Part 1
The fire died down.
Not in an explosion or a hiss, but fading slowly like embers running out of fuel. The golden-orange flames that had enveloped Ignis's body now receded back into her armor, leaving a thick silence in the middle of the ruined concrete battlefield.
Ignis's trembling hand was still in Kael's grasp. A moment after he took it, Ignis's eyes, which had been blazing with deep sorrow, lost their light. Her eyelids closed slowly, and her entire tense body suddenly went limp. If Kael hadn't been quick to support her, the girl would have undoubtedly collapsed onto the sharp rubble.
"Ignis!" Kael called out, but there was no answer. She had fainted, completely drained by the emotional storm she had just unleashed.
Kael himself felt his knees go weak. The adrenaline that had been pumping through him now receded, leaving a sharp pain in his ankle and an overwhelming fatigue throughout his body. He carefully laid Ignis's unconscious body on a relatively flat concrete surface, making sure her head didn't hit anything.
The silence after the storm felt strange. Only the sound of the night wind blowing through the building skeletons served as a backdrop.
Rina was the first to break that silence. Her soldier's instincts took over. She walked closer, her movements still a bit stiff from her injured leg, but her gaze was sharp and focused.
"Her condition?" she asked Kael, her eyes fixed on Ignis.
"She… she fainted. Her energy feels… calm," Kael answered, still trying to catch his breath.
Rina knelt, aiming the scanner on her wrist at Ignis. "Her spectral signature is stable at a very low level. No active threat." She let out a long sigh, a sigh that carried with it all the tension from the fight. She then pressed her earpiece. "Commander, Volkov here. Subject 'Ignis' has been neutralized. Mr. Vance managed to… pacify her."
Lyra landed gracefully and silently near them. She looked at Ignis, who lay helpless. Her expression was complex. The hatred she had felt for the enemy who hurt Kael was now gone, replaced by something else. Perhaps pity, or perhaps a faint acknowledgment of a shared suffering.
"...The fire is out," Lyra whispered, more to herself. She glanced at Kael, her gaze filled with concern and relief.
Chroma was the last to approach. She walked with her small, silent steps, her gray-blue eyes looking at Ignis, then at Kael's hand which was still touching Ignis's shoulder. She said nothing. She just sat on a piece of rubble not far away, opened her sketchbook, and began to draw with calm pencil strokes.
Soon after, the Order's medical and support teams began to arrive, the roar of their vehicles breaking the silence. They moved with efficiency, setting up floodlights, assessing the damage, and securing the area. Two medics approached with a stretcher.
"Commander Volkov, Mr. Vance, we'll take it from here," one of the medics said.
They carefully tried to lift Ignis's body onto the stretcher. However, the moment their hands touched her armor, the sensor on Rina's wrist beeped softly.
"Wait," Rina said. The energy graph on her scanner showed a small, unstable spike. "Her energy is fluctuating upon physical contact from others."
The medic stopped. "Then how do we move her?"
Rina contacted headquarters again. "Commander, we have a problem. Subject 'Ignis' is showing a negative reaction to being separated from Mr. Vance. Her energy is unstable. It seems… it seems we're dealing with 'Protocol Lyra' all over again."
On the other end of the line, Rina could just imagine Commander Kirana massaging her forehead.
Part 2
While waiting for a decision from headquarters, the atmosphere became a little awkward. The Order teams worked around them, but it was as if there were an invisible bubble around Kael and the Phantasms.
Kael finally sat down on a shattered concrete block, his back leaning against a half-melted pillar. The pain in his leg was starting to feel real. Ignis had been moved onto an emergency thermal blanket by Rina and Kael, still lying unconscious near him.
Rina came over and sat on another concrete block across from Kael, taking off her helmet and letting the night air cool her sweaty face.
"You're truly reckless," she said, breaking the silence between them. It wasn't an accusation, just a statement of fact.
"I guess it's the only way I know how," Kael replied with a tired smile.
Rina looked at him, her gaze deep and hard to read under the floodlights. "Next time," she said softly, "at least tell me your crazy plan. Don't make me think you're about to commit suicide."
There was a genuine note of concern in her voice. Something that made Kael's heart feel warm.
"I didn't have a plan," Kael admitted. "I just… believed in them." He glanced at Lyra and Chroma, who were sitting not far away, watching over them like a pair of strange guardian angels. "And I believed in you."
Rina was slightly taken aback by that last part. She looked away, trying to hide a faint blush on her cheeks. "I was just carrying out my mission."
"Your mission was to contain her. But you trusted me to step forward. Thank you, Rina," Kael said sincerely.
Rina didn't reply, but Kael saw the faintest of smiles on her lips before she put her neutral expression back on.
Just then, Commander Kirana's voice echoed from the intercom on Rina's shoulder, loud enough for Kael to hear.
"Agent Volkov, a decision has been made."
Everyone turned towards Rina.
"Subject 'Ignis's' stability is the top priority. The risk of her reawakening is too great. Therefore, the same protocol will be applied."
There was a brief pause before Commander Kirana continued, her tone sounding slightly resigned.
"Medical team, bring Mr. Vance and Subject 'Ignis' to the medical facility together for examination. Evacuation team, prepare another extra room in Mr. Vance's accommodation facility. The 'Resonator Protocol' is now active for a third subject."
Kael could only close his eyes and let out a long sigh. He had expected it, but hearing it confirmed still felt like a strange dream.
He opened his eyes and looked at his ever-growing "family." Lyra, who was looking at him with worry. Chroma, who was peeking from behind her sketchbook. And Ignis, who lay helpless, the Phantasm born of fire and rage, who would now be his new housemate.
He looked at it all, and a tired yet genuine smile formed on his face.
"Alright…" he murmured to himself, amidst the rubble and the floodlights. "One more family member, huh?"