( JIYAN'S POV )
| Desorock Highland, Nightfall |
The storm has not let up since dusk.
Retroact Rain drizzles like a thousand silver needles, seeping through every seams
Jiyan's boots sink an inch into the soaked earth as he walks. The sound of the rainfall muffles the faint chatter from distant sentries and the rhythmic clang of engineers tuning resonance gear.
Lightning flashes across the horizon, painting the highland in ghostly white.
In that momentary glare, a silhouette comes into focus: a lone Midnight Ranger standing watch near a defensive post, his rifle resting on his shoulder.
"General!"
The man straightens immediately, hand pressed to his chest in salute.
Jiyan raises a gloved hand in acknowledgment.
"Report."
"We're all clear in the west, sir!"
"Good. Any more hallucinations after the antidote?"
The Ranger shakes his head, pushing rain out of his fringe.
"No sign of those Retroact Rain Phantoms they warned us about…"
He hesitates, eyes darting north.
"But I did hear something. Weird noises. Up there."
Jiyan narrows his eyes.
"Stay here and hold your post. I'll go check it out."
"Understood, sir."
The Ranger nods, gripping his rifle tighter, watching as Jiyan strides into the fog.
He finds the Steadfast Midnight Ranger a few minutes later.
This one doesn't notice Jiyan's approach until the general's shadow overlaps his own.
"General."
The Ranger's removes his helmet, revealing hair plastered to his face, streaked with rain.
"Greetings," Jiyan says softly. "How are you feeling after the antidote?"
"Better, sir." The man exhales, shoulders trembling once before he steadies himself. "But the Phantoms… they still come back sometimes. Not as strong as before, but enough to keep you awake."
A gust of wind cuts through. Both men turn slightly, capes flaring behind them.
"Three years," the Ranger murmurs. "It's been three years already."
Jiyan says nothing.
"I was on the vanguard team during that battle," the soldier continues.
"Memories of my teammates… losing their minds… fighting Phantoms that wore our faces. They weren't real, sir. But somehow, they could still injure us. Kill us."
He rubs his gloved thumb over a scar along his forearm
"We had to strike them down to survive. But then—"
His breath catches, voice cracking. "Our dead comrades… they always came back. Still standing like a fucking zombie. Ready to stab us. We couldn't tell who was real anymore. It was chaos. Pure chaos."
The man looks away
Jiyan listens in silence, the rain sliding over the sharp planes of his face.
"The Retroact Rain contains remnant energy," he says. "It can recreate past events… project them as Phantoms. They resonate with us with our memories taking form through our frequencies."
The Ranger blinks, struggling to process that information.
"During that battle, the rain's effect was magnified by the Threnodian's power. That's why the Phantoms gained form why the rain could bring back soldiers who had just fallen."
Jiyan lowers his gaze.
"Unaware of the mechanism, we tried to destroy everything that moved… and in doing so, we only made it worse."
The Ranger's hand shakes slightly at his side. Jiyan notices and without thinking, places a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Now we know better," he says. "The Phantoms are echoes replicas of what once was. The antidote helps us see through them, helps us separate memory from madness."
His grip tightens gently grounding the man in the present.
"Keep your chin high. Our fallen wouldn't want to see us broken like this."
For a moment, the Ranger says nothing. Then he straightens, fist against his chest, his voice steadier than before.
"Yes, sir. I will pull myself together!"
He hesitates, then adds, voice low but full of sincerity —
"General… you were there. During the Battle Beneath the Crescent. Please… be careful. The Phantoms in this rain—"
Jiyan offers the faintest, almost imperceptible smile. It doesn't reach his eyes, but it's enough to warm the soldier's resolve.
"I will," he says. "We all will."
A distant crack of thunder rolls across the highland. The storm briefly illuminates the two figures the steadfast soldier saluting his general, and the lone commander standing against the downpour.
—————————————————
| Desorock Highland, far-right sector of the camp |
Two Midnight Rangers stand nearby, huddled close to avoid the dripping canopy edges.
