Aiko’s arms clawed through empty space that stretched forever. A diamond-patterned gate blocked her, and an old man’s face appeared in it.

  “Do you think yourself worthy of entering the mortal realm again?”

  Aiko’s eyes widened. “What? I don’t even know how I got here!”

  “Liar! You know full well where you are, Aiko Takahashi. Do you take the Lex Aeterna for a fool?”

  “You’re… the Lex Aeterna?”

  A booming laugh rattled her teeth. “No, child. The Lex Aeterna is not a person. But you have much to learn.”

  Aiko’s fists clenched. “Then maybe you should explain it to me!”

  “Hm. Not my concern. But tell me—what makes you worthy to return?”

  Aiko opened her mouth, then shut it. The voice cut in: “Think first. Only truth matters here.”

  She floated in the void, chest tight. The truth pressed against her ribs like it wanted out.

  “I’m not worthy,” she whispered. Her hands shook, but her voice stayed steady. “I never was.”

  The gate glowed faintly. “Continue.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I let them die.” The words ripped out. “My parents. I was supposed to meet them that night, but I was late. I’m always late.” Her throat tightened. “If I’d been there, Malcolm wouldn’t have found them alone. They died because I was selfish. Because I thought my time was more important.”

  The void shifted. Images flickered: missed calls, her mother’s voicemail, blood on the floor.

  Her voice trembled but didn’t stop. “Worthiness isn’t about being good enough. It’s about what you do with the stuff you can’t carry. With the guilt.”

  The gate shimmered, veins of light spreading. The old man’s face rippled; for a heartbeat, she saw her parents smiling, whole again.

  “You speak of weight,” the voice boomed. “What changed, Aiko Takahashi?”

  She thought of Uncle Hiroto, broken in his hospital bed. Of Yuxi blazing in fury. Of Malcolm’s endless hunger.

  “I stopped running. The grief, the guilt—it’s part of me. It’s heavy, yeah, but… it keeps me here. Keeps me from floating away.”

  The light pulsed brighter. “And what will you do with this weight?”

  “Fight,” Aiko said, no hesitation. “Malcolm isn’t just a man. He feeds on people like me—people drowning. I won’t let him take anyone else. Not Uncle, not Yuxi, not anyone.”

  “Then you would become as he is—a hunter of the wounded?”

  “No.” The word rang like steel. “I’ll be something else. A bridge. Between the weight we carry and the strength we get from carrying it together.”

  The diamond gate dissolved into light. “The Lex Aeterna remembers all debts. You have not erased yours—you have transformed it. Use it wisely.”

  Light poured through, warm and soft. Aiko felt herself falling—but this time, she didn’t fight it.

  She landed in Hiroto’s hospital room. Fluorescents buzzed overhead. Everything looked the same—except Dynamo was there, standing watch.

  “You’re back!” Dynamo said, relief cutting through her usual sharpness.

  Aiko blinked, then gasped at the sight of her uncle. She rushed to the bed.

  “Uncle, are you okay?”

  Hiroto stared at her, voice hoarse. “You’re… glowing.”

  His eyes were wide with fear and wonder.