Tendrils of bone-pale vapor slithered past the threshold of the Great Rift Bridge, clawing meticulously at the centuries-scarred masonry. The air hung thick and heavy, saturated with moisture and the faint, metallic tang of the chasm below. The bridge stretched into the unknown, its massive span disappearing into the fog with the impossible geometry of a structure built by hands that had long since turned to dust.
Sanza Kaplan Figarland stood at the edge, his small frame dwarfed by the massive stone archway. His red hair was plastered to his forehead by the mist, and his eyes—those piercing, judgmental eyes that usually analyzed everyone with cold superiority—were wide with something that looked very much like fear. He swallowed hard, his throat working against the lump that had formed there. The Riftus Valley yawned below, its depths invisible beneath the blanket of fog, but its presence was unmistakable—a vast, empty void that inhaled with the rhythm of the earth itself.
Jelly perched on Sanza's shoulder, his translucent blue body wobbling with each movement. He leaned forward, his massive starry eyes trying to pierce the gloom. "Hello!" he called out, his voice echoing back at him in a chorus of cheerful repetitions. "Hello! Hello! Hello!"
He giggled, bouncing with delight. "Bloop! It talks back!"
Sanza's jaw flexed, his composure cracking. "This is not the time for games, Jelly."
Jelly tilted his head, his permanent grin unfazed. "But it's funny, Sanza! The echo is like a friend!"
Colonel Hino Rohin chuckled, the sound deep and rumbling in his massive chest. His silver-grey rhino form was a monument of solidity in the mist, his magnificent horn gleaming with moisture. His voice was warm, carrying the teasing tone. "Don't fall in. The giant footprints will get you."
Sanza's head snapped around, his eyes blazing with sudden alarm. "What?"
Marya's voice cut through the panic, flat and dry. "He's only teasing."
Sanza breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders sagging. Jelly bounced on his shoulder, his voice bright with excitement. "Giant footprints!"
Lieutenant Cohei Duukk shifted beside Hino, his greater kudu frame lean and restless. His horns shrouded in the ominous mist, and his striped mane bristled with nervous energy. "The bridge is stable, but the mist can disorient even the most experienced travelers. We should proceed with—"
Jannali was already moving, her feet carrying her toward the bridge with the steady, unbroken rhythm of a sleepwalker. Her headscarf was slightly askew, her afro damp from mist, and her lips moved in a constant, low murmur that was lost to the wind.
Marya's voice cut through, flat and decisive. "This bridge. It goes straight to the other side?"
Cohei nodded, his emerald eyes fixed on the disappearing figure. "Yes. The mist can be treacherous, but the path is—"
Marya, Jannali, Sanza, and Jelly were already gone, swallowed by the fog.
Hino's massive frame shifted, his dark eyes fixed on the spot where they had vanished. "She appears to do that a lot."
Cohei nodded, with dry resignation. "Yes, sir. We had better—"
They transformed in unison.
Silver-white moonlight exploded from their forms, their bodies elongating and swelling with raw power. Hino's rhino frame expanded, his horn becoming a magnificent spiral of light, his silver-grey fur cascading into luminescent white. Cohei's kudu form transformed, his horns curling into elegant spirals of light, his striped mane flowing like liquid silver.
They shot forward, two streaks of white lightning disappearing into the mist, trailing arcs of electricity that crackled and popped in their wake.
---
Jelly's face flapped in the wind as Marya kept a firm hold on Sanza and Jannali, her mist form rushing through the fog with impossible speed. His voice echoed with delight. "Wheeeee! This is amazing! Bloop! Wheeee!"
Sanza's small frame was tense in Marya's grip, his eyes fixed on the mist ahead. "Big sis, I can't see anything."
"Then stop looking," Marya replied, her voice flat and focused. "Trust the mist."
Jannali's muttered words grew louder, her voice carrying the fragmented intensity of a prophecy struggling to be born. "The drums... the drums beat louder... they are... they are..."
Marya blinked.
The resistance hit her like a wall of syrup, thick and suffocating. Her mist form stuttered, the edges of her body flickering as if caught in a frozen wave. She tried to move, to push forward, but her limbs refused to obey.
She looked at Jannali. Frozen.
She looked at Sanza. Frozen.
She looked at Jelly. His wide, starry eyes were locked in a moment of delight, his grin frozen mid-laugh.
Marya's head swiveled, her eyes darting across the frozen landscape. The mist had stopped moving, its tendrils suspended in mid-air like a photograph of chaos. Her body was unable to move, trapped in the same impossible stillness that had seized her companions.
Then she saw him.
Her father, Dracule Mihawk, stood at the edge of the frozen bridge, his massive blade Yuro raised. His golden, ringed eyes burned with the intensity of a man who had never known defeat. His black coat billowed in a wind that didn't exist, and his hand was steady on the hilt of his sword.
Marya tried to call out to him, but her voice was gone.
She watched as Mihawk swung Yuro, sending an arc of haki slicing through the frozen air. The attack was intercepted by a shadowy demon figure, its form writhing with multiple arms and faces—the Asura. The clash of power sent shockwaves through the frozen world, and Mihawk's eyes widened with something Marya had never seen in them before.
