Tasogare No Sojin

The moment its jaws clamped shut, I began to free fall.

Everything turned to fire. The air burned to breathe, my skin felt like it was melting right off my bones. Acid saliva rained down in thick strings, hissing and smoking where it landed on me. My sleeves dissolved first, then the blistering hit my arms, my chest, my legs—I couldn’t even scream. My throat locked up, raw from just being in here. Every nerve in my body begged to shut down.

And then—warmth.

Not the one that tries to fucking kill you kind. Something soft. Something alive.

Two arms slid over my shoulders from behind. Light. Gentle. Like someone hugging me from behind.

“Let me handle it, little one,” she whispered. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it cut right through the pain like it belonged inside my head.

That’s when I saw it—gold. Glowing from my skin, curling out like smoke. The heat, the acid, the stench—it all pulled back, muted under this golden light.

She appeared in front of me then. Floating, glowing, looking straight into me. Her fingers brushed my temple, and I felt something tug inside my skull. Like a thread was being yanked out of my brain. White. Fragile. And it hurt—like having a piece of my life peeled away.

She spun it between her fingers, almost lazily, before pressing it into her own chest. The light inside her burned hotter for a moment, her lips curling into a knowing smile.

Then she put her other hand on my chest.

And it sank in like nothing was there.

Every breath I had left shot out of me in an instant. My lungs felt empty, my whole body weak and shaking. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t fight it.

“Don’t worry,” she murmured, leaning in so close I felt her lips graze my ear.

“Everything will be alright.”

All I could see was white.

The worm’s scream tore through the desert like metal grinding on stone.

Sand blasted upward as something exploded out of its side, a shockwave cracked the dunes for miles. A figure shot into the air, trailing golden dust that shimmered like sparks in the wind.

It was Juno.

He floated for a moment, weightless, a strand of his black hair now glowing gold like a wire of sunlight. His face was pale but calm, his body humming with a quiet, unnatural energy. In his arms, limp and bloodied, was Sylvaine.

Her hood had slipped off, hair spilling down his arm. One sleeve of her jacket was soaked red, but her face looked peaceful, as if she were just sleeping.

“Poor child…” The words came from his lips, but the tone wasn’t his. It was softer, smoother, someone else speaking through him.

He lowered his head and brushed his cheek gently against hers. With slow, deliberate care, he floated down and set her on the sand. His movements weren’t rushed. They were graceful, almost reverent, like he had all the time in the world.

Then, without turning, he spoke toward the worm.

“Fall.”

The sound was quiet, but the effect was instant. Thin, invisible lines ripped across the worm’s body. Blood sprayed into the desert in thin arcs before the beast even realized what had happened. Its scream was louder than thunder, the ground trembling under its weight.

Juno vanished in a blur. One moment he was beside Sylvaine, the next he was a golden streak darting across the dunes, circling the monster with impossible speed. Each footstep hit the sand like a hammer, shockwaves cracking the ground.

The worm lunged, its maw opening wide. Then it spat an enormous sheet of sizzling acid, rushing toward him like a collapsing waterfall.

Juno slammed his foot down. A wall of sand rose instantly, but as his glowing hand swept across it, the grains hardened into a radiant gold barrier.

The acid hit.

Hissssss.

Steam and smoke choked the air. The shield melted and warped, chunks collapsing.

From inside the haze, a calm voice spoke:

“I’m sorry, little one. Your body isn’t ready… not yet.”

When the smoke cleared, Juno was missing an arm. The shoulder was scorched and blackened, steaming as the flesh burned like meat on hot metal.

“No matter.”

His remaining hand hovered over the wound. Golden threads of light unraveled from his palm, stitching new muscle and sinew together. Veins pulsed faintly as bone stretched out of nothing, wrapping in fresh, glowing flesh. Fingers curled slowly, cracking as they bent for the first time.

He rotated the newly grown arm once, flexing it as if testing a glove.

“It’s time to end this,” he said softly. A hint of amusement curled in his voice.

“I have to make a good impression.”

He took a slow breath.

then whispered words.

Words that were older than the desert:

“Akikaze ni sasayaku inochi,

Sabi ni toke, ha ni mau,

Owari wa hajimari,

Kogane no kama yo,

Toki o kare,

Towa no aki to nare.”

The desert changed.

The sky darkened to deep amber, as if dusk had suddenly frozen in place. The sand hardened, cracking underfoot. Sparse, brittle weeds sprouted from the earth, glowing faintly before withering back into dust.

Around Juno, hundreds of golden leaves appeared from nothing, swirling in a silent storm. Their edges shimmered like blades, sharp enough to cut steel, yet they glided gently against his skin, harmless to him.

The worm’s movements slowed. It thrashed, but sluggishly, its armored hide beginning to rust and flake mid-motion.

Cracks of decay spiderwebbed from Juno’s boots, turning dead sand into fleeting, fertile soil that breathed green for a heartbeat… then wilted to ash again.

Juno raised his hand. The storm of leaves froze in place, the air thick with stillness.

He snapped his fingers.

The leaves spun together, twisting violently into a massive golden whirlwind shaped like a scythe. The desert wind roared as it pulled everything into its orbit, the sky glowing brighter as though it couldn’t look away.

“Tasogare no Sojin,”

The scythe of leaves swung forward, carving through the worm. It didn’t slice—it harvested. Flesh, armor, and bone unraveled into glittering ash that lifted weightlessly into the amber sky, swirling away like autumn leaves in a cold wind.

