Private Sommer's End (Finale)

[Sommer Dai]

"You should've told me," Sommer said flatly.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa stopped a few paces behind her.

"You're going to have to be more specific."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer turned, eyes hard.
But not hateful.
Just wounded.

"The vision. The kiss. The words. You knew something was wrong. Back when I started changing… when we were alone. You felt it. And you didn't tell me."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa's arms tensed at her sides.

"Because I didn't want to believe it," she said softly. "Because I've seen people corrupted before. But you? You were still fighting it. Even when you didn't know you were."

 

[Sommer Dai]

"And what now? Now that I've been used like a puppet? You think I'm still me?"

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa stepped forward.

"You're still you, Sommer. You're still here. That's why I stayed. That's why I want to be with you. But I can't do that if you keep hiding from me. Your afriad"

 

[Sommer Dai]

The words stung.

Sommer's jaw clenched.

"I don't have the luxury of being afraid. I don't have time to cry over lost childhoods and broken faith like the rest of you."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"Then what's the point of all this?" Alyssa's voice broke slightly. "Why fight so hard for a galaxy you don't even let yourself feel?! Why build the Veil? Why risk everything for people who'll never know what you gave up?"

Silence.

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer's eyes shimmered — not with tears, but with sheer pressure, like a dam about to split.

She finally looked up at Alyssa.

"Because it gave me a reason to keep going when I had nothing. The Veil wasn't just a club. It was my second chance. It was built from broken pieces of me. And if I lose it… if I lose you… I don't know who I'll be anymore."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa stepped close, touching her hand.

"Then let me help you hold it together. But no more secrets. No more carrying the weight alone."

They stood there, forehead to forehead, silence crackling between them like a current neither was ready to break.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Location: Bakura – Cradle Vault Exterior

The wind along the temple edge had changed.

It no longer howled — it breathed.
Each gust seemed to murmur through the cracks of the old vault door, pulling in air like lungs preparing to exhale something long buried.

Kael knelt near the outer symbols, tracing one with the edge of his vibroblade.

"You sure this thing's not going to explode when we step inside?"

 

[Arq*]

Arq, pacing behind him, didn't answer right away.

"That would be too easy. Vaults like this don't kill intruders outright. They invite them to be changed."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer and Alyssa approached from the tree line, their exchange still lingering behind their eyes. The rest of the team turned at their arrival.

Sommer looked calmer now — but only just. A storm rested just beneath her skin, waiting to be unleashed.

"We're doing this," she said, scanning the vault entrance. "But we do it together. No more secrets. No more backup plans I'm not briefed on."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael smirked slightly.

"Even the ones where I die heroically to buy you time?"

 

[Sommer Dai]

"Especially those."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa gave him a playful shove.

"You wouldn't last two minutes on your own anyway."

 

[Arq*]

Arq stepped to the center, lifting a small holo-key from his coat — a cipher cube etched with Kasari runes.

"This will bypass the outer lock… but once it's open, the cradle reacts to intention. It reads your desire. If you walk in without purpose, it will turn you away."

 

[Sommer Dai]

"And if you walk in with the wrong one?" Sommer asked.

Silence fell again.

Then Sommer turned to each of them — Kael, Alyssa, and Arq.

"We go in. We find the truth. We see if this cradle can save me. Or damn me."

She stepped toward the vault.

The runes pulsed in response — as if recognizing her bloodline, her burden, or something far more ancient.

 

[Arq*]

The cube in Arq's hands activated — a sequence of glowing lines unraveling through the monolith stone. The center of the vault shifted, groaned, and opened like petals unfurling in reverse.

A spiral staircase revealed itself, leading downward into a lightless core.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael peered over the edge.

"Well. It's no golden throne room, but I've seen worse staircases."