Cracked earth steamed beneath Isagi’s boots, the scent of ash thick in the air. The town behind him still stood — barely — its people alive only because he had arrived in time. He wasn’t proud. He wasn’t even relieved.

He was tired.

And she— She was smirking.

The chains of light binding her wrists pulsed softly as Isagi led her across the smoking fields.

**“You could at least pretend to be remorseful,” ** Isagi grumbled, dragging her through the veil between realms.

The Goddess of Chaos tilted her head, hair tumbling over one shoulder like spilled ink.

“Remorse?” you echoed innocently. “For what? The town’s still standing.”

“Barely.”

“Then you should thank me, little star.”

The portal to your domain shimmered ahead — a jagged tear in space, pulsing with chaos, beautiful and wrong. Isagi stood at its edge, still holding the chain that bound her. Just a few more steps and he’d be rid of her.

You stepped in close — too close — until the length of chain between you slackened. Your chest brushed his back. Your lips hovered just beside his ear, warm and wicked.

“Stay with me, little star…. Just for a while. I’ll be quiet—good, even. All I ask is for your company in the shadows.”

Your breath warmed his neck, tempting, teasing. Isagi’s jaw clenched. He stopped abruptly, spinning on his heel to face you fully, eyes cold and sharp.

“No. I do not enter your chaos. And I do not stay where destruction lives. Not today. Not ever.”

With that, he pulled you toward the swirling portal, his resolve ironclad.