**☀️ Early Morning at the Xiao Long Residence**
It was still early when training began in the backyard of the Xiao Long residence. Taiyang and Yang were practicing martial arts, their movements swift and sharp. Taiyang threw small rocks, and Yang focused on dodging and deflecting each one with her fists.
Meanwhile, under the gentle shade of a tree nearby, Summer sat with Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby had dozed off, resting against her mother, and Summer soon followed her into peaceful slumber. The leaves rustled softly above them.
But Sapphire remained wide awake.
---
**(Sapphire's POV)**
*It's only been a day since I started living here… in this warm, noisy, comforting home.*
*Taiyang, my stepfather. Summer, my stepmother. They've been nothing but kind to me. Ruby and Yang too. It's… strange. A part of me feels happy, but another part feels guilty. After all the chaos, after all the trauma… I'm suddenly surrounded by warmth. By people who care.*
*But thinking back, my life before this… it wasn't easy. Even before the accident—before that glyph appeared in my right eye—I was just a kid with scars no one could see. I lived in the snowy forest with Granny… until she passed. Then came the men in black, the prison, the fake friendships…*
*And the nightmares of watching those friends be devoured.*
*If I hadn't remembered my past lives after the trauma… I might still be that broken, hollow boy. But I did remember. All of it. The endless reincarnations. Life after life. Happiness, heartbreak, betrayal, love, war… and madness. Yet, here I am—still sane. Still standing.*
*Funny, really. You'd think reincarnating endlessly would be more traumatic than anything. But no… being trapped in a time loop, living the same day a billion times—that was worse. One of my past lives… a man who tried to save a dying world, only to be cursed with immortality. He called himself a hero. But all he wanted was to die.*
*I can't blame him.*
*Anyway… that's not the problem right now. My problem is Summer. My… mom.*
*She's going to die.*
*When that glyph appeared in my eye—that was the awakening of one of my Authorities. A special power born from all my past lives. I call it… the **Authority of Aeons**. Each of the seven Authorities represents a different legacy from a life I once lived. And strangely, the one that awoke first… was **Eclipse Authority**.*
*That's unusual. In every past life, Eclipse Authority only awakened when I absorbed massive amounts of Aetherial Biomass… something rarer than even mana. But this time? It just… happened.*
*And because of that awakening, I can now see the flames of fate inside people.*
*Summer's white flame is normal… steady. But the black flame above her head… it's violent. Flickering. Wild. That means she isn't sick. She isn't cursed. She's going to die… by fate.*
*And from the intensity of that flame… she has only five days left.*
*Screw fate.*
---
As Sapphire was deep in thought, another rock flew off course. Yang, not realizing, had deflected it too hard. The stone shot like a bullet—straight toward Sapphire.
Too fast to react.
But just before it could hit—
**Whoosh!**
A surge of black fire erupted beside Sapphire. Everyone snapped awake. Summer and Ruby jolted up. Taiyang and Yang froze mid-training. The flame crackled, then died out…
And from the shadows, **a figure emerged**.
Clad in black armor with flowing tendrils of darkness curling around his form, the knight stood tall. His helmet masked his face, but a single, glowing sapphire-blue eye shone through the visor—vivid and piercing.
Sapphire's eyes widened.
"…Noctyros."
The knight dropped to one knee.
"My Liege. It is an honor to serve you again," the armored figure spoke, his voice like distant thunder echoing from the past.
The silence that followed was electric.
Summer finally spoke, her voice shaky.
"…You have a Semblance?"
"…Sem-blance?" Sapphire blinked, confused.
Whatever fear Ruby and Yang felt was instantly replaced with awe.
"You can *summon a knight*?! That's so cool!!" Ruby shouted.
"Dude, that's *sick*! You've got a whole army?!" Yang grinned, her eyes practically sparkling.
Taiyang stepped forward, brows furrowed in thought.
"You're… a rare genius. Most kids don't unlock their Semblance until they're fourteen or older. And even then, they need to unlock their aura first. That takes training, willpower…"
Summer nodded beside him.
"Genius or not, now that his Semblance is awakened, we need to help him learn control. Before he accidentally hurts someone… or himself."
Sapphire said nothing. He just nodded slightly and raised his hand.
Noctyros understood without a word. The knight bowed once more—then vanished into thin air like smoke under moonlight.
Sapphire sat there quietly, letting the conversation flow around him. He listened as they debated how to train him, guide him, protect him.
*And yet… they don't know the real danger.*
*They don't know that Mom has five days left to live.*
*But I do.*
*And I swear… I'll do whatever it takes to change her fate.*