"They used to be five.Now they were strangers in uniform.But some things never truly disappear."
Scene: Rooftop – Late Evening
The applause had faded.The sky was draped in layers of mist, stars blotted out by clouds.
Aeris leaned on the rooftop railing, eyes on the horizon.Her fingers still gripped the cold handle of her case. Her breath came slow.
She didn't need to look behind her to feel it.
A presence. Controlled. Familiar.
Click.Bootsteps approached—steady, graceful, too deliberate to be casual.
Viora:
"Still prefer the cold air, don't you?"
Aeris didn't turn.
Aeris (flat):
"You followed me."
Viora (smiling faintly):
"I was already here. You just arrived after."
She stepped beside her.
The silence stretched between them like glass—too fragile to touch, too dangerous to ignore.
Viora (gently):
"It's strange. Seeing you like this. Taller. Older. But still looking like a stray someone forgot to collect."
Aeris (quietly):
"You were there. That day."
Viora:
"We all were."
A beat.
Viora:
"But you were the one who didn't leave the tube, weren't you?"
Aeris turned slowly.
Her expression—neutral, but not empty.A storm behind a locked door.
Aeris:
"You left me behind."
Viora:
"We were taken. You were sealed. The professor made that call."
Aeris:
"And you didn't stop it."
Viora (still calm):
"I was twelve."
Silence.
Viora (sincerely):
"You were the last. The fragile one. We didn't know if you'd survive the winter in that place… and yet here you are."
Aeris (flat):
"Not by your help."
Viora (gracefully shrugging):
"Perhaps not. But I'm glad to see you walking. Even if you wear another name now."
Aeris (narrowing eyes):
"How much do you know?"
Viora:
"Enough. Enough to see that they didn't kill your ability… they only made it worse."
She leaned on the rail beside her, eyes toward the fog-draped horizon.
Viora:
"Endless Death. Rebirth through ruin. That's what they call it, yes?"
Aeris (coldly):
"You shouldn't say that out loud."
Viora (teasing):
"And what will you do? Kill me?"
She tilted her head, lips curled in faint amusement.
Viora:
"You'll come back. I won't."
Aeris gritted her teeth.
This wasn't a conversation.It was a subtle test. A warning. A sibling's haunting lullaby wrapped in elegance.
Viora (softer):
"We are what they made us.But you… you're something else.Not complete. Not broken. Just… stalled."
Aeris (bitter):
"A failure."
Viora:
"A prototype. Nothing more. But even failed one."
She began to step away.
Viora (final words):
"Welcome to Ironvale, Alina."
She paused at the door.
Viora (smiling faintly):
"Let's see how long your borrowed name holds up.The others will recognize you soon.I wonder what they'll say... when they realize their little sister is still breathing."
She left.
Aeris remained.
Fists clenched.Eyes forward.Heart… louder than before.
She was no longer alone.But this was not reunion.This was a countdown.
And she had no idea how many days she had left
The metal door clicked shut behind her.
Gone was the chill of Viora's presence.But it left behind something far worse—the heat under Aeris's skin.
Her hands trembled.
She inhaled once, held it, and exhaled like a soldier holding back a scream.
It wasn't enough.
Her feet moved—sharp, deliberate—toward the rusted side wall of the rooftop structure.
Then—
SLAM.
Her fist collided with the wall.Once.Twice.
CRACK.The dent deepened. Paint flaked.A groan of metal.
Aeris (muttering):
"You left me…"
SLAM.
"You all did…"
SLAM.
"I survived alone…"
She slammed harder.
Blood trickled from her knuckles.
Her body shook — not from cold, but rage.
Something inside her clawed up her throat like a memory trying to resurrect itself.
Aeris (shouting):
"I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO COME BACK!"
The wind answered. The campus below remained unaware.
She dropped to her knees, breath sharp, shoulders tense.
Faint steam curled from her hands — from the rising temperature inside her, or perhaps from the rebirth virus trying to regulate the damage she caused herself.
She didn't care.
She leaned back against the wall, eyes burning.
And for just a few moments…
She cried.
No sound. No sobs. Just wet heat rolling down her cheeks in defiance of everything she thought she'd buried.
Aeris (soft, broken):
"Why… am I still alive…?"
She wiped her face.
By the time she stood, the blood on her hand was gone — healed. But the pain lingered.
She grabbed her case and walked down the stairwell, eyes cold again.
"Alina" would be back tomorrow.
But tonight… she was Aeris Vionne.
The dead star.The discarded one.The girl left in the dark.