I had to think.

  I had to do something.

  Because if I didn't… we were going to die.

  The wind screamed around the floating platform like a living thing. It howled in my ears so loudly that it almost drowned out my own thoughts. The force of it pulled at my clothes, tugging at my arms and legs like it wanted to rip me off the edge and throw me into the endless drop below.

  Every breath felt like trying to inhale through a hurricane.

  And the storm was only getting worse.

  Each time Maya struck a wrong note on the piano, the air exploded outward in violent bursts. The platform trembled under our weight. Water twisted through the sky in spiraling currents, colliding with violent gusts of wind that threatened to tear everything apart.

  And every time she made a mistake—

  CRACK.

  The teacher's stick struck her again.

  Maya flinched each time, but her fingers never stopped moving across the keys.

  Faster.

  More desperate.

  More frantic.

  But something changed when Cameron shouted her name.

  "MAYA!"

  For just a moment—

  Her fingers stumbled.

  Just slightly.

  The storm shuddered.

  I noticed it instantly.

  Because Cameron and Maya… they had gotten close recently.

  Closer than anyone else on the team.

  During training, Cameron always tried to get a reaction out of her. He'd make dumb faces during sword drills, crack jokes when everyone else was exhausted, or do some ridiculous pose just to make her roll her eyes.

  Sometimes it worked.

  Sometimes Maya would actually laugh.

  And when she did…

  It felt rare.

  Like watching someone open a window in a house that had always been shut.

  They walked home together after training almost every day.

  Always talking.

  Always arguing.

  Always joking.

  You wouldn't think they'd get along.

  Cameron was loud, reckless, and goofy.

  Maya was calm, serious, and disciplined.

  They were complete opposites.

  But somehow…

  They worked.

  And when Cameron called her name—

  She reacted.

  That meant something.

  That meant she could hear him.

  Which meant—

  I knew what we had to do.

  "CAMERON!" I shouted.

  The wind nearly swallowed my voice.

  He looked down toward me, still clinging to the edge of the platform.

  "You have to get up there!"

  His eyes widened.

  "How?!"

  "Use your power!"

  He looked confused.

  "How am I supposed to use my power to help Maya?!"

  "You're a vessel, right?!" I yelled.

  "Yeah!"

  "I can't create things!"

  "So what?!" I shouted back.

  He hesitated.

  For a moment, he looked unsure.

  Then slowly…

  His expression changed.

  "You're right," he muttered.

  He closed his eyes.

  And suddenly—

  Electricity exploded around his body.

  Bright arcs of lightning crackled across his shinobi gi, crawling over his arms and shoulders like living energy. The air around him hummed with power.

  It was the most lightning I had ever seen him summon.

  Ever.

  But then—

  All of it rushed downward.

  Into his feet.

  Before I could ask what he was doing—

  Cameron let go.

  "CAMERON!" I screamed.

  He fell.

  Straight down into the endless sky.

  My heart stopped.

  For a split second, my brain couldn't even process what had just happened.

  Did I—

  Did I just—

  Kill him?

  "What did I just do…?" I whispered to myself.

  My grip tightened desperately on the platform's edge.

  "Why did I tell him that…?"

  My arms trembled.

  "That's not my power… how would I even know how it works…"

  My fingers started slipping.

  I kept rambling under my breath, panic creeping into every thought.

  "I just told him to jump… I just told him to jump…"

  Then—

  A flash of blue lightning streaked upward.

  Cameron shot back into view.

  He was laughing.

  Actually laughing.

  And beneath his feet—

  A bolt of lightning carried him upward like a surfboard made of pure energy.

  "WHOA!" he shouted.

  The electricity roared beneath him as he rode the lightning straight back toward the platform.

  I stared in disbelief.

  Even now… even in a moment like this…

  Cameron was still smiling.

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  He landed beside the piano in a burst of sparks.

  Before the teacher could strike Maya again—

  Cameron shoved her back.

  The woman stumbled away as if she weighed nothing.

  Cameron dropped to one knee beside the piano.

  For the first time, I noticed Maya's hands.

  They were bleeding.

  Her fingers trembled violently, red smears staining the ivory piano keys from playing for so long.

  Cameron gently reached forward.

  He placed his hand over hers.

  "You can stop now," he said softly.

  Maya didn't react at first.

  Her eyes were empty.

  Not calm.

  Not focused.

  Just… empty.

  Like a puppet being forced to move.

  But when Cameron's hand rested on hers—

  And when he spoke those words—

  Something changed.

  Life returned to her eyes.

  Slowly.

  Like someone turning the lights back on inside her soul.

  She turned her head and looked at him.

  Their eyes met.

  "I'm here," Cameron said quietly.

  For a moment…

  Maya just stared at him.

  Then she whispered,

  "What took you so long?"

  A single tear rolled down her cheek.

  I had never seen Maya cry before.

  Not once.

  Not during training.

  Not during fights.

  Not during anything.

  But now…

  She leaned forward and buried her face into Cameron's shoulder.

  And she broke.

  Her body shook as quiet sobs escaped her chest.

  "Take me back," she whispered.

  Cameron wrapped his arms around her.

  And the moment he did—

  My fingers slipped.

  My arms finally gave out.

  And I fell.

  The wind rushed past me violently as the sky swallowed my body. My clothes snapped against the air as the storm roared around me.

  I closed my eyes.

  Honestly…

  I thought that was it.

  Then—

  WHAM.

  The maze spit us out.

  Hard.

  My back slammed into the glass floor again.

  I groaned as pain shot through my body.

  When I opened my eyes, Cameron and Maya were beside me.

  He was still holding her.

  Like he didn't want to let go yet.

  I slowly pushed myself to my feet, dusting shards of glass from my clothes.

  Maya wiped her eyes, trying to regain her composure.

  "…Thank you for saving me," she said quietly.

  I shook my head.

  "That was all Cameron."

  Cameron rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

  But when we looked down at Maya's hands—

  Reality set back in.

  Her fingers were wrapped in cuts and bruises.

  There was no way she could fight like that.

  Cameron stared at them for a moment.

  Then his eyes lit up.

  "Oh! Right."

  "What?" I asked.

  "I have bandages."

  I blinked.

  "…Why do you have bandages?"

  "Well…" Cameron shrugged. "I brought some to tape my ornament on."

  "The only thing I had in my house was bandages."

  "But Ava bought the ornaments, so I didn't even need them."

  I stared at him.

  "That is an insane coincidence."

  He grinned.

  "Yeah, right?"

  And for the first time since the house—

  The spark was back in his eyes.

  He carefully wrapped Maya's hands with the bandages, gently covering each cut.

  She hissed quietly in pain.

  "Sorry," Cameron muttered.

  "Almost done."

  Once he finished, I looked up at the darkening sky above the maze.

  "We have to move," I said.

  Both of them looked at me.

  "We still need to find Jordan."

  Cameron blinked.

  "…Jordan's still missing?"

  "Yeah."

  Maya slowly shook her head.

  "Do you remember how you got here?" I asked.

  She frowned slightly.

  "…Not really."

  "After the blast separated us… it felt like the maze swallowed me."

  "And then I woke up there."

  I thought about that for a moment.

  Kuruhona

  Was that her ability triggering somehow?

  Maybe the maze was pulling memories from us.

  Or fears.

  Or trauma.

  I shook the thought away.

  It didn't matter right now.

  Jordan was still out there.

  And the sky above the maze was growing darker by the minute.

  We stood up together.

  Three of us now.

  And without another word—

  We continued walking deeper into the maze