What Was Left Behind

Chapter 25: Final Reckoning

The world outside was still collapsing—dust and debris filled the air, the building groaning under the weight of its destruction—but Maia's heart had already been reduced to rubble. She stood over Camilla's lifeless body, her breath coming in shallow, trembling gasps. The tears had finally dried, leaving her empty, hollow, and cold.

But beneath the numbness, something else began to stir. Rage.

The pain of losing Camilla, the betrayal that had taken everything from her—her childhood, her memories, her identity—began to twist into something darker. She had tried to fight for her friend. She had tried to save her. But the monster that was once her father had taken her away. He had taken everything away.

Now, there was only one thing left to do. Make him pay.

Levi, his face streaked with dirt and exhaustion, stood behind her. His eyes were full of sorrow and silent understanding, but Maia didn't look at him. She couldn't. Her vision was fixed on the machine that still thrummed in the center of the room, its once-menacing hum now a faint, dying whisper as it struggled to remain alive.

But Maia could still feel him—her father—lurking in the depths of the machine, his twisted consciousness trying to claw its way out, to take control of someone else, something else. He wasn't finished. Not yet.

"Maia," Levi said quietly, stepping closer. "What do we do now?"

Maia's jaw clenched, her hands balled into fists at her sides. She didn't respond right away—couldn't. The anger inside her was too hot, too consuming. Her father's voice echoed in her mind, that cold, detached cruelty she had lived with for so long.

"You were always meant to be mine, Maia. You can't run from this. You are my creation."

She had run long enough. She had fought to escape his shadow, tried to find her own path, but he had always been there, waiting to drag her back into his nightmare. Not anymore.

"This ends now," Maia said, her voice low and steady, though it trembled with the force of her rage. "I'm going to finish what I started."

Levi's eyes flicked to the machine, then back to Maia. "Are you sure? It's dangerous. If the machine still has any power left, he might try to—"

"I don't care," Maia interrupted, her voice sharp and cold. "I'm not running anymore. I'm not hiding. I'm going to end him."

Levi hesitated, the concern in his eyes clear. But he saw the look in Maia's face—the hard, unyielding determination—and he nodded. "Then we do this together."

Maia's lips tightened into a thin line as she stepped toward the machine, her fists still clenched. The closer she got, the more she could feel it—the faint pulse of her father's presence, buried deep within the dying hum of the core. He was still there, waiting, watching. He had taken everything from her—Camilla, her childhood, her identity. He had manipulated her entire life, shaped her into a tool for his own monstrous ambitions.

But now, Maia was going to turn that tool against him.

The control panel was still sparking, damaged from the earlier shutdown attempt, but the core still glowed faintly. Maia stood before it, her chest rising and falling with deep, steady breaths. She knew what she had to do.

"Maia..." Levi's voice was soft, hesitant. "What are you thinking?"

Maia didn't answer at first. Her mind was clear, her heart set. She placed her hands on the cold metal of the machine, the vibrations thrumming through her fingertips. She closed her eyes, focusing on that faint pulse—the presence of her father.