Miko stepped through the entrance and felt the space open up around him—high ceilings that disappeared into darkness, walls that curved impossibly, floor that seemed both solid and transparent at once. Through it, he could see stars. Or what used to be stars. Now they were just points of light being consumed by spreading darkness. The seven keys floated in perfect formation, each one humming with a frequency that made his teeth ache. They were beautiful in a terrible way—crystalline structures that caught light that shouldn't exist and refracted it into colors that hurt to name. And in the center of them all, his father stood with arms raised. The Master didn't move. Didn't attack. Just watched as the five of them spread out, taking positions around the chamber's edge. "You brought friends," he said. His voice was calm. Almost pleasant. "How touching." Miko kept his fists raised but didn't advance. Not yet. Ash swirled faintly around them. "It's over. We're stopping this." "Are

They sat by the river for a long time. Nobody spoke. There wasn't much to say. The Master's body lay a few feet away, still and cold. The wound in his chest had stopped bleeding. The light from Samson's scars had faded completely. Anna's crying had quieted to occasional hitches in her breath. Liam still had his arm around her. Garcia sat with her back against a tree, eyes closed but not sleeping. Blaze was picking at a thread on his torn shirt. Akiya stared at the water. Miko stood apart from them, looking at the body. His father's face. Peaceful now in a way it never had been in life. Or lives. However that worked. "We should bury him," Garcia said finally. "Why?" Blaze didn't look up from his shirt. "He tried to end the world." "Because leaving him here feels wrong." "A lot of things feel wrong." But Blaze stood anyway. "I'll help dig." They found a spot upriver where the ground was softer. Took turns digging with their hands and Garcia's stone manipulation. Nobody s