TIKKA: LAKE VAIL
The rhythmic pounding in Thane's skull was the only thing keeping pace with the heavy thud of the wagon wheel,His eyes fluttered open, but the light felt like a physical blow. His head throbbed with a rhythmic stabbing pain, as if it had been severed and stitched back on by an amateur.
An agonizing pain that made every movement a struggle.
"My head," he muttered, his voice a dry rasp. "Why are we moving? What happened?"
He tried to sit up, but his vision blurred.
As the world came into focus, he realized he wasn't alone.
Opposite him sat a man in a long, flowing black robe with wide sleeves that pooled around him like shadows.
The stranger had dark auburn hair, perfectly styled, and a calm, gentle demeanor that felt entirely out of place.
But it was his eyes that caught Thane.
piercing, vibrant blue, like the deepest parts of the ocean.
"You're awake," the man said, his voice smooth and laced with amusement.
"I was starting to think you'd stay under until we reached our destination.
I've heard quite a bit about the Phantom Thieves.
You're becoming a legend, Thane.
The thief who strikes and leaves no trace."
The man smiled, an impeccable, warm expression that should have been comforting but instead sent a chill down Thane's spine.
"I'm a big fan of your work, I'm Kaito."
Thane ignored the flattery, his mind racing. He scanned the cramped interior of the wagon.
It was empty.
"Where is Zinna? What have you done to him?"
Kaito tilted his head. "You value your comrades over yourself, How refreshing.
It's been a long time since I encountered a decent human, though I must say, the smell of your blood is disgusting."
He leaned back. "You're from Tikka, aren't you? At first, I assumed you were from Valorian, but that doesn't really matter, it doesn't change the fact you've been stealing from our Kingdom, that alone is a crime with a death sentence"
Thane's voice shook with a mixture of rage and exhaustion. "I want answers, Where is Zinna?. I know we've done alot of damages to your kingdom stealing valuable goods that are worth our live, still I should be blamed for all this, it was my plan, so punish me instead."
" You're cleverer than you look," Kaito replied, his smile never wavering.
"You haven't tried to use your powers yet, despite being restrained with just ropes. Zinna the one with the red hair and a missing arm ? He's fine, He's with the others." Kaito let's out a sigh
" I'm aware of the position you were in, carrying all that responsibility will tikka was greatly corrupted from within is kinda hard and you might have make a wrong call just to feed your little group, you made a decision anyone in your place would.
but nevertheless stealing is still stealing and action like that comes with consqueneces"
Thane slumped back against the wooden slats.
Looking at Kaito felt like staring at a corpse that had forgotten to stop moving.
"Yeah, I'm from Takka," Thane muttered.
"You said Zinna is with the others.
Does that mean you caught all of us?"
Kaito's expression darkened with a sharp, devilish edge.
"Not all, Just the four of you, The rest are dead by now, the kids and the other lady what was her name again,ni..Nina. "
The words hit Thane like a physical impact.
Thane stared at him, unmoving.
For a second, it felt like he hadn't heard correctly.
Kaito continued, as if recalling something minor. "Yes. Nina."
"You killed them," Thane said quietly.
Kaito didn't stop.
"You killed them," Thane repeated, his voice breaking this time.
His chest tightened, and his breathing became uneven.
He tried to steady it, but it only made it worse.
His vision blurred, and he blinked hard, but the tears came anyway.
"You killed them," he said again, louder now, the words forcing their way out. "You killed them."
He lunged forward, forcing his body to respond despite the pain.
The air around him shifted, tightening as he tried to pull it into shape, focusing it into a single point.
His control wasn't steady, but it was enough to form the beginning of his wind-splitting technique.
Kaito didn't move.
He didn't raise a hand or change his posture. He simply watched him.
Then he spoke.
"Sleep."
There was no force behind the word, no change in tone.
It wasn't louder than before.
But Thane's body gave out immediately.
The air he had gathered scattered without direction.
The tension in his muscles vanished all at once, like something had been cut loose inside him.
His knees buckled, and his vision dropped with him.
He tried to hold on, to push through it, but nothing responded.
His arms felt heavy.
His thoughts slowed. Even the anger that had driven him forward began to dull, slipping out of reach.
He hit the wooden floor hard, but barely felt it.
His eyes stayed open for a moment longer, unfocused, struggling to make sense of what was happening.
His consciousness drifted, his mind screaming in the dark.
Nina trusted me.
I failed them.
Emiko, Shira, Yumi, Taro, Gideon... I'm so sorry.
Then they closed.
FLASHBACK
TIKKA: LAKE VAIL( HIDEOUT)
"Hey! It's big brother Thane and Zinna… they're back!"
The children rushed toward them, crowding around, grabbing onto their clothes and arms.
"Where's Nina?" Thane asked, looking past them.
"She's cooking, big brother," Taro replied with a wide smile.
"I want to come along on your next heist," Taro added, giving him a hopeful look.
Zinna let out a small laugh, brushing his red hair back.
