Zephyra sat in silence, her wrists still bound in Kael's null cuffs. No magic flowed through her. She felt… hollow. Naked.
The room was cold, dimly lit by a flickering overhead lamp. It buzzed with quiet energy—his energy. Tech, not magic.
She hated that.
She hated him.
Or at least… she thought she did.
Kael watched her from across the room, arms crossed, leaning against the wall like he hadn't just outsmarted one of the deadliest Duelmistresses in the kingdom.
"Not talking today?" he asked.
Zephyra said nothing.
Kael nodded. "That's fine. LUMA's reading your vitals. You're not wounded—just rattled. So let's rattle back."
She met his eyes sharply. "I don't need your pity."
"Wasn't pity. Just observation."
Silence again.
Then… softly:
"Do you know what it's like to be raised in fire?" Zephyra whispered.
Kael blinked.
She kept speaking, voice low, like the words were bleeding out.
"I was born in the Ember District. South Aetheros. Where the sky's black and the water burns. My parents were miners. No bloodline. No magic. Just lungs full of ash."
Kael said nothing.
"I was six when the guards came. They said I had 'potential.' I didn't know what that meant. Only that I was pulled from my mother's arms and thrown into the Court's Ascendant Program."
Her fists clenched.
"They put us in chambers. Injected us with volatile mana. Most kids didn't survive. But I did. I survived every test. Every trial. Every scar."
She looked up at Kael.
"And they told me, 'Zephyra, you are strong. You are chosen. You will burn down our enemies.' So I did. I burned villages. I executed rebels. I slaughtered Nulls like you."
Kael's jaw tightened, but he didn't move.
Zephyra's voice cracked.
"But then… one day I killed a boy. He couldn't have been older than ten. Just… a tech scavenger. He had a rusted coil gun and broken goggles. He looked at me like I was a god. And I vaporized him."
She leaned her head back, eyes glistening.
"I stopped sleeping after that."
Kael finally stepped forward, quiet.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're the first person I've fought," she said, "who didn't want to kill me back. You didn't see a monster. Just… someone in your way."
She stared at him hard.
"And I don't know what to do with that."
Kael took a breath.
"You've done terrible things. That's real. But you're also here. Alive. Thinking. Feeling. That means you can still choose who you become."
Zephyra gave a bitter laugh. "You think I can change?"
"I don't think," Kael said. "I know. I did. So can you."
She looked down at her wrists, then back up at him.
"You really believe that, don't you?"
Kael nodded.
A long pause.
Then, softly, Zephyra said, "Then unshackle me, genius. Let me try."
Kael hesitated. Elyra wouldn't approve. Neither would logic.
But something in her voice…
He stepped forward and released the cuffs.
She didn't attack.
Didn't cast.
Just… sat there. Free.
And for the first time in years, Zephyra breathed without chains.