Darkness pressed down on me like a suffocating weight. The poison burned through my veins, scorching every inch of me from the inside out. I was drowning in fire, swallowed by a storm I'd unleashed upon myself.
But I kept breathing.
Because giving up wasn't an option.
Not now.
I could feel every eye on me—Izuku, Bakugo, Shoto… my friends from childhood, my assassin team, even Zane, watching with something like hope flickering beneath his grim expression.
I wanted to tell them I was okay. That I wasn't afraid.
But my voice was lost somewhere beneath the roar of the storm.
I forced myself up, staggering on legs that felt like they belonged to someone else.
The sky above was clearing, but the cost was written in the silence—the heavy, breathless pause of a battlefield holding its collective breath.
Ryah's hands trembled as she steadied me. "Anos… you did it."
I gave her a weak nod, but inside I felt hollow—like I'd traded pieces of myself for this fragile calm.
Izuku stepped forward, eyes wide, struggling to find the words. "Brother… I—"
I held up a hand.
"Don't."
Not yet.
Not when everything was still so raw.
I caught Riley's gaze, her expression fierce and torn. She took a shaky step forward. "Anos, why didn't you tell us? About everything?"
I swallowed.
"Because some secrets... are meant to protect."
"Protect?" she whispered. "Or push us away?"
I had no answer.
Only this: a burning ache in my chest that threatened to consume me.
Zane moved closer, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're not alone, Anos. We'll carry this burden with you."
And for the first time since swallowing that poison, I believed him.
Because even in the darkest storms, the ember of hope can survive.
The wind had settled.
But the war was far from over.
And as the sun broke through the clouds, casting light on a battlefield littered with scars—
We all knew the fight was just beginning.