the barkeep:
> "I saw the Ash Crown wandering alone."
The barkeep laughed.
> "Impossible. That kid's a myth now."
The hunter leaned closer.
> "Maybe.
But if he's still out there...
I wouldn't bet against him finding a way to shatter the sky itself."