"You saw it too, right?" Ymir said, crossing his arms as he pointed at the window.
"That thing that man became... That wasn’t just ice powers. That was something else."
Magni recognized the man. "Ah! I l know that brother, I encountered him earlier! Your Iceness, I believe he’s from the––"
"Void." Ymir narrowed his eyes.
Magni nodded. "It seems that we are not the only children of entropy walking among man anymore, Your Iceness."
"Don’t call me that." Ymir snapped, but there was no venom.
Just weariness. He kept remembering Hermes rising from the crater—body spiked in frost, glowing pale blue eyes wide with a hunger that wasn’t just for battle.
"He stole my power. But that’s not what worries me," Ymir said. "What worries me is that he looked comfortable with it. Like it belonged to him."
Magni chuckled, taking a sip from a thermos of tea that he made for Ymir. "Perhaps it always did. You and I... We came from the Void and have always known it. But that boy? He was raised as a human. He must not even be aware of what that means for him."
"Then he’s dangerous." Ymir said. "A Threat."
"Or misunderstood." Magni gave Ymir a sidelong glance. "But I must say, I haven’t seen someone bite with that much passion in ages. He reminded me of you during our first duel. You had that same glint in your eye when you tried to freeze my throat shut."
Ymir sighed and pulled down the shutters. "I’m going to visit him."
Magni tilted his head. "To fight?"
"...To find out which side he’s really on."
The Ninth Department’s lounge looked like a mix between a luxury spa and an influencer’s dream condo. Velvet couches, neon plants, and one of Somner’s framed portraits on every wall.
Hermes groaned as he sat up on one of the recliners, rubbing his head. His whole body still ached from his little monster episode. And his mouth was dry... probably from all the yelling he did while rampaging.
"You’re finally up," Somner said, sipping tea like he wasn’t pacing the room for the last hour, worried about his beau. "Took you long enough."
Hermes blinked at the sharp tone, then glanced down. His coat had been draped over him. Carefully. Neatly. The scent of rosewood and sass lingered.
"...Were you watching me sleep?"
Somner turned hot pink. "I-I was just making sure you didn’t frost over the furniture!"
"Liar." Hermes grinned.
"Shut up." Somner took another sip. His pinky was up. "So. Are you going to tell me what that... thing was?"
Hermes rubbed his neck, unsure where to begin. "It’s hard to explain. That’s... something I’ve been trying to suppress for years. But I think it’s connected to how I steal powers."
Somner lowered the cup. "What do you mean?"
"I think it’s not just copying. I think it’s... assimilation. Something about me rewrites itself to accommodate the DNA of others. Including Voidlings. Especially Voidlings."
Somner’s face was unreadable. "So... you’re saying you’re not just using Void powers. You’re... part of them?"
Hermes didn’t answer. He just looked down at his hands, remembering the spikes, the cold hunger.
"But I’m not a Threat." He finally said. "I swear. I didn’t even know what I was until recently. I’ve always tried to be human. I—"
Somner looked away, his voice quiet now. "You don’t need to explain it like you’re begging me not to run. I already made my decision. I’m not scared of you."
"No," He said, walking to the window. "Because I’ve seen monsters before. The ones that pretend to be human. That manipulate. That destroy for fun. You’re not like them."
He placed a hand on the glass. "You’re honest. Stupidly honest. You show all your teeth and still expect people to not run. You fight back when you’re hurt instead of hiding it. That kind of honesty is dangerous. To people like me, especially."
Hermes stepped closer. "Why?"
Somner didn’t answer at first. But his reflection looked back at him with eyes from another lifetime.
Somner was seventeen, still new to the Golden Guild. His uniform was spotless, his smile stiff. Standing beside him was his assigned partner—a girl with short, wind-blown blond hair and arms crossed over her chest.
Eris. His older sister.
She had the kind of scowl that could curdle wine. Her jacket was unzipped, her boots scratched with wear, and her eyes were too old for her age. She hadn’t looked at him once the entire trip.
They were briefed to intercept a sudden Void flare near Sector Delta. Routine sweep. Until the trees started bleeding.
The sky split open. Voidlings poured through like oil through paper. Jagged beasts. Shadow serpents.
Somner managed to hypnotize them, but then....
A giant reptilian monster with a body covered in crystalline spines stomped through the battlefield, deaf to Somner’s hypnotic commands.
"I said FREEZE—!" Somner shouted, but the monster didn’t even twitch.
He turned around—and Eris was gone.
Then he saw her. Leaping from a cliffside.
Her hands glowed black with energy. She touched one of the smaller Voidlings—and the others turned against the huge reptile instantly, screeching in rage.
Eris’ hero name is Discordia. She can cause hostility and hatred on former allies.
The spike beast paused, confused. Then whipped around... and caught Somner in its vision.
He had mounted one of the smaller Voidlings using hypnotic control. Thanks to Eris, it was now biting at the reptilian giant’s foot. Now Somner would also face its wrath by proxy.
Somner saw Eris sprinting down the hill.
"Don’t—!" He screamed.
But she shoved him off the smaller creature’s back.
And the ginormous monster’s clawed hand closed around her instead, taking her with him into the bleak nothingness.
A scream echoed into the rift. Her last.
Somner exhaled, eyes misted after sharing this memory to Hermes.
"She hated me." He said. "Or I thought she did. She never played with me when we were younger, and she was always trying to outdo me. She hated how she’s the eldest, but because she was a woman, she did not gain the Sirentone ability or the Somner name."
He took a deep breath. "But she saved me anyway. That’s... why I can’t stand people like you."
Hermes tilted his head. "People like me?"
"People who remind me of her. Strong, stubborn, always trying to carry everything themselves. You look at me the way she did—like I’m not worth your time. But then you still do the right thing. Even if it kills you."
Hermes said nothing for a moment.
Then, he said: "Maybe hate isn’t the opposite of love. Maybe it’s just love when you don’t know how to show it anymore."
Somner turned his head, surprised.
Hermes smiled faintly. "Ymir tortured me. Hurt me. Mocked me. And yet, I still want to know if he’s okay. I feel bad for attacking him."
He stepped toward the coat rack and picked up his scarf.
"Where are you going now?" Somner asked.
Hermes turned back, eyes calm. "Because even if he’s a bastard... I still want to know if he’s alive."
The elevator opened. Hermes stepped in.
Somner stood there, arms folded, lips tight.
But instead of jealousy, he felt an admiration for Hermes that was different from his usual one. It was respect— for he knew in this moment that Hermes has the heart of a true hero, no matter how scary his powers may be.