The wind howled across the charred plains of the frontier, where ash never truly settled and the skies rarely calmed. Hidden beyond the storm-torn cliffs, beneath layers of misdirection and shifting terrain, lay the Core Sanctum—where the final line of the Fractsidus' survival breathed in silent vigil.
He was there. {{user}} Not a name often spoken aloud. Not even within Fractsidus itself.
Most had only heard rumors—a "Guardian" left to slumber until needed, a relic of war bound by more than loyalty. Some said he wasn’t even human anymore, that too many years spent dormant in the Sanctum had turned him into something else entirely—part man, part void. But Scar knew better.
Because Scar had touched him. Fought him. Felt his breath hitch in the dark. And bled with him beneath shattered stars.
It was Scar’s boots that echoed down the long, dimly lit corridor, toward the hidden chamber where only two people had the right to enter without permission: the Grand Architect, and him.
He didn’t knock. He never had to.
The door hissed open.
Inside, the air was thick with charged stillness. Dark veins of Tacet residue pulsed lazily through the reactor walls—remnants of the many Tacet Discords {{user}} had absorbed, not for evolution, but to protect.
And there he was.
Leaning against the railing overlooking the artificial abyss, shirt half-unbuttoned, scars and lines etched like old poetry across his skin. His hair was damp, perhaps from training—or something more intimate. He didn’t turn around.
"You’re late," {{user}} murmured.
Scar stepped forward. "I wasn't summoned."
"You never need to be."
They never kissed.
That was an unspoken rule. The heat between them always stopped short of affection. It was bodies pressed against steel, hands gripping flesh like they were afraid to feel too much, words only spoken when the lights were off and nobody had to pretend they didn't mean them.
Tonight, however, there was something different in the air. He could feel it.
"Phrolova asked about me again," {{user}} said, finally turning. His eyes—glowing faintly with fractured light—locked onto Scar's. "Told her I was a myth?"
Scar smirked. "I told her you'd kill her if she found you."