The first alarm rang at dusk.
Not the sharp, panicked bells meant for monsters or breaches—but the low, steady tone reserved for approaching inevitabilities.
Kuro felt it before he heard it.
A pressure behind his eyes.A tug in his chest.Like the world itself leaning toward him.
"…It's closer," he said quietly.
Mika looked up from where he'd been arguing with the Guildmaster over emergency protocols. One look at Kuro's face and the argument died in his throat.
"How close?" Mika asked.
Kuro swallowed. "Close enough that it knows I know."
Lucien let out a weak laugh from the doorway. "Haha. That's—cool. That's super cool. I love mutual awareness with cosmic leftovers."
[You're handling this badly.]Elvastia observed.
"I AM coping," Lucien snapped. "This is called humor."
The Guildmaster straightened, decision settling into his posture like armor. "All evacuation routes are open. Senior mages are forming containment rings. If it crosses the outer ley—"
"It won't," Kuro said.
Everyone turned to him.
Kuro's hands clenched. His voice shook—but it didn't break. "It's not going to force its way in."
Mika frowned. "How do you know?"
"Because it doesn't want destruction," Kuro said. "It wants completion."
Silence followed.
The Guildmaster spoke carefully. "And what does that mean for you?"
Kuro hesitated.
The truth pressed against his ribs, heavy and unavoidable.
"…It wants me to go to it."
Lucien's face went pale. "Oh absolutely not."
"No," Mika said at the same time, sharper, louder. "That's not happening."
Kuro turned to him. "Mika—"
"No," Mika repeated, stepping closer. "You don't walk into the sky to make the apocalypse feel better about itself."
[He's right.]Elvastia said.[You are not a missing piece in someone else's wound.]
Kuro squeezed his eyes shut. "Then why does it feel like this?" he whispered. "Like I'm being pulled apart just standing still?"
The Guildmaster watched him for a long moment, then spoke. "Because fragments remember what they were made to do."
Kuro looked up.
"But," the Guildmaster continued, "you were remade."
Mika's hand found Kuro's shoulder—steady, real. "You're not a function," he said. "You're a person."
Lucien nodded fiercely. "A very stress-inducing person, but yes. A person."
The alarms deepened—closer now. The air hummed.
Kuro breathed in.
Then out.
"…If I don't choose," he said slowly, "it will choose for me."
The Guildmaster's eyes darkened. "That is likely."
Mika's jaw clenched. His voice dropped. "So what are you saying?"
Kuro met his eyes.
"I'm saying I won't go alone," he said. "And I won't go to be taken."
Lucien blinked. "Wait. Are you suggesting—"
"I'll confront it," Kuro said. "Not as what it thinks I am."
Elvastia stirred, something like pride threading through its voice.
[Good.][Then for the first time… you'll be speaking back.]
The sky outside the Guild cracked with distant thunder—no lightning, just sound, like something enormous shifting its weight.
Mika exhaled slowly.
"…If you're going," he said, "I'm with you."
Lucien groaned. "I hate that I'm the third in this emotional suicide pact."
"You don't have to come," Kuro said quickly.
Lucien looked at him like he was offended. "Wow. Rude. I'm obviously coming."
The Guildmaster turned toward the exit, already issuing orders. "Then we prepare for negotiation," he said grimly. "Or containment."
Kuro stared at the darkening sky through the high windows.
Somewhere up there—
Something waited.
And for the first time since it had awakened—
Kuro wasn't just afraid.
He was ready to answer.