The first Ranger—broad-shouldered, unshaven, eyes darting everywhere keeps switching his weight from foot to foot. His fingers tap rapidly against the grip of his rifle, a sign he's desperately trying not to let his nerves show.
"Can we really trust that medic?" he mutters.
The second Ranger beside him, slightly younger but with calmer eyes, keeps watching the sky as though trying to decode it. He adjusts the strap of his cloak and answers.
"I think we should be careful…" he murmurs, brows knitting. "Something's wrong with this rain."
A droplet falls between them, but instead of hitting the ground, it freezes in midair and begins drifting upward like a reversed tear.
The paranoid Ranger jolts back, nearly slipping on the wet metal flooring.
"Hey! You see that? The raindrops—" his breath trembles, "they're falling up! It's the Retroact Rain! I told you—!"
Jiyan steps into view just then, the faint glow of the monitors outlining the edges of his rain-soaked silhouette.
"That day…"
"As the rain fell, we watched in uncertainty unsure whether it was a sign of hope, or disaster."
Both Rangers turn to him, their faces illuminated by screens, their fear momentarily abated.
Jiyan takes a step closer.
"The Retroact Rain should have been a harmless Waveworn phenomenon," he continues, eyes glancing upward.
Lights from inside the droplets reflect in his pupils like shattered stars.
"However… the Threnodian's influence enhanced it turned that battle into a brutal slaughter."
"Our city…" he lowers his gaze, hands curling slightly into fists, "cannot endure another tragedy like that."
The paranoid Ranger gulps audibly. The thoughtful one gives a slow nod, straightening his posture Jiyan's steadiness always has that effect.
—————————————————
| Left side of the camp, beneath the canopy |
A few meters away, on the other side of the camp, two more figures sit beneath a sagging canopy where the lantern-light pools warmly, untouched by the flickering monitors.
Their armor is dented with age, scuffed by countless battles.
The older Ranger a veteran with streaks of grey in his beard and a deep, warm voice elbows the young one beside him.
"Let's join the Riverside Games after we beat that monster," he says with a grin that doesn't match the gloom around them.
The younger Ranger's eyes widen, surprise melting into a shy laugh. He pushes a strand of wet hair from his forehead.
"The Riverside Games…?" he echoes softly.
The veteran snorts, clapping him on the back hard enough to rattle his armor.
"You won first place in the last armed race, remember?"
He waves a hand dismissively. "Don't back out now. I already counted you in!"
The younger Ranger looks down as if the memory itself is sitting right there on his palm.
Jiyan watches from a short distance.
"We haven't held the Riverside Games in years," he says quietly, almost to himself.
His eyes soften as the laughter of the two Rangers mingles with the pattering of the Retroact Rain.
"This should be another illusion from the past."
He continues, his voice a whisper fragile enough to blend with the rainfall:
"If everything goes well…"
A rare, hopeful curve touches the corner of his lips.
"Perhaps we can hold it again this year."
Rain rises. Rain falls.
The past and present blur like reflections on water.
And Jiyan stands alone in the storm holding together the ghosts of yesterday and the fragile hopes of tomorrow.
Then suddenly a soldier burst through the soaked curtains of rain, boots splashing against the mud as he skidded to a stop before the general, chest heaving.
"General!" His salute trembled. "All equipment repaired. Tacetite weapons recalibrated and distributed to the Resonators. Non-Resonators are fully armed. Everyone's ready to deploy."
"But…" The soldier's eyes flickered upward.
"Should we take shelter? The rain—something's wrong with it. One of our combat medics says this isn't natural. He insists we wait."
The soldier licked his lips. "He's young… but you've seen his intuition before. He hasn't been wrong."
Jiyan lifted his gaze, calm but questioning.
"…The medic. What is his name?"
The soldier hesitated.
"His name is… Ji—yan…"
His voice fractured.
Then his pupils shrank in terror.
