READY x FOR x GET x BACK
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
The slope eased into a wider terrace where the street opened into a low plaza. Lantern lines had already been strung between the buildings, their first soft lights flickering on as the suns dropped lower.
Someone had dragged a pair of stone tables into the middle of the square.
A Crownfall card match was underway.
The tabletop version. Strategy pieces, lane markers, and battered player cards spread across the stone while a small crowd argued plays like they were running the real field.
Two quick matches were already running. Cards slapped down hard enough to echo. A small crowd leaned over shoulders, arguing plays before they even finished happening.
Ren slowed just enough to glance over.
“See? I told you people were already warming up.”
Mina didn’t even look. “I never really liked the card game.”
“Yeah me neither, but it can be pretty fun still,” Ren said.
Taro nudged Kit with his shoulder. “You hearing this? Mina’s about to school us on the entire sports history again.”
Mina turned halfway as she walked, already defending the point with both hands moving.
“All I’ve been saying is if Solaris runs that split rotation again, we ditch mid lane and play them wide. They hate playing wide.”
Zakiah nodded slowly. “She’s not wrong.”
Ren looked between them like he’d been betrayed.
“Oh now you agree with her?”
Zakiah lifted his shoulders. “I agree with winning.”
Kit listened more than he talked.
The noise, the arguing, the rhythm of the conversation. It all came back like stepping into a current that had never stopped moving.
They crossed the square and continued downhill.
A food vendor shouted the last call for skewers. Someone up on a balcony beat a quick drum pattern and a couple kids below tried to copy it with claps. A pair of older summoners practiced slow footwork beside a studio doorway, ignoring everything around them.
The terrace ahead sloped toward one of the long stair corridors that cut between districts.
Ren looked over again.
“So,” he said, voice casual in the way that meant it absolutely wasn’t. “You just appear out of nowhere now?”
Kit scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve been back like… half a day.”
“Wow,” Ren said. “A half day and you didn’t tell us?”
“I just saw him first,” Kariah said.
Ren pointed at her immediately. “Favoritism.”
“Sibling privilege,” Taro corrected.
Zakiah looked at Kit. “You gonna train tomorrow?”
Kit hesitated just long enough for Mina to notice.
“Yeah,” he said. “Most likely.”
Ren bumped his shoulder.
“Most likely?”
“I just got back,” Kit said.
“That’s exactly why,” Ren replied.
They reached the stairs.
From here the terraces stacked downward in glowing layers, lanterns and forge-lines lighting up one by one. The Halo Clock rose above everything in the distance, its molten ring slowly brightening as evening approached.
Taro whistled low.
“Festival week’s gonna be insane.”
“Half of Nardox is already here,” Zakiah said.
Mina glanced at Kit.
“You’re playing the rematch, right?”
Kit looked down the steps for a second before answering.
“You know it.”
Ren grinned.
“Good. Because Solaris has been running their mouths all week.”
“That’s normal,” Taro said.
“No,” Ren said. “Extra mouthy.”
Kariah leaned slightly toward Kit as they started down the stairs.
“Missed you.”
Kit nodded once.
“Missed you too, Goose.”
And for the first time since stepping into the group, he realized how many people were looking at him.
The kid who went to the Wilds had come back.
Ren was still talking.
“…and if we beat them this time—”
“If?” Mina said.
“When,” Ren restated confidently.
Zakiah cracked a smile.
“Now I want to start just so I can watch you eat that prediction.”
Taro laughed again, the sound rolling down the stairs ahead of them.
Kariah stayed beside Kit as they descended, their shoulders brushing every few steps.
Above them, the last edge of one sun dipped behind the terrace line.
The second followed a moment later.
The Halo Clock flared brighter.
And somewhere uphill, the festival drums started again.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