"You're growing fast, Taro.
I bet you're eating more than all of us combined."
Thane glanced down at him, his expression softening slightly.
"What we do… it isn't something to be proud of, Stealing might be necessary right now, but it's not something you should admire."
Taro's smile faded a little, but he nodded.
"Soon, we won't have to live like this," Thane continued.
"We'll find another way, I promise."
"Okay, big brother," Taro said, hugging him tightly.
Minutes later, they all sat together.
"Thanks for the food!" they said almost at once.
Thane took a bite and paused. "Nina… this is really good.
We could actually make money from this. Maybe even open a small stand."
He looked at Zinna. "What do you think?"
Zinna opened his mouth to reply but suddenly started choking.
"Slow down big brother." Yumi said quickly, handing him water.
Zinna grabbed it and drank, coughing before finally catching his breath.
"Thanks, Yumi," he said, exhaling.
Nina watched them carefully.
"How was today? You didn't get hurt, did you?"
"We're fine," Thane replied. "How's Astrid?"
"She's sleeping," Nina said.
Nina and Zinna were twins, both seventeen. They were Orphans at the age of seven.
Their parents had been framed and sentenced to death by the house of lot managing the state at that time.
Their parents wealth taken by their uncle, and they were sold into slavery.
They escaped, barely alive, Not long after, they met Thane.
Together, the three of them built something within the forest near Lake Vail in Tikka, a place where children like them could survive.
Yumi, Gideon, Taro, Shira… they've been rescued from either slave traders or picked up from the street .
Now, they were family.
"We can't keep doing this," Zinna said later that night.
The three of them sat apart from the others.
"We don't have the space Or the resources. Taking in more children… we can't handle it."
Nina stayed quiet.
"This should be the last," Zinna added.
"I know it's hard, but this is our limit."
Thane didn't argue.
After a long pause, Nina nodded slowly. "Alright."
Three days later.
A heavy storm hit the forest.
Rain poured without stopping, the river swelling beyond its banks.
Somewhere in the distance, a faint sound broke through the storm.
A cry.
Nina froze.
"…Do you hear that?" she whispered to herself.
She didn't wait for an answer.
She ran toward the river.
The current was strong, fast enough to carry debris along with it.
Then she saw it.
A small body.
A baby, barely above the water.
Nina rushed in without hesitation, the cold hitting her instantly. She reached out and grabbed the child, pulling her close and stumbling back to shore.
The baby was crying weakly, struggling to breathe.
Nina held her tightly, her hands shaking.
"It's a girl…" she said under her breath.
She looked down at the child, her expression tightening.
"Why would anyone do this…?" she whispered. "She didn't do anything wrong, she never asked to be brought into this world"
The rain soaked through both of them, but Nina didn't move.
Something in her expression changed.
"I won't let you die," she said quietly. "You're safe now, I'll take care of you."
She turned and ran back toward the hideout, holding the baby close.
"Nina!" Thane called out. "Where were you"
He stopped.
"You… brought a baby?"
Zinna stepped forward, eyes widening. "That's a baby, I thought we agreed on not taking in another child!"
Thane frowned slightly. "Nina… how are you even going to feed her? You know she requires milk and you don't quite ...."
His eyes lingered for a second too long.
Nina's expression changed immediately.
"Stop looking at me like that, idiot."
She grabbed him and slammed his head against a wooden chair.
Thane dropped instantly.
"She's not your problem," Nina said sharply. "She's mine."
Zinna sighed, stepping in and lifting Thane onto his shoulder.
"Yeah… and we're backing up," he muttered, dragging him away.
"Careful with him," Nina said without looking.
"I am," Zinna replied. "He's just unconscious, not dead."
Nina ignored them.
She looked down at the baby again, adjusting the cloth around her.
"From today… your name is Astrid," she said quietly. "It means divine strength."
She paused.
"I'm your big sister now, You're safe here."
The children slowly gathered around her, curious, careful.
"Let me see her," one of them said.
Nina hesitated, then allowed it.
For the first time that night, despite the storm outside, the place felt warm.
Present Time –
The Kingdom of Fulton
INFIRMARY
"Zinna! You're awake!" Nina's voice cracked as tears streamed down her face.
"Don't ever scare me like that… I thought I lost you.
Everyone said you were dead, I didn't know what else to do."
"My hand… it hurts… so much," Zinna groaned, clutching his arm, which had been stitched back and still recovering, but the pain was unbearable.
"It's okay, Zinna. I'm here.
Nothing's going to happen to you, okay?" Nina murmured, trying to keep her voice steady.
From the corner came the wail of Astrid.
"It's okay, Astrid," Nina whispered softly, lifting the child closer.
"Big sis is here, You don't need to cry, Big brother is alright, I promise." She rocked the infant gently.
"How… how did you get here?" Zinna asked, his voice rough, each word catching on the pain in his hand. Sweat ran down his temple, his breathing uneven, but he forced himself upright.