Surprise.
She blinked.
The vision shattered.
Mihawk stood, his body rigid. Yuro shattered in his hands, the pieces falling like frozen tears. He fell to his knees, his strength gone, his eyes staring at nothing.
Marya screamed. "NO!"
But her voice was gone, swallowed by the impossible silence.
Another vision flashed.
Micah.
He stood in the center of a magic circle, his chest bare. The mark of Thye glowed on his skin, pulsing with an eerie, rhythmic light. Cloaked figures surrounded him, their voices rising in a chant that vibrated through the very fabric of reality. The circle lit up with blinding intensity, and Micah levitated, his body suspended in the air.
A giant mermaid materialized above him, her serpentine finned tail coiling through the air like a living river. A single eye dominated the center of her head, ancient and knowing, the Thye. She maneuvered around Micah, her massive hands cradling him with impossible gentleness.
Micah screamed.
The symbol on his chest blazed, and his eyes lit up with a terrible, otherworldly glow. Thye's single eye fixed on him, and he convulsed in her grip, his body writhing with the agony of a power he had never asked for.
Then his head snapped up, his glowing eyes fixed on Marya.
He could see her.
Marya's jaw flexed, her teeth grinding with the effort of breaking free. She tried to call out to him, to reach him, to do anything—but there was nothing.
The vision shattered like glass.
---
Sanza blinked.
He was frozen, unable to move, his small body trapped in the same impossible stillness that had seized the others. His eyes were fixed on the mist ahead, but he could see something else.
His family.
They were running, their forms blurred by distance and fear. His mother clutched his younger siblings, her face twisted with terror. His father was shouting, his arms raised as if trying to hold back the sky itself.
Sanza smiled, his heart swelling with the joy of seeing them again. "Mother—"
A plume of fire erupted behind them. Smoke billowed across the sky, black and thick, choking the air. The ground exploded, chunks of stone and earth flying in all directions. Walls crumbled. Buildings collapsed. The world was ending, and his family was right in the middle of it.
Sanza tried to run to them, to reach them, to save them—but he was frozen, his legs useless, his arms pinned to his sides.
He reached out with his mind, his heart, his soul. "No—NO!"
His family kept running, their forms growing smaller and smaller. The fire consumed them, swallowing them in a curtain of orange and black.
Sanza screamed, but no sound came out.
---
The mist spit them out like a mouthful of bad food. Marya, Sanza, and Jelly crashed and rolled across the stone, their bodies tumbling to a halt in a heap of limbs and gasping breaths. Jannali continued walking, her trance unbroken, her feet carrying her forward with the steady rhythm of a sleepwalker.
Marya lay on her back, her chest heaving, her golden eyes fixed on the sky. Her voice was a ragged whisper. "What the—"
Sanza scrambled to his feet, his small frame trembling with barely contained panic. "Big sis! Big sis!"
Colonel Hino Rohin and Lieutenant Cohei Duukk rushed to them, their Sulong forms dissolving as they reached the fallen group. Hino offered Marya a hand, his dark eyes filled with concern. "What happened?"
Marya took his hand, pulling herself to her feet. Her gaze was fixed on the misty bridge, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I don't know." Her voice was flat, controlled. "But I saw something."
Sanza rushed to her side, his voice rising with panic. "Big sis, I saw something too! My family, they were running, and there was fire, and—"
Marya placed a hand on his shoulder, her grip firm. "Yeah. I saw something too." Her eyes met his, and for a moment, the mask slipped. "It was disturbing."
Sanza blinked, a tear forming in his eye. "What are we—"
Marya shook her head, her voice flat and decisive. "I don't think there's anything we can do." She paused, her gaze distant. "And we don't know if it was real."
Cohei stepped forward, his emerald eyes fixed on the group with concern. "What did you see?"
Marya's lips pressed together, her expression disturbed. "The fall of our families."
Hino and Cohei exchanged a look, their silent communication carrying the weight of shared experience.
Marya turned to Hino, her gaze sharp. "Has there ever—"
Hino shook his head, his massive frame shifting with the motion. His gaze shifted to Jannali, who had stopped, her gaze fixed on the horizon. "But you are traveling with one of the Three-Eye Tribe. It could be that—"
Marya nodded, her voice flat. "Yeah. Good point."
Sanza's head swiveled, his panic spiking. "What? What is it?"
Marya sighed, her shoulders dropping with the weight of a truth she didn't want to deliver. "Jannali's ability may be showing us things that are yet to come." She paused, her voice dropping. "Or—"
Sanza swallowed hard, his small frame trembling. "Or what, big sis?"
Marya took a breath, her voice flat. "Or they are already happening."
Sanza's eyes went wide, his voice cracking. "But—but—what are we—"
Marya looked him in the eye, her gaze steady. "I don't know that there is anything we can do other than finish what we came here to do." She paused, her voice dropping. "And go and find them."
Sanza sniffled, his small face crumbling. "Promise?"
Marya nodded, her gaze distant. "Yeah. I do."
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