The relic bonding hall was quiet, but it was not empty.
The walls felt like they were alive.
Not literally. But Nola could feel something in the stone, something deep and watching. It was like the room had seen more pain and purpose than she could understand yet.
Lanterns floated above flickered as they had magical fireflies caught in glass, casting pale gold light over the training circle in the center. There was no sound whatsoever, just the low pulse of magic humming beneath the stone, waiting.
Professor Iris stood like a monument of shadow and silk at the far end, arms clasped, his expression unreadable.
"Relics are not simply weapons," he began. "They are echoes."
"Every Will leaves behind something when it returns to the river of time. A memory. A scar. A blade. A grief."
Nola swallowed.
Her fingers brushed the hilt of the katana on her back.
She still hadn't processed the Moon Legion's visit. Or Caelis's silver pin. Or the fact that she might one day stand beside Auriel on the front lines of a war she didn't ask to fight.
She hadn't spoken to him again. She didn't know if she could. Auriel had called her twice after their fight but she did not bother to pick up.
But the sword on her back was patient. It felt smooth in her arms.
Waiting.
"Ms. Makinoshi," Iris said.
Nola stepped forward.
Her boots clicked against the stone as she entered the glowing circle in the center of the room.
The air shifted around her, it thickened as though the room was holding its breath.
She unsheathed the blade.
And the moment its blade met air, a bright light erupted.
A rush of white-gold magic flooded from the sigils below her, spilling out in concentric waves.
Her eyes closed as the room vanished.
She stood on the edge of a battlefield lost to time.
The sky was not sky at all, but it was a curtain of bruised red and torn black. Smoke rose from craters. Lightning split the horizon in jagged lines.
And standing on a jagged outcrop of broken stone was-
Watanabe no Tsuna.
Nola had never seen someone look so… elegant and beautiful.
He didn't fidget or move. He simply stood. He gazed upon the torn horizon.
His robe flowed behind him like water, streaked with dust and shadow. The katana in his hand was the same as hers, but it was older. Worn smooth from battles it had already survived.
Before him, a monster slithered forward on too many legs. Its form was chaos, made of half bone, half smoke, half something else.
Eyes blinked from its arms. Its mouth was where its ribs should've been, filled with teeth shaped like keys.
It was a nightmare given flesh.
Nola gasped when she saw it. Her body shivered at its sight.
But Tsuna didn't blink.
He stepped forward without hesitation and prepared himself.
And then, a simple strike
Not speed. Not fury.
Just pure elegance.
He pivoted on one heel, his blade slicing up, as light trailed behind it like ribbon, like starlight catching on wind.
The demon lunged.
And in a single motion, Tsuna brought his sword down.
The world broke.
A shockwave rippled out in a perfect ring.
The demon didn't even scream. It simply fell apart. Gently and cleanly, as if it had only been made of paper all along.
Not a drop of blood landed on Tsuna's blade.
Not one.
He exhaled.
And looked at her.
Nola could see his eyes clearly now, sharp and kind, filled with sorrow.
"You carry the burden now," he said.
She couldn't speak.
"You are not my shadow," he said again, voice soft. "You are not a replica of my name. But you must understand the price of using it. This power has brought nothing but regret."
She tried to breathe, but her lungs seemed to scream.
"I don't want to kill," she whispered.
Tsuna nodded slowly and smiled. "You never need to."
He stepped closer and offered her the hilt of the blade.
Not to fight.
To hold. To protect.
"You're not here to be me," he said. "You're here to carry what I couldn't leave behind."
A pause.
"And do it better. Live a life of freedom, not of pain and regret."
Then he vanished like fog disappearing..
The room returned.
And with it, power.
Light exploded from her hands. The blade glowed white-gold again. Brighter, deeper.
Her feet left the floor for a breath. Her breath hitched.
Her hair lifted, threads of black burning into a violet fire. Her eyes shone the same color, ringed in thin, glowing sigils.
A ribbon of violet spectral wind wrapped around her, rising from her shoulders.
And the blade, it hummed a tune.
Not with rage.
But with recognition.
With belonging.
It was a memory she hadn't lived, but knew by heart.
She lowered the sword slowly, her limbs trembling, not with fear, but with the power that came with the blade.
This is who I am now.
Not a girl afraid of her power.
Not a mistake.
Not a burden.
A blade.
"Makinoshi," Professor Iris said gently. "That's enough."
The energy faded in layers, like music slowing. Her feet touched the cold stone again. Her hair settled, dark once more.
But the feeling didn't leave.
It never would.
She returned to her place.
Maika grabbed her shoulder.
"Okay. What just happened? You glowed. You literally glowed. That was ghost queen-level energy. I mean damn, Nola. That was awesome."
Nola blinked. A breathy laugh escaped.
She still felt weightless.
Taveer stood across the room, leaning against the stone.
He didn't speak.
But his expression was different now.
Not cold but it was rather filled with a strangeness, Nola felt.
She waved at him and he gave a small smile.
She looked down at the katana again.
It didn't hum anymore.
But it felt alive.
Like it remembered her now.
She felt the power still surging through her.