Jade stood frozen, the echo of her heartbroken fury lingering in the room. He had never seen her like that. The cold, calculating part of his mind replayed the logic: he was unconscious, it was a stabilization process, he had no active role. But the memory of the pain in her eyes—a pain he had caused—cut through that logic like a shard of glass. A strange, hollow feeling settled in his chest. It wasn't guilt, not exactly. It was the unsettling realization that his actions, however unintentional, had the power to wound something ancient and powerful so deeply. It unsettled him more than any monster he had ever faced.
A soft touch on his arm broke his trance. Lilith was looking up at him, her head tilted.
"Master... 'World-Eater' is a System name. It is what I do, not who I am. What will you call me?"
Jade looked at her. Her hair like living shadow, her eyes the same psychotic purple as his own power. She was a part of him, a beautiful, dangerous reflection. But in that moment, she was also the source of a complication he hadn't asked for.
"Lilith," he said, the name coming to him without thought. It was ancient. It was powerful. It was perfect.
A genuine, radiant smile broke across her face. "Lilith," she repeated, tasting the name. "I like it." She hugged him tightly, her cool skin against his.
The moment of intimacy was broken as Jade's practical mind re-engaged, the hollow feeling still there. He was dressed now, but Lilith... was not. He had no female attire in his sterile room. He thought of Lyra, but the memory of her cold, turned back was too fresh. Seraphina was... out of the question. The hollow feeling twinged again.
That left only one, chaotic option.
He sighed, the weight of the world—and the weight of his own unintended consequences—on his shoulders.
"Stay here," he said to Lilith, his voice quiet. "Do not move. Do not touch anything. I will be back."
"Where are you going, Master?" she asked, tilting her head.
Jade ran a hand through his white hair, a gesture of pure exasperation. "I'm going to find the one person in this Sanctuary chaotic enough to help me buy clothes for my sentient scythe. I'm going to find Kai."
Finding Kai wasn't difficult. Her vibrant, chaotic energy was like a beacon. He found her in a recreational sector, enthusiastically trying to teach a group of bewildered human ascendants a Panther-kin stretching routine that involved several spine-breaking poses.
"Jade!" she squealed, spotting him and abandoning her students mid-crunch. She bounded over, her ocean-blue hair bouncing. "You came to find me! Does this mean you've thought about my—"
"I need your help," he interrupted, his voice flat, cutting off what he knew would be a deeply uncomfortable proposal. "It's... a clothing emergency."
Kai's eyes widened with gleeful intrigue. "Ooooh! For you? I think you look great in what you're wearing, but maybe something in a darker—"
"Not for me," Jade said, the words feeling like ash in his mouth. He braced himself. "For... a woman. A new... companion. She has no clothes."
The glee on Kai's face did not dim. If anything, it intensified. "A NEW ONE?! Oh, wow! You work fast! Is it another vampire? An elf? Ooh, is it that tall Titan lady from the sparring grounds? She looked like she could crush a skull with her thighs!"
Jade felt a headache brewing behind his eyes. "It's... complicated. Can you just help me find a store?"
"Of course! This is so exciting! A welcome-to-the-Sanctuary shopping trip!" She linked her arm with his, ignoring his full-body flinch, and began pulling him through the corridors, chattering a mile a minute about fabric choices and the importance of "breathable material for active lifestyles."
As they walked, Jade gave her the most sanitized, least-insane version of events possible. "Her name is Lilith. She... manifested recently. She is connected to my power. There was an incident with Seraphina."
Kai gasped dramatically. "Oh no! The scary vampire lady is mad? But she's always mad! Don't worry, Jade, I'm not the jealous type! There's plenty of you to go around!"
Jade decided that further explanation was a tactical error and remained silent.
They reached a boutique that catered to a variety of species, its displays shimmering with everything from practical combat leathers to elegant, enchanted silks. Under Kai's enthusiastic—and often wildly inappropriate—direction, Jade hastily selected a few basic, practical outfits: dark leggings, a tunic, and a simple cloak. He just needed Lilith to be clothed, not to make a fashion statement.
Transaction complete, Jade felt a sliver of relief. The ordeal was almost over.
It was then that the air grew cold. Not with the familiar frost of Seraphina's anger, but with a deeper, more murderous chill.
Cassian stood at the entrance of the store, blocking their exit. His usual mask of amused contempt was gone. In its place was a raw, undiluted fury that made the air hum. His crimson eyes burned into Jade.
"You," Cassian's voice was a low, venomous whisper, devoid of all its former playful malice. It was pure, killing intent. "You insignificant speck."
Kai, for once, fell completely silent, pressing herself behind Jade, her beast instincts screaming in the presence of an apex predator.
"I just saw my sister," Cassian continued, taking a slow, deliberate step forward. The other patrons in the store quickly found reasons to be elsewhere. "Do you know what you have done? She is crying. Locked in her chambers, refusing to see anyone. Weeping. I have not seen her shed a single tear in over three centuries. Not since the fall of the Crimson Dynasty. And you... you, a fleeting human anomaly, have reduced her to that."
He was now mere feet from Jade, his power a physical pressure. "For that, I will erase you from this reality. Not for power, not for politics. For her."
The chapter ends with Jade standing his ground, a bag of women's clothes in one hand, facing down a genuinely furious Cassian, with a terrified Kai hiding behind him. The simple errand has just become a fight for his life.