Divided by Dawn

Leaving Obsidian Heart felt like clawing your way out of a tomb. The air, still thick with the coppery tang of nanites, somehow felt thinner, cleaner. With every step Henry took away from the crater city, he could feel the grinding hum in his bones fade, replaced by a dull ache in his muscles and the phantom echoes of the night before.

He didn't have a map. Just a name Joseph had whispered years ago: Aegis Academy. And a direction—east, toward the lands where civilization was still stubbornly trying to put down roots.

"You're awfully quiet," Tsukuyomi observed, floating beside him. Her spectral form shimmered under the harsh sun, a smudge of moonlight in the middle of the day. "Missing your other half? He was certainly more fun."

"I'm thinking," Henry shot back, his voice low. He was thinking about how alive he'd felt in the fight. And how dirty he'd felt after. The two sensations were at war inside him.

The landscape was a monotonous blur of dusty plains and the rusted-out skeletons of a forgotten age. For two days, they traveled in a quiet broken only by Tsukuyomi's snarky comments and the crunch of their own footsteps. Night brought the change, but now that he was aware of it, Henry's daytime self fought back. A pointless act of resistance that only left him more drained when the sun returned.

Trouble found them on the third day.

They were cutting across the bones of an old highway when the roar of engines split the horizon. Three dune buggies, patched with scrap metal and armed with machine guns, crested a dusty hill and surrounded them. Bounty hunters. Vex's high-profile breakout hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Well, look what we have here," a man with goggles and a grin full of metal teeth yelled from the lead buggy. "Two runners from the Heart. Alive, you're worth a fortune. Dead... still worth a pretty penny."

Henry shoved Tsukuyomi behind him, dropping into Joseph's fighting stance. His heart hammered against his ribs. It was day. The overwhelming power, the cold fury, was dormant. All he had was his training, his aching body, and the bored-looking goddess at his back.

You can't beat them, the voice in his head, a faint echo of his other half, sneered. Run. Let me out when night falls.

"No," Henry whispered. "I'll handle this."

The first buggy gunned it. Henry waited, breath caught in his throat. At the last possible second, he dove aside, the buggy's bumper whistling past where he'd stood. He spun, using the momentum to slam a kick into the vehicle's back wheel—a precise strike Joseph had made him practice a thousand times. The tire blew with a bang, sending the buggy skidding out of control.

The other two opened fire. Bullets ripped through the air. Henry moved, not with the supernatural speed of the night, but with a desperate agility, using the wreckage of old cars for cover. He was faster than a normal human, but he wasn't invincible. A bullet grazed his arm, searing a line of white-hot pain.

He ducked behind an engine block, panting. "Anytime you want to help!" he yelled at Tsukuyomi, who was perched on a rusty hood, watching it all like it was theater.

"But you're doing so well," she cooed. "It's adorable, watching you try so hard."

One of the hunters, a heavy-set guy with a flamethrower, hopped out of his ride. "Tired of running, kid?"

Henry knew he couldn't win a straight-up fight. His eyes darted around, searching for any kind of edge. They landed on a dark puddle of oil slicking the asphalt. An idea—a reckless, stupid plan—sparked in his mind.

He broke cover, sprinting right at the man with the flamethrower. The man laughed and unleashed a torrent of fire. Henry dove under the flames, the heat scorching his back, and slid right through the oil slick, passing under the hunter. In one fluid motion, he kicked the back of the man's knees, sending him sprawling on his back into his own oily puddle. Before the guy could even get up, Henry was already on his feet, rushing the last buggy.

The fight was brutal and clumsy. It was a scramble for survival, not a show of dominance. He used every dirty trick Joseph had ever taught him, every last ounce of his strength and speed. When it was over, the bounty hunters were groaning on the ground, beaten not by some monster, but by a stubborn, desperate kid.

Henry stood in the middle of the broken highway, chest heaving, his body humming with adrenaline and exhaustion. He'd done it. On his own.

Suddenly, cold arms wrapped around him from behind. Icy breath tickled his neck. "Oh, that was... stimulating," Tsukuyomi whispered in his ear, her chest pressed against his back. "Watching you all dirty, bleeding, and fighting for your pathetic little life. It's almost as thrilling as watching the other one kill."

Henry went rigid, heat flooding his face. The contact was so sudden, so intimate, it stole his breath. "T-Tsukuyomi... let go."

"Why? You didn't enjoy my victory hug?" she purred, squeezing him tighter before finally releasing him, laughing at his flustered state.

Later, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, they found shelter in an abandoned power station. Henry slumped against a wall, too tired to move. His wounds stung, and the looming transformation felt like a weight on his soul. He closed his eyes, wishing for just a moment of peace.

He heard a rustle of fabric and then felt a sudden weight in his lap. His eyes snapped open. Tsukuyomi had sat down on his legs, facing him, as casually as if she were taking a chair. She looped her arms around his neck, her mischievous smile inches from his face.

"You look tired," she said softly. "Let me take some of the weight off."

Henry was completely frozen. He could feel the faint chill radiating from her, see every impossible detail of her perfect face. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen—a literal goddess—was in his lap. He couldn't breathe.

"W-what are you doing?" he stammered, his face turning a shade of red that would make a tomato jealous.

"I'm taking care of my favorite weapon," she answered, tilting her head. "You're much cuter when you're all flustered. The other one would just try to stab me. It's a nice change of pace."

Before Henry could form a coherent thought or find the strength to push her away, the first jolt of the transformation hit him. A cold cramp in his gut. His muscles locked up. Tsukuyomi felt the shift, her smile widening.

"Ah, looks like the daytime fun is over," she said, rising from his lap with liquid grace. "Don't you worry. I'll take good care of the body 'til morning."

The last thing white-haired Henry saw before the darkness swallowed him whole was the expectant gleam in the moon goddess's eyes.

The next day, they finally saw it. Cresting a lush green hill that overlooked a quiet valley was a complex of white buildings and blue glass. The walls weren't scrap metal, but polished marble. The air didn't smell of rust and death, but of cut grass and fresh air. A great stone archway marked the entrance, the words "Aegis Academy" etched in silver letters.

It was a sanctuary. A world away from everything Henry had ever known.

And somehow, that made it more intimidating than Obsidian Heart itself.