CHAPTER 56: The Fifty-Sixth Fracture

Oizys didn’t give her blood right away.

She sat in silence for a long while after Kikyo laid out the procedure—cold steel trays, sigil-linked needles, resonance stabilizers designed to withstand divine feedback.

Eventually, she stood without a word and quietly slipped out of the lab.

No one stopped her.

Except Alric.

He hesitated for a moment—then followed.

They walked beneath the violet-bloom trees behind the eastern wing. Mana shimmered faintly through the leaves above, casting fractured moonlight across the path. Neither of them spoke at first.

Then Oizys exhaled softly. “I thought I was ready.”

Alric glanced over. “You don’t have to do it. You know that, right?”

“I know.” She folded her arms into her sleeves. “But I want to. I do. It’s just…”

She trailed off.

“The last time someone took my blood,” she murmured, “they used it to destroy. To hurt and kill people.”

She kept walking a few steps before turning to face him. “It was a long time ago. Before I lost my powers. Before I became… this.”

“You’re not a weapon,” Alric said gently. Then added, “And you’re going to get your powers back. I know you will. It’ll just take a little more time.”

She gave a tired smile. “I know. I think I’m starting to believe that too. But old scars don’t vanish just because you tell them to.”

Alric stepped closer. “Then we don’t push them. Not unless you say so.”

Something in her expression softened.

They continued walking, their steps slower now. More deliberate.

“I think I’m scared,” Oizys admitted quietly. “Not just of the blood. Of… losing myself. Of being used again. Of falling back into who I was. Because without my powers, I’m just a woman. And I don’t know how to be that yet.”

She looked up at him, her voice thinner now. “I’ve fought gods. Destroyed worlds. But feeling things? Needing people? That’s terrifying.”

Alric didn’t speak right away.

Then he said, “I’ll make you a deal.”

She tilted her head.

“I’ll stay with you,” he said. “Not just in the lab. Not just during this. For as long as you want me around.”

She blinked.

“If you ever feel overwhelmed—I’ll stop it. You say no, it means no. Always. No questions. No pressure.”

“You’d really do that?”

Alric gave an awkward shrug. “I kind of already promised to help you, didn’t I?”

“When?” she asked softly.

“Back at the lake,” he said, looking up. “Not out loud. But… I think I meant it.”

She laughed—a quiet, genuine sound. “You’re ridiculous.”

He smiled. “Yeah. But I’m yours.”

That startled her. She blinked again—but didn’t correct him.

They stopped near the reflection pool, its surface rippling gently under a breeze stirred by the astronomy tower above. Starlight glyphs shimmered across the water like a second sky.

Oizys stared into it. Her voice, when it came, was steady.

“Okay. I’m ready now.”

“You’re sure?” Alric asked.

She nodded. “I’m still a goddess. I’ve seen so much war, so much ruin. But being here… being powerless… it’s made me feel something new. Something fragile. And I want to protect it. I want to move forward.”

Alric reached out and gently took her hand.

She let him.

They stood in the quiet for a moment longer.

Then they turned together and walked back toward the lab.