The worm screamed one last time before collapsing. Half its body was already gone, dissolving into golden dust.

And Juno stood there, unmoving, chest rising and falling slowly. Strands of his hair had turned pale, glowing like frost in the sun. His body trembled slightly, the cost of his power eating away at him…

…but he still smiled faintly, the storm of golden leaves swirling softly around him.

“Excellent.” 

Juno’s shoes dragged shallow grooves into the cracked earth as he walked back toward Sylvaine. The storm of leaves faded behind him, the desert eerily quiet, still glowing faintly from the power he’d unleashed.

He knelt beside her, his golden-streaked hair falling into his face.

With a slow breath, he extended one finger to her temple.

From her head, a thin white thread of light unraveled, swaying gently in the dry breeze. It hovered, trembling in front of him. Juno’s glowing eyes softened—not with victory, but something heavier.

A sigh slipped past his lips, quiet, almost reluctant. His fingers twitched as if to let it float away… but instead, he pinched it delicately and drew it back down.

The thread spun slowly between his fingertips. It shimmered, shifting from pale white to a deep, glowing gold.

He unzipped and peeled away her blood-soaked jacket, revealing the stillness of her chest beneath. For a moment, his hand hovered, hesitation flickering in his golden gaze.

Then, carefully, he pressed the glowing thread into her sternum.

The desert seemed to hold its breath.

A golden ripple pulsed outward from the point of contact, spreading across her skin in soft waves. Her color returned gradually—ashen pallor giving way to warmth, lips gaining life again.

Her chest hitched, a sharp inhale breaking the silence.

Juno’s hand lingered there a moment longer, thumb brushing lightly against where he had pressed the thread. 

Meanwhile…

The ceiling above me wasn’t sky. My eyelids dragged open like they weighed a ton, and for a second, I didn’t know where I was. The smell of antiseptic burned my nose.

Then it hit me.

The worm. The race. Sylvaine.

I lurched upright so fast the IV ripped from my arm. A nurse rushed in, hands raised. “Sir, you can’t—”

“Where is she?” My voice was rough, barely my own. “Sylvaine. Where’d you take her?”

The nurse hesitated. That half-second of silence told me everything I needed to know.

I threw my legs off the bed, muscles screaming in protest. A guard moved to block the doorway, but I slammed my shoulder into him, half-limping, half-running down the hall. People shouted behind me. Alarms started blaring.

But none of it mattered.

I burst through a sliding door into the underground garage, rows of V2s lined up . My pulse roared in my ears as I ran, my bare feet hammering the steel floor, and jumped onto the first hoverbike I saw.

Someone shouted my name. Another guard grabbed at my jacket, but I twisted hard, ripping free.

With one flick of my wrist, the V2 screamed to life. I didn’t look back.

The tunnel out of Solaris was a blur of flashing red lights and shouting voices. My stolen V2 screamed under me, the engine threatening to tear itself apart as I slammed it forward. Behind me, I heard the whine of other engines—guards giving chase.

“Gideon!” a voice barked over the intercom. The host. “Stop now before you get yourself killed!”

I gritted my teeth, “There’s no point.”

The narrow steel tunnel opened up, vomiting me out into the desert, dunes glowed with orange with the sun. Heat hit like a wall. My bike kicked up plumes of sand as I rocketed forward, but the fuel gauge was sinking fast.

Headlights carved across the dunes behind me, two guards and the host himself on their own V2s, engines howling in fury.

“Turn around!” one of them yelled, voice barely audible over the roar. “It’s suicide out here, we’ll have to shoot your V2!”

“Then watch me die trying,” I spat, pushing the throttle to its limit.

The desert wind stung my face, every breath tasting of grit and rust. All I could see was Sylvaine’s face in my head—how many times I’d told her I’d protect her, and how many times I’d failed.

Then—phut phut phut—the engine sputtered. My chest dropped. The bike coughed once more before the hover field collapsed entirely, dumping me into the sand.

I stumbled to my feet, staring at the dead machine. My chest heaved, lungs screaming for air.

I didn’t hesitate.

I ran.

My feet burned as they sank into the sand, pain shot up my legs, but my mind screamed louder,

Keep moving.

Find her.

Behind me, the other bikes slowed. I heard the host shouting something, but his words were swallowed by the vast emptiness of the desert. None of them followed on foot. They just… watched.

And then—

A figure emerged from the horizon.

I stopped, breath tearing ragged from my throat. My vision swam with heat haze, but as it cleared, I saw him.

His footsteps echoed in my skull like war drums. Each step sank deep into the sand as if gravity bent toward him. His hair caught the dying sun, streaked with gold that hadn’t been there before.

And in his arms…

Blond hair, broken goggles glinting faintly.

Sylvaine.

I tried to move, to speak, but nothing came out.

Juno didn’t look at me. Didn’t even slow. He just walked past, like he was possessed.

His shadow cutting across mine.

The world seemed to hold its breath.

I stood frozen, staring forward, unable to even reach for her.

Juno’s footsteps faded until finally, he stopped.

The guards and host sat motionless on their bikes, not daring to move.

Juno turned his head slightly, his voice calm, almost weightless.

“It is finished.”

He knelt, laying Sylvaine gently onto the sand as if she might shatter from a single touch. Then, without another word, he straightened and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.