"We fought this exact duel three hundred years ago, Draven, and you lost your mind trying to save them then, too."Lysander's voice carried over the roar of the ocean, cold and completely unbothered by the shattered hilt in his hand. He gestured with a pale finger, and twenty silver-clad Inquisitors surged forward, their glowing spears leveled at the dock."Shut up!" Draven screamed, his chest heaving as he stood between the advancing army and the churned, bloody water. "Just shut your mouth!""Draven, look at me!" Jesse scrambled up from the splintered wood, their hands covered in fresh scrapes, salt water stinging their eyes. "Don't look at him! Look at the harbor!""Jack is down there!" Draven yelled back, his dark eyes wide and wild with a terrifying panic. "He's sinking, Jesse! He's solid glass!""I know!" Jesse cried out, grabbing Draven's shoulder, their voice raw and desperate. "I know he is! But if you lose control right now, if you let the void take over, there won't be anyo

"My father didn't leave me an heirloom, Draven. He left me a cage."Jesse collapsed onto their hands and knees in the warm, bloody water, their knuckles turning white as they gripped the stone floor. The crimson anchor above the stone pillar throbbed like a wounded heart, splashing red droplets across their pale skin."Get up, Jesse! Please, just get up!" Draven yelled, scrambling through the flooded chamber toward them, his obsidian right arm flaring with dark purple sparks as he pulled Jesse into his lap. "Jack, what the hell is that thing doing to them?!""It's recognizing its owner," Jack shouted over the heavy, rhythmic thrumming echoing off the subterranean walls. He leaned out of his wooden cart, his black glass forearms gleaming in the red light. "I told you! Jesse's ancestors didn't just build the city. They were the original architects who helped Valen stabilize the divine engine three hundred years ago!""They were monsters!" Jesse sobbed, clutching their own chest as if tr

"Don't look at the blood, Draven, look at me, I'm still here."Jesse rasped the words through bloodied lips, their knuckles digging into the submerged marble slab as golden light erupted beneath their skin. The crimson water around them boiled, turning to thick white steam that filled the sunken plaza."Jesse! Keep breathing! Just look at my face!" Draven fell to his knees in the hot water, his arms wrapping frantically around Jesse's trembling shoulders. "Jack, do something! The engine is burning them alive!""I can't block divine frequency with stone legs, Draven!" Jack yelled, dragging his heavy obsidian body over the submerged steps, his glass fingers leaving deep gouges in the stone as he fought the roaring heat. "The blood lock recognized them! It's rewriting their internal vessels to hold the core!""It hurts," Jesse sobbed, their silver hair clinging to their wet forehead as liquid gold flared brightly through the veins in their neck. "Draven... it feels like molten iron in my

"Crush it, Lysander, I don't need my past to know who I love."Draven didn't hesitate. He didn't flinch. He reached out with his flesh left hand, gripping Jesse's fingers tight, their skin sealing together in a desperate, burning promise."You fool," Lysander hissed, his cold blue eyes opening wide in genuine disbelief. "You're choosing oblivion! You will forget their face! You will forget everything!""I remembered them without a heart," Draven barked, his voice booming through the flooded chamber like thunder. "I will remember them without a mind!"Lysander snarled, his fingers curling inward. The fragile glass vessel shattered into thousands of glowing fragments, the golden orb inside dissolving into harmless dust that washed away in the dark sea water."No!" Jesse gasped, turning to look at Draven in absolute terror. "Draven, your mind!""I am right here, Jesse!" Draven yelled, stepping in front of them as his obsidian arm erupted into a roaring pillar of white hot purple flame. "

"There is nowhere left to run, Draven, the sky is completely gone."Jesse's voice shattered in the heavy, humming air of the cavern, their glowing golden eyes reflecting the absolute abyss tearing open above them. The dome of solid white glass had shattered, dissolving into nothingness, leaving the broken realm exposed to the vast, terrifying expanse of the true cosmic ocean."Look at them," Jack rasped, his metallic voice trembling as he leaned heavily against a jagged black rock, staring upward. "The Outer Eyes... they're finally watching us."Above the collapsing chamber, gigantic, pale shapes drifted through the dark cosmic tide, their massive, glowing pupils staring down at the tiny island of stone beneath them. High above, the ancient stars flickered out one by one as the artificial sky bled away into the endless deep."They can watch all they want," Draven growled, stepping in front of Jesse, his obsidian right arm flaring with a violent, blinding violet flame that cast long, f