Skadi sat slumped in the cold metal chair, arms crossed tight over her chest, fingers digging into the worn fabric of her sleeves. Nails bit down hard enough to leave faint crescents she could already feel rising in her skin.

She glared at the blank wall ahead.

Her reflection stared back at her in the glossy table surface. Pale skin, disheveled hair, jaw clenched tight enough to ache. She looked like hell. Worse. She looked powerless.

Weak. Helpless. A pawn.

Her throat burned with the memory of Vehrin's voice. The questions had come in waves, over and over, grinding her raw.

"What is your connection to Akiko Tsukihara?"

"What do you know about the frigate in orbit?"

"Have you been in contact with any other individuals involved in the unrest?"

The words blurred together, reshuffled variations of the same trap.

And every time, she gave the same answers.

"I don't know anything about the frigate."

"I'm not part of this."

"I just want my mother back."

None of it mattered.

Vehrin had watched her like he could peel her apart layer by layer. Like every word was a loose thread waiting to unravel her.

Skadi's fists pressed harder into the edge of the table. The hum of Haven's sterile tech buzzed low in her ears. A quiet, mechanical chokehold.

Why am I even here?

She hadn't started this. She hadn't summoned that thing from orbit. She hadn't turned Isvann Hold into a warzone. She hadn't dragged Haven and Karn and every other damned faction into her life.

That was Akiko.

The thought hit hard. Sharper than she wanted to admit. Her jaw clenched tighter, anger curling low in her gut.

Akiko.

The storm that had swept in with fire and charm, promising to fix things. To fight for her. To help save her mother.

Where was she now?

Air caught sharp in her throat, tangled up with a surge of rage. She wanted to scream. To throw something. To fight back. But all she could do was sit here. Trapped in Haven's cage, her voice meaningless.

Her hands shook as she tried to press the anger down.

She hated them. Vehrin, Karn, every faceless soldier in this place. But most of all, she hated herself. For being too slow. Too blind. Too weak to stop any of it.

She bit back a bitter laugh, the sound scraping out of her chest like dry stone on metal.

You're not Akiko. You never were.

Akiko had power. Fire. Teeth.

Skadi had nothing.

A shadow moved in the doorway.

"Miss Eisfall."

The guard's voice snapped like a whip, cutting through the spiral. Skadi flinched before she could catch herself.

She looked up, voice rough. "What?"

"You're being moved."

Two guards stepped inside. Rifles low, but ready.

Skadi's stomach twisted. Moved where? Why? Her pulse quickened, but she shoved it down. No point asking. They never answered.

She stood, slow and deliberate, fists curling at her sides.

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Her mind flicked unbidden back to Akiko. To the promise she'd made.

Her throat tightened.

You promised. Don't you dare break it.

The guards didn't speak as they stepped in close. One gestured toward the hallway.

She exhaled slowly through her nose and started forward.

The door slid shut behind them with a heavy thunk.

The hum of the facility pressed tight against her ears, a low, metallic drone that never seemed to stop. The guards flanking her marched in sync, boots tapping sharp on polished flooring, every step a reminder that she didn't get a say in where she was going.

She kept her head down, arms crossed tight over her chest. Jaw locked. Breath shallow.

"Section C secure," the lead guard muttered into his comm. "Subject is being transferred."

Subject.

Her teeth ground together. Not prisoner. Not person. Just… subject.

Her fists curled tighter under her arms.

She counted her steps. Ten. Twenty. Thirty—

The alarm split the silence. High. Shrill. Echoing down every hallway.

The guards froze.

Skadi's heart stuttered, her breath catching in her throat. She looked up, wide-eyed.

"What—" The word slipped out sharper than she meant.

"Quiet," the rear guard snapped, rifle shifting toward her.

The lead guard pressed his comm hard to his mouth. "Status?"

Nothing but static. Then:

"…breach in Section D… unknown hostile… appears to be armed and—"

The transmission cut off. Dead silence in its wake.

Skadi's pulse thundered in her ears.

Unknown hostile.

She knew that cadence. Knew that impossible thread of hope trying to claw its way up her throat.

Akiko.

The guards tensed. They moved faster now, boots striking hard against the floor. Their rifles edged higher.

Another burst of static flared through the comm, this time louder, frantic.

"She's in the east corridor! Moving fast… too fast… dammit, she's—!"

