Chapter 14: Echoes of Tragedy

Ziekary was sitting on the floor of our hallway, covering her face as heavy, broken sobs shook her entire frame. I walked over and crouched down directly in front of her.

"Calm down, Ziekary," I said softly, keeping my voice grounded. "Tell me... what did you see?"

Through her tears, she managed to outline the nightmare she’d just walked into on Main Street the police line, the blood pooled across the pavement, and her grandmother’s body lying motionless under the gray morning sky. Investigators were whispering back and forth, baffled, admitting it didn't look like anything a normal human could do.

"It was... it was really devastating," Ziekary choked out.

I stared at her for a long second before throwing a sharp glance over my shoulder at Kiyon, who was standing by the hallway. Catching my glare, he rolled his eyes and turned his face toward the window.

"Remember what I told you when we were outside the clock tower?" I asked Ziekary, my tone tightening. "That once you got involved with us... expect trouble."

Seralphyne stepped closer, her arms folded as her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You know who made this mess, guys. It’s either the Lost Morphs, or entities from another reality. I’m not surprised that they already knew who to target."

Ziekary buried her face in her hands again, weeping uncontrollably.

"I need to investigate this," Seralphyne said, stepping back toward the door. "You both know what to do."

As Seralphyne slipped out, I offered a hand to Ziekary and helped her up. "Hey bro," I called out to Kiyon. "Could you give us a minute?"

"I wanna know what happened, and " Kiyon started.

"Just a minute," I repeated firmly.

Kiyon huffed, looking out the window. "Man, you’re merciless when you’re fighting in the cage, but soft when it comes to girls. Tsk... fine, I’ll be in my room."

He shoved his door closed, leaving Ziekary and me in the kitchen. We sat down across from each other at the table.

"I didn’t expect it to be this bad," I murmured, staring at the tabletop. "I’m sorry, Ziekary."

She wiped her face with trembling hands, looking up at me with raw desperation. "Could you...?"

"What is it?"

"Could you bring my Grandma back to life?" she pleaded, her voice cracking. "Like what your auntie did to you? Please! I don’t really want to accept that she’s gone."

My jaw set, an unsure, heavy weight dropping into my gut. "I can’t, Ziekary. I have the ability to heal anyone... but I can’t bring anyone back to life."

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "But she’s all I have! You have to bring her back, please, Kyrie!"

"I know, Ziekary," I said softly, my chest aching. "I know, dear. I’ve lost relatives too... I know exactly how you feel, okay? But whoever is behind this... what they did is unforgivable."

"Where am I gonna live now?" she whimpered, looking around our small apartment. "My grandma was the one giving me all the support I needed to study..."

"You wanna live with us?" I asked plain-blank.

Ziekary paused, wiping her eyes in surprise. "But... you only have two rooms."

"You can sleep in my room, no worries," I reassured her. "It’s spacious. After everything that’s happened, I need you to stay close to me from now on. Like I said... I’ll take full responsibility. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine."

A faint, heartbroken smile broke through her tears, and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Kyrie..."

Before she could say more, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered immediately. "Yeah? What did you find?"

Out on Main Street, Seralphyne stood tall on the roof of a high-rise building, looking down at the cordoned-off crime scene.

"Kyrie, it’s confirmed," Seralphyne's voice came through the speaker. "We’ve got another visitor."

I let out a dry, dark chuckle over the line. "So it’s another entity?"

"Seems like it," she replied. "From what I can see, they can take full control of Lost Morphs. You better be careful. We’re not dealing with just humans... it might be another form of Hybrid like us, but stronger."

Kiyon kicked his bedroom door open and walked back into the kitchen, listening in.

I gripped the phone tighter, my gaze darkening. "I don’t give a damn how powerful they are. I could take them out one by one if I have to."

Seralphyne smirked over the line. "Hmph. Well, I know you and Kiyon will be fine. Good luck, C.A.U. champion."

The line went dead. Down on the street below, Seralphyne lowered her arm.

"Well, looks like my work here is done," she murmured softly.

"Affirmative," her VoxWrist chimed.

"They’re all grown up," she smiled, glancing toward our building. "At least I get to see either of them in battle. Hmph... that’s all I ever wanted."

In a split-second flash of light, she vanished into the distance.

Back in the apartment, Kiyon pulled out a chair and sat down opposite me as Ziekary, completely exhausted, drifted off to sleep with her head resting on her folded arms.

"Maybe this was meant to happen," Kiyon said, leaning back. "I mean, think about it."

I crossed my arms, staring down at Ziekary. "I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure... we need to hunt them all down. Without using any of my power."

