The battlefield was still. Wind skimmed across the broken stones, carrying with it the echo of clashing power and rage. My body ached, my fingers trembling as I kept my stance. Jerry had vanished moments ago, his grin still burned into my memory like a scar that wouldn't fade. He could've destroyed us. He should've destroyed us. But instead, he backed down—without reason, without warning.
I didn't understand it. I hated not understanding it.
N stepped beside me, brushing dust from his shoulder. His yellow visor flickered slightly as he looked around. "That... could've gone worse."
"Could've gone better too," Uzi muttered, spinning the barrel of her railgun arm, still hot from the fight.
V was the last to join us, flicking a chunk of rubble off her jacket. Her teal visor gleamed in the fading light. "He was just playing with us. You saw that, right?"
I nodded, swallowing the frustration welling up in my chest. "He could've killed me... but he didn't. He wanted us to know he was holding back."
The realization settled in like ice in my veins.
The others regrouped slowly—Jack limping, Olivia still half-invisible and panicked, Noah grimacing as he helped Mia to her feet. We were all worse for wear.
"I don't get it," Ivy said quietly. "Why back down?"
"Because he's not done," I said. "That wasn't the real fight. That was the warning."
We didn't speak after that.
---
Later that night, the castle's great hall flickered with candlelight. The princess and her chosen hero—some smug swordsman named Calen—had retreated after our display of chaos. King Dareth still hadn't addressed us.
Honestly? I didn't blame him.
We weren't just foreign students anymore. We were weapons. Wild ones.
I sat alone on the edge of the stone terrace overlooking Aeravelle. My mind kept replaying the moment Jerry's hand grazed my blade—stopped it. Held it like it was nothing. My power had bent time for an instant and it still hadn't mattered.
"You're sulking," Uzi's voice startled me. I looked back to see her leaning against the wall.
"I'm processing."
"You lost. That's not the same."
"I didn't lose."
She shrugged. "Sure. You didn't win either."
I glared, and she gave me a crooked grin.
"You've got guts, Rose. I like that. We'll beat him. Together."
Her words weren't comforting. But they helped.
---
Then, out of nowhere, the wind changed.
Not naturally.
A harmonic pulse rolled over the land like a whisper of song. I stood, eyes narrowing as a bright teal light shimmered in the distance, far beyond the castle gates. The melody grew clearer—high, synthetic, perfect. It wasn't like magic. It wasn't like tech. It was new.
We all rushed outside. V was already at the front, her claws twitching.
Then we saw her.
A glowing ring hovered just above the earth, and inside it hovered a girl in blue and white—her long turquoise pigtails flowing like ink in water. Her expression was gentle but curious.
Hatsune Miku.
The real one.
"What... is going on?" Lucas asked.
Miku blinked at us, tilted her head, then tapped her microphone headset. "Fracture signal detected. Harmony distortion present. I was sent to stabilize. Are you... the variables?"
I couldn't even begin to answer.
Before we could process it, two more forms skid to a halt beside her in a blur of neon and beats. A blue-haired boy in red and a floating girl with pink skin and a devilish smile.
Boyfriend and Girlfriend.
"Yo!" Boyfriend grinned, mic already in hand. "That guy you fought—Jerry? Bad vibes. Real final boss energy."
Girlfriend gave us a wink. "Looks like you need help from the rhythm realm."
Miku floated forward, her eyes calm but serious.
"We don't want to fight. But we will protect the harmony. This world isn't supposed to sound like this. Jerry's warping it."
I stared at them, stunned.
Rhythm warriors? Vocaloid avatars? None of this made sense. But in the Fractured Horizons... maybe it didn't have to.
"You came to help us stop him?" I asked.
Miku nodded. "Yes. If we don't intervene, the melody of this reality will collapse."
Uzi smirked beside me. "Guess we're not the only glitchy misfits anymore."
I looked out across the dark horizon, my hand brushing the hilt of my blade.
Jerry had started something none of us understood. But the world had begun to answer back—with music, with chaos, with unity.
And for the first time, I felt like maybe we had a chance.
To be continued...