**Volume 2: Upper World**

  **Chapter 84: The Gem**

  February 10th, 3:42 p.m. – Rebuilt Academy Grounds

  The air was crisp — February cold biting at exposed skin, but the sun was out, weak and pale, trying to remind everyone the world still turned. Sky stood near the east gate — Reaper slung across his back, blue shirt untucked over baggy white pants, cracked-moon necklace resting against his chest. He watched people move — 20,000 survivors hauling bricks, passing water, laughing in small groups like life was slowly coming back.

  Kira walked up beside him — katana strapped tight, black hair tied back, red threads faintly pulsing under her sleeves like veins under skin.

  “I’m going to the Vein Clan house,” she said — voice low, steady.

  Sky looked at her — searched her face for a second.

  “Okay.”

  She didn’t wait for more. Just turned and walked — boots quiet on cracked pavement — heading toward the old district where the clan houses still stood, half-ruined but stubborn.

  Sky watched her go — then turned back to the work.

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  Kira reached the Vein Clan house in twenty minutes — old stone building, vines crawling up the walls, windows shattered but doors intact. Inside smelled like dust and iron — blood long dried. She walked the halls — familiar even after everything — until she reached the clan room.

  Jason was there.

  He lounged in the old head chair — sandals on, white socks, feet up on the table like he owned the place. His grin was wide, lazy, dangerous.

  “What are you doing here, Kira?”

  Kira stopped — ten feet away — hand resting on her katana hilt.

  “To take back what’s mine.”

  Jason laughed — short, mocking — slammed his feet down on the table with a thud that echoed.

  “Too bad. You’re not gonna be head anytime soon.”

  He leaned forward — eyes glinting.

  “The next head is me.”

  Kira’s voice didn’t waver.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  She turned — walked out.

  Jason watched her go — smile fading.

  “Stupid bitch,” he muttered under his breath.

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  Kira kept walking — deeper into the house — past training rooms, past old portraits of Vein Clan heads long dead. She reached the vault room — heavy iron door, Sad Fate symbol etched above it (cracked hourglass dripping blood through frames).

  She pushed — door groaned open.

  Inside: dim light from a single blue gem floating in the center of the room — suspended in a glass case, glowing soft, steady. The Gem of the Big Three Families — Sad Fate Clan, Vein Clan, Blood Clan. Sky had one piece, Max had one, Kira had the last. Together they could summon something old — something dangerous.

  She stepped forward — boots echoing.

  A voice behind her — calm, sharp.

  “What brings you here, Kira?”

  Kira turned slow.

  Mei stood in the doorway — tall, silver hair in a tight braid, white aura already flaring around her like frost on steel. Sword drawn — long, thin, edge glowing faint white.

  Kira opened the case — glass sliding open without resistance.

  “The Gem.”

  Mei’s eyes narrowed.

  “The only reason someone would get that Gem is if they’re summoning something old.”

  She stepped forward — sword raised.

  Kira turned fully — red threads pulsing brighter along her arms, yellow aura igniting around her like a halo.

  Mei’s white aura flared — cold, sharp.

  Both stood — ten feet apart — ready to move.

  The chapter ended with their auras clashing in the dim room — Kira’s bright yellow, Mei’s pure white — both about to explode.

  To be continued…