The Nether was changing.
Not in the obvious ways-there were still screams in the distance, and the ground still pulsed like a
dying organ-but something beneath the surface was shifting.
And it was following Hinata.
---
They moved quickly through the Hollow Spine, Alis cutting a path through the ruins with the casual
grace of someone who'd stopped fearing monsters a long time ago. Hinata kept pace, his body sore,
his soul burning with the echo of last night's fracture.
"Where are we going now?" he asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Somewhere less haunted," Alis replied. "Somewhere we can think."
"Thinking is dangerous here."
"Then it's a perfect match for you."
---
They found shelter in the husk of a crumbled palace-its walls blackened by time, its towers bent
inward like teeth. Inside, fractured mirrors lined the halls. None of them reflected properly. Hinata
saw versions of himself in each: younger, older, missing an eye, missing hope.
"Why is everything here allergic to chill?" he muttered."Because peace is a memory," Alis said, "and memories are dangerous."
He stopped at one of the mirrors. "You say that like you've lost some."
She didn't answer.
---
That night, the whispers returned-but different.
They weren't memories this time.
They were *questions.*
> Why do you still run?
> Do you believe the gods will forgive what you are becoming?
> Who will you betray first-her, or yourself?
Hinata curled his fists. "Shut up."
The mark on his chest pulsed. The brand had grown again-more symbols spiraling outward, forming
a ring of glyphs he couldn't read but somehow understood.
Alis sat cross-legged nearby, watching.
"You're resonating."
"That sounds bad."
"It is. Something's trying to find you. And it's not Val'Kyros."The next morning-if you could call it that-they were surrounded.
Not by monsters.
By **silence.**
A stillness so thick it made breathing feel optional. Even the screams in the distance had stopped.
Hinata stood, eyes scanning the broken arches around them.
"I don't like this," he said.
Alis was already on her feet. "You shouldn't."
Then the mist *rippled*.
A figure emerged.
Not grotesque. Not corrupted.
**Clean.**
Clad in white robes that never touched the ground, face obscured by a mask of pure gold. No aura.
No malice.
Just judgment.
Alis hissed through her teeth. "An Arbiter."
Hinata blinked. "That sounds... biblical.""It's worse. They're enforcers of the Divine Accord. Their job is to erase anything that shouldn't
exist."
The figure stepped forward, voice neither male nor female-just *final.*
"You bear the mark of a forbidden god."
Hinata's hand went instinctively to his chest.
"You are a fracture. A threat to the Accord. By divine law, you are to be unmade."
---
Alis drew her sword.
Hinata didn't.
He stepped forward.
"I didn't ask for any of this."
The Arbiter didn't move. "Intent is irrelevant. You walk the path of corruption."
Hinata clenched his jaw. "Then why are you afraid?"
Silence.
The mark on his chest *flared.*
Reality *cracked.*
The mirrors in the hall shattered without being touched. Shards hovered mid-air, spinning in
defiance of gravity-and judgment.The Arbiter raised a hand, light gathering.
Alis screamed, "Move!"
Hinata didn't.
He *reached inside.*
---
The world tilted.
A wave of *Rewrite* pulsed from him, dark blue and furious. Not magic. Not divine. Something in
between. The Arbiter flinched-a *godflinch,* Alis would call it later-and its spell twisted in its hand.
Then it vanished.
Not destroyed. Not banished.
**Rewritten.**
The air fell still.
Hinata collapsed to one knee, breathing hard.
Alis stared, blade still in hand, mouth slightly open. "You just erased a celestial enforcer."
Hinata looked up. "I didn't know I could do that."
"Neither did they."They didn't speak much after that.
They just kept moving.
But the Nether was awake now.
And somewhere deep within it, the gods began whispering each other's names like prayers.
Because the fracture had stopped running.
And started choosing.