The Loom of the Last Law

The slums didn't change.They just rotted slower.

Smoke clung to the alleys like old sins. Broken neon signs blinked in half-words. Rusted trains creaked overhead, still trying to run on tracks that had long forgotten where they were going.

Cael sat where he always did.

Beneath the old support beam, under the cracked bridge, where the rain came down in quiet needles and no one asked questions.

He stared at the puddle near his feet. Not because it was interesting — but because it existed. Because it moved.

Unlike him.

His hands were trembling again.

He didn't try to stop them.

Then… footsteps.

Light. Measured. But not careful.Not the kind that crept or scurried. Not the cautious rhythm of a slum dweller.

These steps walked like they belonged.

He didn't look up.

At first.

"Still hiding in gutters, huh?"

A girl's voice.Sharp. Smooth. Slightly amused.

Cael blinked slowly. His body didn't react — not at first. But something inside him… paused. A flicker of pressure behind his chest. Familiar, but wrong.

The footsteps came closer.

Boots — clean. Her coat fluttered, long and black, trimmed in silver. Noble. Definitely noble. Way too clean for this place.

She crouched down beside him, resting her chin on her palm.

"Your hair's longer," she said. "You look worse. Definitely smell worse. But yeah… I'd recognize that face anywhere."

Cael finally turned his head.

Just a little.

Her face was the kind you didn't forget. Sharp eyes, a little too bright. Soft lips curled into a crooked smile. white hair, barely damp from the rain. Eyes bright with something fierce and unreadable.

And she was smiling at him

He stared at her.

Blank.Flat.Gray-eyed.

"…Do I know you?"

The smile faltered — just for a second.

Then came back stronger.

"Nope," she said. "You forgot me."

She poked his chest with two fingers.

"I'm unforgettable, by the way. So that's rude."

He said nothing.

She sighed and sat cross-legged on the wet pavement beside him, coat dragging through a puddle like she didn't care.

"Let me guess. You don't remember me. Not even a flicker?"

Cael's eyes twitched. Just a flicker.

He stared at the puddle again.

He had seen her face before.Somewhere.Maybe.

"Name's Elaris," she said

Her tone was playful. But her eyes…

Her eyes watched him like he might vanish any second.

"I've been looking for you," she said. "Took me a while to track down this charming trash heap you're camping in."

He didn't answer. He couldn't.

She exhaled through her nose.

"You were quieter back then too. Always the silent type. Now you're just… rain-soaked and depressing."

She looked at him.Really looked.

"You're thinner than I expected. Dirtier too. You eat?"

She grinned.

"I can see that. Now you just sit in the rain like a ghost."

Silence settled between them.Not awkward. Not angry.Just real.

He studied her — the way she sat, relaxed but coiled. Like she could throw a blade or a punch in the same breath she told a joke. The noble crest on her jacket — subtle, but expensive. She didn't belong here.

And yet… she had come.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Her smile softened.

"Because you're mine."

He blinked.

"I mean," she said, grinning again, "you were always interesting. You mattered. You were real. That's rare."

She leaned forward, close enough for her voice to drop.

"So yeah. I kinda decided you belong to me. And I'm very, very possessive."

Cael didn't flinch. But something inside him shifted again.

He wasn't used to this 

She stood and offered him a hand.

He didn't take it. He looked at it like it was a weapon.

"You're not safe here," she said. "And I'm not letting you rot in this place while the world eats itself. Come with me."

He stared at her.

"Why?"

She grinned again, and her voice went soft and dangerous.

"Because the next time a Hollow sees you, it might not hesitate. And I'd rather not lose you twice."

Cael didn't answer. Not yet.

But he looked at her again — really looked.

And for the first time in a long time,the rain didn't feel quite so cold.