Kiyon grinned. "Well, I’m in. Just say the word."

"I told you, man," Kiyon continued, tossing his hands behind his head. "We will be fighting our entire freaking lives. Things like this happened all the time back in our world. This isn’t entirely new, you know that."

"Yeah, man... but this world is entirely different," I sighed. "Not everything can be recovered or restored right away."

Meanwhile, across the city at the S.E.S. Headquarters, Akio stood straight in front of Kitsuna and President Jernon.

"I’m not even kidding," Akio said firmly.

Jernon tapped his fingers on his desk, leaning forward with an intense look. "Time travel? Warp travel? Anything futuristic? It sounds like pure science fiction... but after hearing your story of how Kyrie was able to travel here to our world... now that caught my attention."

Kitsuna glanced at Akio, silent.

"Very interesting," Jernon continued, a subtle smile touching his lips. "After hearing your account, I think I can say that I’m finally convinced Kyrie is a real entity indeed not just someone from books. When can we arrange a meeting? I would like to meet the twin brothers... Kyrie and Kiyon."

Back in our apartment, I had gently carried Ziekary into my room and laid her on the bed, where she was finally sleeping peacefully. I sat by the open window, looking out over the evening sky, when Kiyon quietly pushed the door open.

"So what’s the plan, Kyrie?" he asked.

"I need to think carefully," I replied without turning around.

"You’re worried?"

"About what?"

Kiyon smirked, nodding toward the bed. "Well... you know. Her. "

I glanced back at Ziekary’s sleeping face. "You could say I am. I really didn’t want to involve anyone in our mess, you know? I’ve seen enough people die in front of me."

Kiyon snorted, letting out a laugh. "You’re getting soft, man. I think you just need training."

I scratched the back of my head, letting out a heavy breath. "I promised myself I’d take a break from fighting... but you’re right. I can never escape my reality. Even in this world... I thought it would be different. I thought it’d be a quiet world. But turns out, it isn’t."

I pushed myself up from my chair. "Come on. We need to find who’s behind this."

Kiyon’s grin widened. "Now that’s what I’m talking about! Finally, some action!"

We slipped out of the room, leaving Ziekary sleeping peacefully as we headed out into the night.

At that very moment, back in Grandeur City at the Zemstan Technology Building, Jamal pushed through the heavy glass doors and approached the front desk.

"Hello! Welcome to Zemstan Technology," the receptionist greeted with a polite smile. "How may we help you?"

"Uh, yeah," Jamal said, leaning on the counter. "I would like to enlist as a Cipher Employee."

The receptionist blinked, looking at his gear. "Wait... that uniform... are you from that MMA Network, the Combat Athletes Union?"

Jamal smirked. "Yeah. I came from the C.A.U. You got a problem with that?"

Outside on the sidewalk, Asher and Reed were walking up toward the entrance.

"I don’t get it," Asher grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Why do we have to take a break from MMA? I mean, we make a lot of money fighting."

"I thought you’d agree that all three of us taking a break was part of the plan, yo," Reed chuckled. "Aren’t you interested in doing something different this time?"

Asher gave him a sideways look. "Why don't you just admit that you both just wanted to see Kyrie for a rematch?"

Reed stopped dead in his tracks, scratching his cheek. "Actually... there’s a truth to that, I’ll admit." He laughed, picking up his pace to catch back up with Asher as they entered Zemstan.

Late that night, Main Street was completely dead, sealed off by police tape after the horrific attack earlier.

Kiyon and I ducked under the barricades, our footsteps echoing softly against the concrete as we stepped onto the crime scene. Dark blood stains were still visible across the floor.

I knelt down, touching a tiny drop of dried blood onto my fingertips. I brought it up, smelling it before rubbing it off on my jeans.

"Seralphyne was right," I muttered, standing back up. "This isn't from a Lost Morph."

Kiyon looked around, confused. "How can you even tell? It’s got human blood in it."

Before I could answer, a heavy presence dropped from the roof above.

A high-speed shadow plummeted through the night sky, landing heavily a few feet in front of us, kicking up a gust of wind as he straightened up and walked slowly toward us.

Kiyon smirked, shifting his weight into a stance. "Heh... he finally showed himself. Look at that."

I stood my ground, my eyes locked on the figure.

"It’s finally nice to meet you... Kyrie and Kiyon Vonscheider," the entity said, a cold smile cutting across his face.

Kiyon let out a mockingly silly laugh. "Heh... looks like this is gonna be interesting, isn’t it?"

Mordekai smiled back at the two of us, his eyes glowing in the dark.

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