Life of a Light

Chap 62 - Shadows and Silence"

Samara stepped beside Etzia, fists still faintly glowing, breaths heavy from the fight with Lazareth. She glanced at Veyra—still poised, still dangerous—and then back at Samara.

Samara (resolute):
"I'm with you. We take her down—together."

Etzia (without looking at her):
"No."

Samara (surprised, tense):
"What?"

Etzia (calm, firm):
"You're drained. You used everything on Lazareth. If you stay, you'll just get hurt."

Samara (angry, frustrated):
"I'm not here to get rid of me!"

Etzia (finally turning to her, voice low but intense):
"I'm not asking. I need you to get Amaru out.

Etzia (adding):
"The Union Numen is on its way. Once they arrive, this whole place goes dark. No one gets out if they're still here."

Samara (gritted teeth):
"You think I care about—"

Etzia (cutting her off, sharp):
"I care."

(A beat. It lands.)

Etzia (softer, but still steady):
"I can hold Veyra. But you need to get them out. Now. Tell the others to leave this building at once. 

Etzia (steadfast, eyes locked on Samara):

"Samara, I promised you—I'd bring Veyra back. 

(Veyra pauses, voice colder, more uncertain.)

Veyra (cold, eyes flickering with steely resolve):
"You don't understand. These kids... they're not victims. They're the future—shaped by necessity."

Veyra (stepping closer, voice hard):
"I'm not here to play the hero. I'm here to create what this broken world demands."

Veyra (glancing at Samara):
"You, sister, still cling to weakness. Sympathy. That's why you failed to see the bigger picture."

Veyra (voice low, merciless):
"The experiments... the kidnappings... painful, yes. But necessary. To build strength. To build power."

Veyra (cold smile):
"And if that means breaking a few souls? So be it. The future won't be kind."

Veyra (turning to Etzia, defiant):
"You think your mercy can stop me? Your compassion is your cage."

Veyra (stepping closer to Samara, voice dripping with disdain):
"You always were the sentimental one—the fool clinging to ideals that don't belong here."

Veyra (eyes narrowing, voice sharp):
"Do you really think your softness saved you? Or me? No. It made you weak. A liability."

Samara ():
"I'm not weak. I refuse to become like you—someone who destroys to build."

Veyra (laughing coldly, almost cruel):
"Refuse all you want, but while you hesitate, I'm the one shaping what survives."

Veyra (mocking, stepping even closer):
"You left this place to chase ghosts. I stayed. I earned my place in the shadows."

Veyra (leaning in, voice low and icy):
"You should be grateful I'm not destroying you where you stand."

Samara (steadying herself, eyes blazing):
"This isn't you, Veyra. Somewhere inside, there's still the sister I knew."

Veyra (turning away, voice cutting like a knife):
"That sister died a long time ago. What's left is stronger—necessary."

(She pauses, glancing back one last time with a cold, almost pitying smile.)

Veyra:
"If you want to save them... save yourself first."

(Etzia watches from the side, her face unreadable, eyes steady but calm. She doesn't speak—only listens.)

(Her gaze flickers between Samara and Veyra, the sharp edges of their anger and regret hanging heavy in the air.)

(For a moment, she simply breathes in the silence—a silent witness to a fractured bond and a war far bigger than herself.)

Etzia:
"Family ties... don't always mean loyalty. Sometimes they're chains."

(She steps slightly forward, tone calm but firm.)

Etzia:
"I don't understand all of it—feelings, connections. But I know pain when I see it."

Etzia (stepping forward, voice steady and low):
"Enough."

Etzia (turning to Samara, voice steady):
"Leave this to me."

(She locks eyes with Samara, unwavering.)

Etzia:
"Look at her. I brought sense to your sister. ."

(She glances back toward Veyra, expression unreadable.)

Veyra (cold, fierce):
"This ends now."

(She lunges forward, tendrils of dark Numen energy whipping through the air toward Etzia.)

(Etzia's eyes narrow. She moves with quiet grace, almost minimal motion, sidestepping the lash with ease.)

Etzia (calm, almost whispering):
"You're predictable."

(She counters with a pulse of pale blue Numen energy from her hands, sending a sharp concussive blast toward Veyra's chest.)

(Veyra barely blocks, stumbling back, shadows flickering as she regains footing.)

(The chamber shakes as energy crackles. Veyra summons a swirling vortex of black Numen around her, aiming to trap Etzia.)

(Etzia closes her eyes briefly, grounding herself. With a smooth, fluid motion, she bursts forward, her form almost ghostlike.)

Etzia:
"Control isn't about force. It's about knowing when to move."

(She darts through the vortex, leaving afterimages shimmering behind her. Each afterimage lashes out with icy tendrils of energy, distracting Veyra.)