Haruaki's body felt like it had been run over by a truck, then backed over for good measure. The Veilspawn attack on Eldridge City had left him drained, his skin tight and his joints aching from the fracture he'd sealed. The Gatekey in his pocket pulsed faintly, its warmth a constant reminder of the power—and the cost—that had nearly killed him. He sat on a crate in a new safehouse, a derelict warehouse in the Lower District that Rina had deemed "secure enough" for now. The air smelled of rust and old oil, the only light coming from a flickering bulb and the occasional spark from Rina's staff as she paced, her red-streaked hair catching the glow.
Yumi sat across from him, her dark eyes fixed on the floor, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She'd been quiet since the attack, her warnings about the Veil's breaking and the elite's schemes hanging heavy between them. Kuro perched on a rusted beam overhead, his golden eyes glinting as he muttered about "stupid kids and stupider keys." Outside, Eldridge City's sirens had faded, but the memory of the chaos—screams, blood, and Veilspawn tearing through the streets—lingered like a bad dream.
Rina stopped pacing, her staff tapping the concrete floor. "We can't stay here long," she said, her voice sharp. "That attack wasn't random. Someone's testing the fractures, pushing the Veil to see how much it can take. And they know about you, Haruaki."
Haruaki's hand tightened around the Gatekey through his jacket. "The elite," he said, his voice rough. "Varyn. He's behind it, isn't he?"
Rina's eyes narrowed. "Maybe. He's got the power, the motive. But wraiths, Veilspawn swarms—that's not just Varyn's style. It's bigger. Older." She glanced at Yumi. "You wanna share what you know, or keep playing mysterious?"
Yumi's jaw clenched, but she met Rina's gaze. "I've told you what I can. The Veil's breaking because of the Gatekeys. They're not just artifacts—they're anchors, tying the Veil to reality. If someone gets them all, they can control the fractures. Or destroy them."
Haruaki's stomach twisted. "All? There's more than one?"
Kuro cawed, his wings ruffling. "Oh, kid, you're just now catching up? There's five Gatekeys, scattered across the world. Yours is just the first to surface in years. And trust me, the elite are drooling over them."
"Five?" Haruaki pulled the key from his pocket, its golden glow dim but steady. The swirling symbols etched into its surface seemed to shift, mocking him with their secrets. "What do they do?"
Yumi leaned forward, her voice low. "Each key unlocks a different aspect of the Veil—time, space, matter, energy, and void. Yours is time. That's why you're Fractureborn, why you can bend the Veil's currents. But together, the keys can reshape reality itself. The elite want that power. And so do… others."
"Others?" Haruaki's head throbbed, the weight of her words pressing down. "You mean the things you keep hinting at? The 'older' things?"
Yumi's eyes flicked away, her hands trembling slightly. "I've seen them, Haruaki. In the deep Veil, where the fractures are strongest. Shadows that aren't just shadows. They're waking up, and the keys are drawing them out."
Rina snorted, but there was no humor in it. "Great. Monsters, elite assholes, and now ancient nightmares. We need to move, find the other keys before Varyn or whoever else does."
Haruaki's chest tightened, the memory of the fracture's pain still fresh. "Find them? How? I don't even know what this one does, not really. And every time I use it, I feel like I'm dying."
Kuro hopped onto the crate beside him, his claws scratching the wood. "You're not wrong, kid. The keys are power, but they're also a curse. Use yours too much, and you'll be dust before you're twenty. But you don't have a choice. The race is on, and you're already in it."
Rina nodded, her staff sparking. "Taro at the Market mentioned rumors—a key in Tokyo, another in Cairo. The elite are moving, sending hunters, wraiths, whatever they can to track them down. If we want to stay ahead, we need a plan."
Haruaki's mind raced. Tokyo. Cairo. Places he'd only seen on cracked screens during late-night delivery breaks. The idea of chasing magical keys across the world was insane, but so was everything else since that night at Crimson Towers. He looked at Yumi, her face half-hidden in shadow, and felt a pang of something—memory, longing, trust he wasn't sure he should feel. "You know more about this than you're saying," he said, his voice steady despite the ache in his body. "If we're doing this, I need the truth. What's in the deep Veil? What are you so afraid of?"
Yumi's lips parted, but before she could answer, the warehouse shook, a low rumble vibrating through the concrete. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the bulb flickered, plunging the room into near-darkness. Rina's staff flared, illuminating the space in a blaze of orange. "Not again," she growled, spinning toward the door.
Kuro's wings flared, his caw sharp. "Fracture! Close by!"
Haruaki's heart pounded as he stood, the Gatekey pulsing wildly. The air grew heavy, the Veil's rhythm seeping into the real world, jagged and chaotic. A crack split the warehouse wall, not physical but shimmering, like a tear in reality. Through it, he saw the Veil's bruised sky, and shapes moving—wraiths, Veilspawn, and something larger, its form indistinct but radiating malice.
"Seal it!" Rina shouted, her flames already arcing toward the rift. "Now, Haruaki!"
He reached for the Veil's pulse, the familiar pain igniting in his chest. The world slowed, the rift's edges pulsing in time with the key. He grabbed the current, pulling it like a thread, but the strain was worse than before—his vision blurred, his skin tightened, and he felt his life slipping away, years draining with every second. Yumi grabbed his arm, her voice cutting through the haze. "Don't push too hard! You'll lose yourself!"
"I have to," he gasped, his voice barely audible. The rift was shrinking, the creatures on the other side screeching as they clawed at the closing tear. Rina's flames held them back, but they were relentless, their green eyes locking onto Haruaki. He pushed harder, the pain blinding, his body screaming as time itself fought against him.
The rift snapped shut, the warehouse falling silent. Haruaki collapsed, Yumi catching him before he hit the floor. His hands shook, his fingers looking thinner, more wrinkled, like an old man's. His breath came in shallow gasps, and he felt older, weaker, as if he'd traded a decade for that one act.
Rina lowered her staff, her face grim. "You're getting better at that," she said, but there was no praise in her voice. "And it's killing you faster."
Kuro landed beside him, his eyes glinting. "Told you, kid. The key's a curse. You're in the race now, whether you like it or not."
Yumi's grip tightened, her eyes fierce. "We need to find the other keys before they do. If the elite get them—or worse, if the deep Veil's shadows do—there won't be a world left to save."
Haruaki forced himself to sit up, the Gatekey's warmth grounding him. The elite, with their crimson robes and liquid-gold wealth, were hunting him. The deep Veil's shadows were waking. And he was caught in the middle, a delivery boy turned Fractureborn, with a power he couldn't control and a past he couldn't remember. He looked at Yumi, her face a mix of fear and determination, and felt that spark again—purpose, fragile but growing.
"Where do we start?" he asked, his voice steady despite the ache in his bones.
Rina's smirk was sharp. "Tokyo. Taro's got a contact there, someone who knows about the time key's twin. We leave tonight."
Haruaki nodded, though his body protested. The race for the Gatekeys had begun, and he was already running out of time.