Blink: Ethereal Fury

Betrayers Burden

Black Star's dark chuckle echoed through the ruins as he squared off with Tao, but his grip tightened on his shield. The air around them buzzed with anticipation, the courtyard feeling like the center of a storm ready to break.

Benji, still on his knees, gasped for breath, watching the man who had just betrayed him now rise to defend them. His mind reeled. **Why?** Why would Tao, the one who had orchestrated the betrayal of everything they stood for, stand between them and Black Star?

"Tao, what the hell are you doing?" Benji spat through gritted teeth, his body trembling as he tried to push himself upright. "You betrayed us. You—"

"Shut up, Benji." Tao's voice was low, harsh. There was no time for explanations, no room for apologies. His eyes stayed locked on Black Star, unblinking, focused. "You think I betrayed Sensei because I wanted power? Because I wanted to destroy everything?"

Benji blinked, still struggling to comprehend. "You killed him! You betrayed all of us!"

Tao's face twisted into something dark, conflicted. "You think I wanted any of this?" He took a step forward, energy rippling around him, making the air itself seem heavy with tension. "There's more at play here than you know, Benji. The temple wasn't what Sensei said it was. You have no idea what's really at stake."

Black Star watched the exchange with mild amusement, his dark eyes gleaming under the faint moonlight. "Touching, really," he mocked. "A traitor with a conscience. Let me guess, Tao—you want to switch sides now that you realize you can't win alone?"

Tao's lips curled into a sneer. "I never cared about winning. Not like you. This was never about being the strongest."

"Oh, really?" Black Star adjusted his stance, gripping his shield more firmly. "Then why sell out your people? Why work with the assassins?"

Tao's eyes darkened, his voice dropping into something more lethal, more serious. "Because Sensei knew something—something he kept hidden from all of us. This temple, the teachings... they were part of a greater lie. The key you're after? It's not just about power. It's about control."

Benji's head snapped up at that. **Control?** Everything he had been taught... was it all a lie?

Black Star's smirk widened. "Go on."

Tao didn't blink. His voice was sharp as steel, filled with a bitterness that made it clear he had been wrestling with this truth for a long time. "This temple sits on a nexus—a source of power that connects realms. It's why Sensei kept us all here, training us like weapons but keeping us ignorant. He didn't want us to know the real reason we were here. This place isn't just some sanctuary—it's a prison for something older, something far more dangerous."

Benji's heart skipped a beat. "What are you talking about?"

Tao clenched his fists, his energy flaring again, warping the air around him. "Sensei... Sensei was guarding the key, yes. But the key doesn't just unlock some source of power. It unlocks a prison—a prison holding something that could reshape the entire world. And Black Star's after it."

Black Star's grin widened, spreading across his face like a dark, twisted shadow. "Ah, so you do know. The key, the prison... it's all the same to me. I don't care about the specifics, Tao. I only care about what's inside. And once I get my hands on it, there's no one—no power in this world or any other—that can stop me."

Benji's mind raced. Everything Tao was saying—it didn't make sense, but at the same time, it explained so much. The temple's secrecy. The strict, almost suffocating training. Sensei's reluctance to explain certain things, the hidden rooms beneath the temple that no one had access to.