The helicopters cut through the smoke filled sky above the Bottom like birds that had arrived too late for everything that mattered.
Inside the lead helicopter, one officer pressed himself against the glass and looked down at what used to be a neighbourhood. "What in the…" He stopped, then tried again. "What happened here? This entire district… it's almost completely burnt out."
The officer beside him leaned forward. "Look. Down there." He pointed through the glass. "That building. That's the source you can see the epicentre from up here." He paused. "And there's a boy. Right there in the middle of all of it. Standing in the rubble."
The first officer studied the figure below small against the scale of the destruction, completely still, apparently unharmed despite being at the center of something that had leveled everything within thirty kilometres.
"Unharmed," he said quietly. "Interesting." He straightened. "Water Talent clear the fires. I'm going down."
They moved at the same time jumped off the aircraft.
The water Talent officer spread both arms wide in midair, palms opening outward, and what came from him wasn't a stream but something closer to a storm. Water surged outward in a rotating arc, sweeping across the district and crushing the fires one after another with practiced efficiency.
The other officer dropped straight down and landed in front of what remained of the building.
He stood there for a moment, taking it in.
The structure was beyond saving. The walls that still stood weren't just burned they were altered, warped by heat far beyond what fire should produce. The street was unrecognisable. Everything within the radius had been reshaped by whatever had come from inside that apartment.
And in the middle of it, on his knees in the wreckage, both arms wrapped around a girl who wasn't moving, was a boy.
The officer stepped forward carefully over the debris and crouched beside him. He placed one hand on the boy's shoulder.
"It's okay, son," he said quietly. "Sometimes pain is the most dangerous thing a person can carry."
The boy turned.The officer took one step back before he could stop himself.
The boy's eyes were burning not metaphorically, but literally. Gold and white, moving like the surface of the sun itself, something rotating behind them like an astronomical force had taken residence in his skull.
Then the light vanished.The boy collapsed forward and hit the ground.
The officer stood over him for a moment. "Emotional awakening," he muttered. "Had to have been. Only way any of this makes sense." He looked across the ruined district. "He awakened and lost control completely."
He raised his hand and signaled upward.The helicopter began its descent.
Two hours later, Levi opened his eyes.
White ceiling. Artificial light. The sterile smell of antiseptic and controlled air.
He tried to move.The handcuffs stopped him.Both wrists were secured to the bed frame. He stared at them for a moment, then tested his legs. They moved. Just his arms were restrained.
Across the room, a nurse looked up and immediately turned to the two officers at the door.One of them stepped inside.
He was broad, older, grey at the temples, carrying himself with the calm weight of someone who had made difficult decisions for most of his life. He pulled a chair beside the bed, sat down, and looked at Levi.
Levi looked back.
Then at the name on his jacket.
George Washington. High Commander. Awakeners Police Republic of Edenia.
Levi's mouth went dry.
"Levi," Washington said calmly. "I'm glad you're alive." He paused. "What I'm about to tell you will be difficult, and I want you to understand that I'm not here to punish you. I'm here because you deserve the truth."
Levi said nothing.
"Thirty-two people are dead," Washington said. "Seventy-two more are injured. All within the radius of what came from your apartment."
The words hit like physical force.
Levi stared. "What…? Are you talking about
"I know." Washington didn't look away. "You don't remember it. Do you."
The memory came back all at once.Factory. Ice cream. Stairs. Door. Masks. Blade. Poison. Burning and bright Light.
"Ella." Levi jerked forward against the restraints. "Where is she? Is she—"
"She's alive but."
The words landed immediately.
"She's in a deep coma," Washington continued. "We don't fully understand her condition yet. It doesn't match any standard trauma we've seen or medical conditions it's like she may never wake up . Something intervened in her final moments and stabilised her. We don't know what. But she is alive."
Levi leaned back slowly.
Alive.
He held onto that.
"The thirty-two people," he said after a moment. "Tell me what happened."
Washington studied him, then nodded.
"When a Talent awakens especially an emotional awakening , the first release is uncontrolled," he said. "No training. No understanding. In most cases, it's manageable. Yours wasn't." He paused. "The ability that awakened in you is not standard. It's called the Sun Talent."
Levi didn't speak.
"It passes through bloodlines. It doesn't follow normal awakening rules. What triggered it in you was extreme emotional trauma your sister's condition, combined with the poison in your system. That broke whatever was containing it, the poison was supposed to kill you but somehow you survived"
Washington held his gaze.
"Humans typically access about five percent of their power when they first awaken. What you released last night the destruction across the district was five percent of your talent."
Silence filled the room.Levi stared at the ceiling.Thirty-two people.Seventy-two injured.Five percent.
"I didn't mean to,it it it it just happened " he said quietly.
"I know." Washington leaned forward slightly. "No one here believes you intended it."
"But it still happened."
"Yes," Washington said. "It did."
Levi stayed quiet for a long time.
He thought about About Ella. About the neighbourhood. About the people he didn't know whose lives had been tied to something he couldn't control.
"What happens now?" he asked.
"That depends partly on you," Washington said. "Right now, the most dangerous thing in Edenia isn't the people who attacked your sister." He paused. "It's you. Not because of who you are because of what you're carrying without control."
Levi looked at the cuffs.
"You'll remain here for now. You'll train. You'll learn to control your ability before you do anything else. That's not optional."
Levi said nothing.
Then, slowly, "If I join… if I learn to control this… will I be able to find them? The ones who did this?"
Washington watched him for a long moment.
"The Awakeners Police investigates all attacks within Edenia," he said carefully. "If they're here, we will find them."
Not a promise it was something the police were good at doing ,But enough.
Levi nodded slightly. "Alright. I'll join."
Washington stood. "The cuffs come off in the morning. Get some rest. Tomorrow your life changes."
He paused at the door.
"For what it's worth," he said, "what happened to your sister was not your fault. What happened to this city was not your fault. Both can be true at the same time."
Then he left.The room went quiet.Levi lay there, staring at the ceiling, the weight of thirty-two lives pressing down on him.
He would train. He would learn. He would control it.He would protect.But beneath all of that, something else settled into place.Find them those attacked his little sister,And make them understand what they did.He closed his eyes.Tomorrow, everything changed