The air inside the house felt thicker than before.
Skuld sat on the bed, rubbing her temples, still groggy from sleep. She blinked blearily as the door creaked open, and Aqua stepped inside.
Even in her current state, she could tell that something was wrong.
Aqua's face was set in stone-cold frustration, her eyes distant but burning with something unspoken.
Skuld sat up straighter. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Aqua didn't answer at first.
Instead, she slowly walked toward the table, sat down, and exhaled a long, measured breath.
She wasn't just angry, but rather also felt confused and conflicted.
Helios with a lazy expression asked. "Did you find Merlin?"
Aqua gave a slow nod. "I did."
Skuld narrowed her eyes. "Looks like it didn't go well."
Helios smirked and said, "I'm guessing you received the same answer I gave previously."
The room was silent for a moment.
Then—
Aqua finally spoke. "Skuld… what do you think of Helios?"
Skuld blinked at the question. "…What? That's a weird question to ask. Why do you ask?"
Aqua's fingers curled slightly against the edge of the table. "I'm curious to see how he looks through your eyes. Do you trust him? Do you believe in him?"
Skuld hesitated.
Helios had always been secretive, calculating, and unpredictable. He never gave full answers, and half the time, she could tell he was lying by omission although she never pointed it out. And yet he had saved her from Radiant Garden. He had helped Cloud when he had no reason to. He had fought alongside them, never once hesitating to put himself in danger to save her in Olympus and in the Realm of Darkness.
"…I do," Skuld said finally. "I trust him."
Aqua's expression darkened. "You shouldn't."
Skuld frowned. "Aqua… that's…"
Aqua cut her off. "He's only telling us what he wants us to know. And on top of that, he uses darkness."
Skuld stiffened slightly.
Aqua's voice was firm, unyielding. "That power is corrupt. It poisons anyone who wields it."
Skuld opened her mouth—then closed it.
She wanted to argue.
She wanted to say Helios was different.
But…
Was he? She really didn't know. She didn't know too much about darkness or even light her memories still hadn't fully returned.
Helios sat there and didn't intrude in this conversation. No matter what he said it would sound like excuses and there's no way he could deny everything they were saying.
His expression remained unreadable, his arms crossed loosely over his chest.
Then—he smirked to himself. 'Poison, huh? You hear that Kurai you're poison.'
Kurai responded ignoring Helios' words, "Enough of this, go outside no I sense something."
He turned away exiting the house. This conversation could wait.
The moment he stepped outside he felt something pull him toward it. Something here was calling him.
Kurai's faint stirring echoed in Helios' mind. "Something was… no is watching us."
Helios stopped mid-step. "…What?"
Kurai's voice hummed darkly. "I felt it. A disturbance. Someone—or something—used darkness here. But it erased nearly all traces of it."
Helios tensed. That shouldn't have been possible. Although his guard wasn't fully up he still normally kept his sense attuned to things around so he should have felt this.
He turned his head slightly—his eyes scanning the rooftops, the alleys—nothing.
But due to Kurai's words, he could feel it now, a shadowy light wispy presence.
Something was wrong.
Aqua—who had been watching him with narrowed eyes left Skuld inside and followed after him, her curiosity outweighing her frustration.
She saw him standing still, staring at nothing, his expression tense.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
Helios didn't respond immediately. "…Someone or something was here," he murmured.
Aqua frowned. "Who or what?"
"Don't know."
Kurai spoke again, intrigued. "We might be able to force the portal open again… if you work with me."
Helios' smirk returned. "You just want an excuse for me to use more power, don't you?"
Kurai chuckled. "I am curious. Aren't you?"
Helios rolled his shoulders, stretching his arms out. "Fine. Let's try it."
Aqua watched as Helios closed his eyes.
Then—dark energy surged around him.
Her stomach twisted instinctively.
That power.
That pressure.
It was wrong and dangerous.
It was too similar to something she had felt before from Vanitas and Master Xehanort.
The ground beneath Helios cracked slightly as his aura spiked, the shadows curling unnaturally as he reached out to reopen what had been erased.
The air shuddered—
And then—
A tiny portal flickered open.
It was small—barely the size of a coin.
But inside—
A shadowy humanoid face with no features stared back at them.
It tilted its head slightly.
Aqua's breath caught.
Then—
An eye opened.
And—
It wasn't an ordinary eye.
It wasn't even a single eye.
It was as if billions of smaller eyes were moving and squirming inside the pupil, each one looking in different directions and then suddenly they all turned at once and gazed directly at Helios.
A suffocating nausea slammed into Helios like a tidal wave.
His stomach twisted.
His breath hitched.
It wasn't just looking at him.
It was looking into him.
Through him.
At everything he was.
At everything he had been.
At everything he might become.
Kurai's voice wavered for the first time. "…That… is not normal. Even I find this unpleasant."
Then—
The eye blinked—and the portal snapped shut.
Aqua collapsed.
Her entire body trembled, cold sweat dripping down her face.
Her breathing was shallow, rapid.
"What… was that?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Helios exhaled sharply, clenching his fists. "…I don't know."
But his heart was pounding.
And for the first time in a long time, Heliso felt fear. In fact, fear might be too tame a word for what he felt. He felt dread and terror that shook his very being. He struggled to stay on his feet as he breathed deeply like if he stopped he might suffocate.
As the night deepened, another portal flickered open.
Unseen.
Unnoticed.
The shadowy figure stood once more, watching from the darkness.
This time—
A jagged mouth appeared on its featureless face.
And—
It smiled.