Kingdom of the Nine: The Bridge (IV)

Chapter 7

———Red———
"So, you know her?" I ask, still trying to catch my breath from the wild escape. We're sitting on the edge of a rooftop, watching the city below, a stark contrast to the chaos we just left behind.

Kylen gives a grim nod. "Yeah, you could say that. Her name's Spectra, at least that's what she goes by. She's stolen from us before—shipments, warehouse supplies, you name it—but this? This is a whole different level. What's worse is, I'm not sure she even knows what she's stolen. That's probably why she activated its tracker—so she could see if we came after it. Now that we have, she knows it's valuable, and that means one of two things: she'll either sell it to the highest bidder or use it to blackmail us."

I let out a short laugh, though there's nothing funny about it. "Fantastic. So, what? She has some kind of illusion powers?"

Kylen chuckles softly, shaking his head. "Yeah, that's the gist of it. From what I've gathered, she's the daughter of Julian."

My heart stops for a moment. I whip my head toward him, eyes wide. "She's Celestial-born? Is she from Naurus?"

"Not that I know of," Kylen says, his voice steady, though the weight of his words hangs in the air. "But think about it—there's no other way to explain it. No one on Earth has powers. No magic, no anything. The only people who have abilities like that are Celestial-born. It's the only way it makes sense."

I open my mouth to respond, but my mind races, remembering things I heard from Alyse. "Well, not the only way. The Empress—"

"Had influences from the gods," Kylen finishes for me, cutting me off. "Yeah, I know. But I'm telling you, there's something different about her. Something that doesn't add up. Have you ever fought someone with powers like this before?"

I pause, my throat tight. "Not exactly. Why?"

Kylen doesn't answer immediately. Instead, he looks off at the horizon, as if weighing his next words carefully. "I just realized... I'm still a bit confused about how all of this fits together. How did you even get here? Why were you with Draco? Who is Domnik? What all happened after I left?"

I swallow hard, the weight of his questions hitting me like a ton of bricks. I've been avoiding answering some of these for too long, but now, with everything on the line, I can't put it off anymore. I glance over at Kylen, his eyes steady, patient.

"Gods... it's a long story, Kylen," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

He nods, a slight smile tugging at his lips, but it's not one of amusement. It's understanding. "I've got time. And, to be honest, I think we're both running out of options. You're not alone in this anymore. Whatever's going on, we need to figure it out together."

For a moment, I just sit there, the weight of everything pulling at my chest. But then, I take a deep breath and let the words spill out, one by one, because it's the only way I'll ever make sense of it.

And maybe, just maybe, Kylen can help me understand it, too.

-

We sat there for hours, the silence stretching between us like a heavy fog. The only movement was a slow, restless pace back and forth from Kylen, then him sitting again, his mind clearly still reeling from everything I'd told him.

His face is a mix of confusion and disbelief, as if he's trying to make sense of the chaos that's tangled up in my words.

"And well, you saw the rest. Draco died and... I felt Domnik die too," I say, my voice low, as if saying it aloud makes it all too real again.

Kylen sits frozen for a moment, the weight of my words settling in. "You did all that? Went through all of that... while I sat here and played Monopoly?"