The sky was not the same anymore.
At first, no one noticed.
Morning arrived quietly, slipping over the ruins like a cautious thief. The wind moved softer than usual, carrying a faint scent—sharp, metallic, almost like iron left beneath rain. It wasn't unpleasant.
It was... unfamiliar.
The clouds were thinner today.
They stretched across the horizon in long, fragile strands, pale and trembling, as if something beneath them was pulling upward. Faint lines—barely visible—ran through the sky like hairline cracks in glass.
Silver threads.
Flickering.
Disappearing when stared at too long.
The air felt lighter.
Too light.
Birds that once circled the empty skyline were gone. The silence they left behind pressed harder than any storm ever could. Even the wind seemed hesitant, brushing past broken towers with a careful hush.
Kael stood still.
He didn't know why his chest felt tight.
The world looked calm—almost peaceful—but beneath that calm lay a tremor. A vibration too subtle to hear, yet strong enough to stir something ancient in his bones.
The clouds shifted.
Not with the wind.
But against it.
And for a brief second—so brief it could have been imagination—the sky shimmered.
Like metal bending.
"What the hell is happening to me today...?"
His fingers trembled.
He lowered his gaze to his phone screen.
And froze.
— EMERGENCY NOTICE —
Domain Instability Detected.
Full Crack Expected in 01:00:00
"...Just an hour left before the domain fully cracks?"
His breath hitched.
"No... no. This has to be another nightmare."
Kael pinched himself hard.
Pain flared.
The message didn't disappear.
"This isn't a dream."
He forced himself to move, grabbing essentials—wallet, phone, emergency kit. His movements were rushed but mechanical.
"There's no big deal," he muttered under his breath. "I can evacuate the city within an hour."
But a thought pierced through the panic.
Why hasn't the city alarm sounded yet?
As if answering him—
A deafening siren tore through the air.
Red warning lights flashed across distant buildings. A new message blared across every screen in the city.
— DOMAIN OPENING CONFIRMED —
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY —
"Now?!" Kael cursed. "They usually warn us a day before a domain crack!"
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
He shoved the thought aside and rushed outside, sprinting toward his car.
Just before opening the door, he turned back to look at his house.
"Don't worry," he whispered softly. "I'll be back once the Resonators clear that damned domain."
He opened the car door—
And froze.
Cass.
Aunt Tess.
Her husband wasn't even in the city.
They didn't have a car.
A cold wave ran through him.
Should I leave them and run?
A version of him—the colder one—whispered yes.
Survival first.
But this wasn't "someone."
It was Cass.
The girl who filled his silent evenings.
The one who never left when the world burned.
Grinding his teeth, Kael slammed the car door shut and sprinted toward his aunt's house.
"Please... please still be there..."
The front door was open.
Swinging.
Slowly.
The house was empty.
"Cass? Aunt Tess?!"
No response.
The air inside felt heavier.
Warped.
A faint distortion rippled along the walls, like heat waves—but colder.
His pulse skyrocketed.
"They left...? No. No, they wouldn't."
He ran outside again, scanning the street.
Chaos had already begun.
People were screaming. Cars collided. The sky above had darkened unnaturally fast, silver veins spreading wider across it.
And then—
He saw her.
Across the street.
Near the broken sidewalk.
Cass.
Kneeling.
Shaking.
He ran toward her.
"Cass!"
She didn't respond.
When he got closer, he saw why.
Aunt Tess was lying on the ground.
Her body was rigid.
Her skin pale.
And her face—
It wasn't normal.
Dark, vein-like lines spread across her cheekbones, pulsing faintly with silver light. Her eyes were half-open, but the pupils flickered unnaturally, as if reflecting something that wasn't there.
"Domain exposure..." Kael whispered.
Cass looked up at him.
Her face was drenched in tears.
"She just... collapsed," Cass choked. "She said the sky felt loud... and then she couldn't breathe..."
The silver veins in the sky above pulsed violently.
And at that exact moment—
A crack split across the heavens.
Not lightning.
Not light.
But a tear.
Reality fractured with a sound like shattering glass stretched across the entire horizon.
From within the rupture—
Something moved.
Not falling.
Descending.
Slowly.
Watching.
The ground trembled.
Aunt Tess's body arched suddenly.
Her mouth opened—
And a voice came out.
Not hers.
"—Anchor candidate detected—"
Kael's blood turned cold.
Cass tightened her grip on his arm.
"Kael... what is it looking at?"
The silver veins in the sky converged.
Directly.
Above him.
And the world went silent.