"Who the fuck are you?"
Aiku's voice cut through the ruined silence, laced with defiance and disbelief. His golden aura flared, reacting to the insult of being upstaged—of having his divine coin caught like a child's toy.
Alister didn't answer immediately.
He simply glanced at Aiku with a look that somehow combined mild disappointment with complete disinterest—like a teacher addressing a loud student he had long since given up on.
Then, with a sigh—one heavy with exhaustion, as if reality itself was starting to bore him—he turned his eyes to Anya.
Crimson met gold.
And in that moment, everything shifted.
Alister took a step forward.
Then another.
And then he arrived before Anya in a single breath of motion—one moment distant, the next so close she could see her face reflected in his eyes.
He reached out with gentleness, brushing aside a few strands of blood-matted hair from her face and tucking them behind her ear.
"You okay?"