An explosion rocked the ground beneath them. The walls rattled. Lights overhead flickered, stuttering between light and shadow.

Skadi flinched, adrenaline crashing through her like a wave. The guards swore under their breath, fumbling for new orders.

"She's here," Skadi whispered to herself, breath hitching.

The second guard grabbed her arm, shoving her forward. "Move."

They rounded the next corner, and stopped dead.

Blue-white light flared at the far end of the corridor, curling like smoke licking the walls. A figure stepped through, slow and deliberate.

Akiko.

Her suit was battered. Her hair stuck to her face in sweat-soaked strands. But her eyes, gods, her eyes burned. Sharp. Alive. Unbreakable.

Foxfire flickered along her claws, curling bright against the dim hallway light.

The guards lifted their rifles fast, grips shaking.

Akiko's smirk cut through the tension like a blade. "You boys really shouldn't play with fire."

Skadi's breath punched out of her chest.

Then Akiko moved. A flash of light. A burst of heat.

The guards fired, wild and too slow. Akiko blurred between the shots, foxfire snapping sharp with every strike. Claws carved arcs of blue flame. Weapons hit the floor, kicked from trembling hands.

One guard fell. Then the other. It was over before Skadi's mind caught up.

The hallway went still.

Akiko stood in the center of it all, flicking a stray lock of hair from her face. Her amber eyes cut toward Skadi, a crooked grin curling across her lips.

"Miss me?"

Skadi couldn't breathe. Relief cracked through her like lightning. But right behind it came the burn. Anger, fear, all of it colliding in her throat.

She swallowed it all down, fists trembling.

"You're late," she rasped.

Akiko's smirk faltered, but before either could say more, the alarms shifted again. The pitch dropped low, heavier, like the bones of the station had started to hum.

Skadi flinched at the change, chest tightening as the walls seemed to pull inward. She spun toward Akiko, voice cracking on the edges.

"What now?"

Akiko turned toward the ceiling, and stilled. A shimmer passed behind her eyes, foxfire flickering through amber. Her lips parted, head tilting slightly, and Skadi suddenly felt like she was watching someone drift out to sea.

"Akiko?"

Nothing. The silence pressed in like vacuum.

Skadi stepped forward. "Hey. Don't do this right now. What's going on?"

Akiko blinked, sharp and sudden, like surfacing from deep water. Her focus snapped back, breath slipping through her teeth.

"Facility's going into lockdown," she said, voice tight but calm. Too calm. "Haven's closing the exits. They're boxing us in."

Skadi's throat locked. Her stomach flipped.

Boxing us in.

Her gaze darted to the walls again. The lights. The sealed hatches.

Panic coiled sharp in her gut.

"What do we do?" she snapped, voice sharper than she meant.

Akiko didn't move. Didn't look at her. Her gaze flicked… past Skadi's shoulder. Toward nothing.

Her lips twitched again, breath catching like she was…

"Who are you talking to?" Skadi demanded, heart hammering now.

Akiko's eyes snapped back to hers. The shimmer dimmed, but it didn't vanish entirely.

"My AI," Akiko replied. Casual. Too casual. Like they were discussing lunch plans.

Skadi reeled. "Your what?"

"Not important right now," Akiko cut in, already dismissing the question with a flick of her hand.

Skadi opened her mouth to argue, but the alarms blared louder, drowning her out. Red strobes flared faster along the walls, syncing with the hiss of sealed doors sliding shut one after another.

Skadi spun again, watching exit after exit vanish before her eyes.

"This—this isn't good," she choked out, voice catching.

"No kidding," Akiko muttered.

She scanned the walls, that strange distant look flickering over her face again. Her breath quickened, head tilting like she was listening to someone Skadi couldn't hear.

"Options?" Akiko whispered, sharp and clipped.

Silence. Then a nod, small and precise.

Akiko turned back to Skadi, the barest flicker of a grin curling at the corner of her mouth.

"Follow me."

Skadi's breath caught. Her heart pounded. She didn't move. Not yet.

"What's the plan, Akiko?" Her voice cracked harder than she wanted. "Or are we just running blind?"

Akiko paused in the doorway, half-turned back. The smirk on her face didn't reach her eyes.

"Not blind," she murmured. "Just… creative."

She disappeared into the flickering corridor without waiting for Skadi to answer.

Skadi stared after her, breath shaking. Her skin prickled with something she couldn't name. But her feet moved anyway.

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