"General—help… Help me—"
His hand shot out, clawing at the air.
And then the voice came.
"What do you make of this, Jiyan?"
A figure formed in the rain half shadow, and half memory.
"Maybe you are right."
Footsteps echoed across the puddles despite no one walking.
"This rain appeared without warning. Unnatural. Suspicious. But…"
The voice hardened.
"This is our only chance."
Lightning flashed—illuminating a silhouette in heavy armor.
"The enemy we've been hunting stands before us. And now you'd have me retreat because of some… phantoms?"
Jiyan stayed silent
"Silent?"
The general's voice twisted, amused.
"Is that fear, Jiyan? Or are you simply too cowardly to speak?"
"We fear. We bleed. We suffer."
A boot slammed into a puddle—yet ripples spread in the wrong direction.
"And in the end, we die. But when your comrades fall beside you—cut open while screaming your name—will you still be silent then?"
The phantom stepped closer, face half-formed beneath the storm.
"We have no choice but to climb the mountain of corpses before us and keep going."
"My soldiers will NOT fall to hallucinations."
"I will clear the path myself."
The rain thickened images flickering within it like reflections in broken glass.
Dead men marching. Screaming faces. A memory turned into weapon.
"If hundreds more must die… so be it."
Each word hit like a blade.
"Jiyan… answer me honestly."
The phantom leaned in.
"On that day—if you stood in my place—what would you have done?"
Jiyan's breath tightened, but his voice remained resolute.
"…General Geshu Lin. We fight to protect what we cherish."
His hand gripped his blade.
"We cherish our comrades—not out of fear, but trust. Their lives have worth."
The phantom's smile cracked unnaturally.
Jiyan continued, unwavering.
"I cannot promise my choices are always right. But victory should never be built upon endless sacrifice."
"Hah."
A laugh like splintering ice.
"You and I are the same. Do not deny it."
"Perhaps," Jiyan said softly. "But I will draw my blade for a different reason. I will fight for what I believe in… and I will stop at nothing to protect it."
A hand grabbed Jiyan's arm. Snapping him out of his daze.
"General!"
Jiyan blinked—the phantom gone. The rain now only rain.
The soldier swallowed. "General, your face—you're pale."
"I am fine."
Even though his pulse hammered like war drums.
"Sir… we detected an intense frequency in the Tacet Field ahead."
The soldier pointed at the sky.
The moon—once a sliver—was swelling into a perfect, glowing orb.
Just as foretold.
"The sky… It's exactly like the Battle Beneath the Crescent."
The air trembled. Something stirred in the distance.
A howl echoed
"It's time," Jiyan whispered.
"The Midnight Rangers are ready, sir. Awaiting orders."
"Attention, all troops!" His voice rose above the storm, resolute and commanding. "Take position! Prepare to engage!"
"Yes, sir!"
Jiyan lifted his eyes to the brightening moon.
"When the moon turns full, a roving traveler shall return…"
He exhaled slowly.
"The prophecy… it begins."
Shapes materialized at the edge of the Tacet Field but they did not charge.
They stood guard.
Waiting.
"Not attacking…" Jiyan murmured. "Are they protecting something? Or waiting for someone?"
The rain trembled with frequency waves of Tacet energy pulsing like a heartbeat.
"With a TD Outbreak this large… someone must be controlling them."
Jiyan narrowed his eyes.
"Could it be…"
—————————————————
Author's note:
Hello everyone, feel free to leave your collections, powers, reviews, and comments as you see fit.
I'm back bitches took a two week break, touched some grass with my girl. I already pre-farmed the materials and astrites for Chisa can't wait I watched some walk through and the companions quests of some characters on YT because I can't replay quests in game which sucks to better understand their characters. Sorry for the wait and hope you enjoyed the next arc. BTW I'm eyeing writing a new fanfic any new ideas? I drafted some but it don't stick. That's all; thank you for reading this fanfic, and I hope you have a good day.