It was a memory of a woman with long black hair that fell like flowing silk, pale gray eyes glowing softly, beauty so serene it seemed timeless. The woman leaned close, her gaze locked onto the tear-stained face of a little girl... no older than six.

  The child had the same pale gray eyes, filled with pain as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her lips trembled, words spilling between sobs.

  “Why do you and Dad have to leave now? You both just came back three days ago… stay a little longer, please…”

  Her voice cracked, her small hands clutching tightly at her mother’s sleeve as if she could anchor her in place.

  The woman smiled gently, a sorrow hidden in the corners of her lips as she brushed her daughter’s wet cheeks with delicate fingers.

  “Jett, my jewel… don’t cry. It makes me sad.”

  Her tone was soft, almost playful, though her eyes carried weight.

  “Okay, okay… I promise. Next time, your father and I will stay much longer when we return. Alright?”

  The young Jett sniffled, her small fists curling tighter around the cloth of her mother’s dress.

  “Promise?” she whispered, her voice fragile as glass.

  Her mother nodded lightly, a faint, teasing smile dancing across her lips.

  “Promise.”

  Then, almost as though remembering something vital, the woman’s expression shifted slightly. She extended her hand, and light shimmered faintly as something materialized upon her palm.

  It was a small object, wrapped in cloth embroidered with fine white linear designs... an heirloom, delicate and radiant.

  “Here,” her mother said, placing it carefully into Jett’s tiny hands. “Keep this for me, as a witness to the promise I made today. When I return, you can give it back and remind me what I owe you.”

  Jett’s small eyes widened as she clutched the object close to her chest.

  “But Mom… isn’t this really important to you?”

  Her mother’s lips curved into a tender smile as her hand stroked the girl’s cheek, thumb brushing away fresh tears.

  “It is,” she admitted softly. Then, with a pause, her tone grew more heartfelt, “But it isn’t more important than my children.”

  Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss against Jett’s forehead. The warmth lingered even as her figure began to turn away.

  “Take care of it for me until I get back. Always listen to your grandmother, alright?”

  Jett’s lips quivered, but she nodded firmly despite the stream of tears flowing again.

  “Alright, Mom…”

  Her mother took a few steps away, her long hair swaying gently. Then she turned back once more, her voice carrying in the open air.

  “And also… take care of your younger brother.”

  The words sank deep into Jett’s heart, carving a weight she still carried.

  Through her tears, the little girl cried out, her voice breaking.

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  “I will! I promise! …Love you, Mom!!”

  Her mother stopped in her steps, her back pausing as if those words had reached deeper than flesh. Slowly, she turned, her face glowing with a radiant smile.

  “I love you more.”

  Her voice rang like a melody.

  “My blooming jewel…”

  Her lips curved one last time, soft and gentle.

  “Take care of yourself.”

  The memory dissolved, slipping away like sand through fingers, but its weight remained. Even now, in this battle, in the presence of the Eradicator looming like death incarnate, her mother’s voice still echoed inside her.

  The echo that shaped her.

  The echo that hurt her.

  The echo she could never forget.

  Cracked!!.. Boooom!!!

  The sky above split in fury. Green lightning writhed across the heavens, illuminating the blizzard-choked night as the storm thickened. The snow swirled in frantic, suffocating gusts, smothering sound, only to be drowned again by the roar of the storm. The boundary of battle had been crossed, the world itself seemed to cry out at the trespass.

  Jett’s breath came ragged, her chest trembling. She stood frozen in place. Tears slipping down her cheeks unbidden, tracing hot lines against her skin. She hadn’t even realized she was crying, yet her body betrayed the truth her mind tried to lock away.

  Her fingers curled deeper into the fracture, the jagged edges slicing her palms faintly. Dark blue ichor welled, mixing with the pale glow of the broken absence as her voice cracked mid-chant. She forced the words out anyway, hoarse and shaking.

  “With this Truth… I summon Thee: negate the illusions of resistance… shatter the chains of unbound laws… let the greater stars tremble at the descent of Your Name...”

  Her throat burned as she screamed the final word.

  “MISHPACHA…!!”

  Manifest!!!!..

  The fractured space pulsed violently, glowing until it was near blinding. A sound like shattering glass echoed, jagged and sharp.

  Cracked!! Shhkkk!

  Reality buckled.

  From the wound in absolute existence, Jett dragged something forth. As she pulled, the fracture collapsed behind her, shards of broken existence dissolving like dust on the wind.

  Clutched in her hands was a silhouette of a blade.. long and lean. Its edges shimmered with a ghostly gleam, as though starlight had been caged and pressed into form.

  Faint waves of an ash radiated outward, swirling gently yet negating everything they touched, dissolving snowflakes midair, stripping the storm’s howl into silence for a heartbeat.

  Jett’s lips parted. Her voice dropped to a whisper, carrying across the battlefield, soft yet absolute.

  “And teach all things the meaning of…”

  Her pale eyes widened, glinting through tears as her throat released the final word.

  “…Doom.”

  The air convulsed.

  An oppressive force burst from Jett’s sheer existence, the mere weight of it cracking the ice beneath her boots. Reality itself quivered, the pressure suffocating, endless.

  The Eradicator, locked in combat with Liz and Dan, froze. For the first time since its descent, it faltered... its faceless helm snapping toward the disturbance. Its green-tinged smoke hissed and recoiled, signaling recognition of another threat.

  A guttural growl rumbled from deep within its armor as it blurred backward with blinding speed, retreating from Liz and Dan’s reach. Its masked face turned sharply in search of this new challenger.

  But nothing stood where the surge came from.

  The Eradicator’s posture shifted, tense, wary. Its armor of negation stirred violently, preparing to swell, to smother the battlefield and negate all threats indiscriminately.

  Just as the surge was about to expand..

  Split!!

  A shallow line tore across its armored neck. The sound was sickeningly sharp.

  Black ichor splattered against the snow, staining the white with oily darkness.

  For the first time.

  It felt pain.

  The Eradicator staggered half a step, its faceless helm twitching violently.

  Roar!!!!

  Its scream shattered the storm itself, a sound of both rage and disbelief. Its head snapped toward the distant ridgeline where a figure slowly took shape out of the air.

  There she stood.

  A girl, no older than twelve. Black hair whipped by the wind, pale gray eyes glowing faintly as though the descent of a greater star had already taken place.... Her coat, light brown and heavy like beast-pelt, trailed loosely behind her, swaying with the icy gale.

  She exhaled, a stream of cold mist spilling from her lips into the storm. Her voice, calm and flat, cut across the space between them.

  “I should have cut deeper, huh.”

  The words hung in the air, almost mocking. The calmness in her tone twisted the Eradicator’s growl into something harsher, its armored chest heaving as its aura convulsed in fury.

  Even as its rage swelled, the damage along its neck began to knit itself shut. Black armor shifted and sealed seamlessly, as if the wound had never existed. The negation reasserted itself... negating the concept of weakness.

  The balance of the battlefield had just changed.

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