CHAPTER 9: THE WATCHER IN THE SMOKE
The morning after the battle was quiet — too quiet for a city that had nearly torn itself apart.
Valencia lay beneath a dull, gray sky. The red glow was gone. The rain had stopped. But the silence felt wrong — like the world was holding its breath.
Adrian woke up in the nurse's office, his body covered in bandages and faint glowing marks. Adriana sat beside him, sharpening her blades, her hands shaking slightly.
> "How long was I out?" Adrian asked.
"Two days," she replied without looking at him. "The Gate went silent after you struck it. But the mark on your chest hasn't faded."
Adrian pulled back his shirt — the sigil Rin had branded now pulsed like a heartbeat, glowing red under his skin.
> "It's alive," he said quietly.
"Yeah," Adriana said. "So is something else."
She handed him a small, black crystal — the same one that formed when Lucas died. Inside it, faint shapes twisted, whispering.
> "It's been speaking," she said. "Calling itself 'the Watcher.'"
The crystal pulsed once, and a voice — smooth, ancient, and oddly calm — filled the air.
> "Children of Sanchez… I see you."
The windows shattered. Smoke filled the room, swirling into a humanoid shape with golden eyes. It smiled — not cruelly, but knowingly.
> "You broke my vessel," it said. "So now I speak through this."
"Who are you?" Adriana demanded.
"A witness," it replied. "The first to crawl out when your ancestors sealed the Gate. I was meant to warn… but now, I simply watch."
Adrian stood, eyes narrowing.
> "Watch what?"
"The end."
The smoke spread, filling the entire room. Images formed — Rin Kaito standing before a massive black temple, surrounded by screaming souls. Above him hovered the same sigil that burned on Adrian's chest.
> "Your master didn't die," the Watcher said. "He became part of the Gate's heart. And soon, the Gate will need a new guardian."
Adriana's voice shook.
> "You mean one of us."
"The mark chooses," the Watcher said. "And it's already begun."
Adrian doubled over as pain seared through him. His veins glowed bright crimson again. The mark spread — crawling up his neck, his arms.
> "Adrian!" Adriana cried, trying to hold him still.
"Get back!" he gasped. "It's… changing me!"
The Watcher leaned close, golden eyes flickering.
> "Let it. Only by embracing the demon inside can you fight what's coming. The Gate is not done opening."
Then the smoke faded — and the crystal shattered.
Adriana knelt beside her brother, trembling as the sigil continued to burn beneath his skin.
> "You're not becoming one of them," she whispered.
"Maybe," Adrian said, his eyes dimming, "I already am."
Outside, thunder rolled — though the sky was clear. The clouds began to twist again, faintly red.
And miles away, deep beneath the ruins of Valencia High, a single black heart began to beat.
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🔥 The tension's rising — the twins are transforming, Rin's fate is entangled with the Gate, and the Watcher is setting the stage for something colossal.