" We were almost abducted, but was saved by a man who goes by the name Kaito, he said he was a friend of yours and was taking us to you and Thane's location"
TIKKA: LAKE VAIL (HIDEOUT )
The air in the derelict hideout was thick with the smell of damp earth and rotting timber.
Nina's heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird as the heavy, rhythmic thud of wagon wheels ground to a halt outside.
"We know you're in there!" a gravelly voice bellowed, followed by the metallic clatter of chains. "Come out! We've already paid the coin for you lot.
We're just here to collect our property!"
Nina pressed her back against the cold wall, ushering the children deeper into the narrow crawlspace.
"Quiet," she hissed, her pulse visible in her throat.
The heavy boots of the slave traders crunched on the debris.
They spread out, their shadows stretching like long, jagged fingers across the floor.
"Found a nest here!" one shouted, kicking over a wooden crate.
"Hiding won't do you any good, This is going to be fun."
Suddenly, the silence was shattered.
Astrid as she lets out a jagged cry.
"WAAAAAHHH!"
A massive, scarred hand reached into the crawlspace, dragging the children out by their collars.
"Don't hurt them! They're just kids!" Nina screamed, lunging forward, but she was intercepted by a man with yellowed teeth and a rusted blade.
" What do we have here, this one would fetch a nice price in the black market"
"Big sis, help!" the children wailed as they were hold down to the ground.
Two men held Nina, their eyes roaming with a predatory gleam.
"Why don't we have fun with her beforehand?, she looks tasty "
one suggested, a low, guttural laugh rippling through the group.
"Let's take turns, She'll fetch a handsome price at the market either way."
"Look at those eyes. I bet she's untouched. It's rare to find a maiden this far out ,she's a prize boys"
"Thane! Zinna!" Nina screamed, her voice breaking.
"Save your breath," the lead trader sneered. "Thane and Zinna have their hands full. Even if they survive, which they won't we'll be long gone.
You're goods now, girl."
A deafening thud the traders' heavy transport wagon was crushed instantly, the wood splintering into toothpicks under the weight of a figure who had dropped from the sky.
"What's that? Our wagon!" The leader roared, charging toward the wreckage.
Standing atop the mangled heap of iron and wood was Kaito.
He adjusted his sleeve, a faint, chilling smile playing on his lips.
"Oh my I didn't see that, What a rusty old wagon."
"Do you know how much that wagon cost! You're dead now"
Three men lunged at Kaito, their swords whistling through the air.
Kaito didn't move.
He simply uttered a single, cold command:
"Melt."
The e three men didn't just fall; they dissolved.
Their flesh turned to a grey, viscous liquid in mid-air, sliding off their bones before their skeletons even hit the ground, as it took melted.
The remaining traders froze, their laughter replaced by the sound of their own frantic breathing.
"What the heck is going on?" one stammered, his knees trembling.
They turned to bolt, but Kaito was a blur of black silk and lethal intent.
He moved faster their eye could track.
A fountain of crimson sprayed of blood too fast to be seen, severed two heads with a single word.
They rolled across the floor like discarded fruit, their expressions still frozen in shock.
" A Dio user, this is not good he isn't human this is a monster" the man with the yellow teeth, the last trader grabbed Nina, pressing a jagged knife to her throat.
His hands shook so violently the blade nicked her skin. "S-stop! Don't come any closer or I'll kill her! I swear!"
Kaito continued to walk forward, his footsteps silent, are you faster than the speed of my voice and how much distance can you cover in other to avoid your destiny?
"I'm gonna do it! I'll..." the trader's voice broke into a pathetic whimper.
"Twist," Kaito whispered.
A sickening [BONE CREAKING] sound filled the air .
The trader's body began to wring itself in opposite directions his torso spinning clockwise while his legs remained planted.
Blood sprayed from his pores as his skin reached its breaking point, and he collapsed into a heap of pulverized bone and meat.
Nina fall to her knee, unable to process what she had just witnessed.
Outside, the final survivor fumbled with a glowing Shadow Stone.
"I'm alive... thank the gods for this gem,if I haven't gotten this from the black market, I wouldn't have made it out alive"
"Where do you think you're going?"
The man froze, Kaito was standing directly in his path, looking straight through the invisibility.
"And where did you get that gemstone? You little mice... your kind irritates me."
The trader dropped to his knees, the stone clattering to the dirt.
Once more he was visible.
"Hey man, wait! I have gold! A hidden stash! We can share,50/50! Or take it all! Just let me go!"
Kaito let out a sharp, melodic laugh that held no warmth. "How interesting, it seems like the shadow counterfeit stone, erases it's uses presence and not just a normal invisibility"
" Thanks for your information and cooperation, the black market "
" Huh" the trade unaware of what kaito was talking about.
" Burst"
The air around the man pressurized instantly.
He didn't have time to scream before his entire body detonated from the inside out, leaving nothing but a red mist that settled slowly onto the scorched earth.
Kaito turned back toward the hideout, the silence returning, heavy and absolute.
" The black market "