(The last day before the fight, Leo's POV)
The final day before the fight had arrived, and as Leo moved through his morning sparring routine with Charles, he could sense something different about the red aura pooling around the Monarch's body today.
With every blow that the two exchanged, Leo began to notice faint traces of red aura rising from Charles's body, drifting toward him not as solid threads but as flickering wisps that hovered briefly before dissolving, as though they were trying to find him but couldn't quite hold on.
The line had started to form, but failed to connect.
Like a car engine trying to start, but never fully roaring to life.
He could feel it now more than ever, the edge of something, the outline of a truth he hadn't fully grasped yet, like a door half-open, like a puzzle with one missing piece.
