Helios’s days settled into a brutal routihat tested the limits of his endurand resolve. Every m, he woke before dawn, the chill of the early hours doing little to prepare him for what y ahead. His sparring sessions with Sephiroth were grueling, eae a painful lesson i of the bde. Sephiroth never held back, his strikes precise and merciless. Helios would fight with every ounce of strength and skill he could muster, only to find himself repeatedly overwhelmed. Each session ehe same way: Helios sprawled on the ground, bruised, bloody, and barely scious, as Sephiroth walked away with a dismissive remark about his inadequacy.

  Helios would drag himself to his feet, cast healing magiend his broken body, and the bloodstains before summoning a dark corridor to return to Merlin’s cottage. There, he would bathe, patch himself up further, and steel himself for the part of his day: dark magic lessons with Malefit.

  Her lessons were no less demanding. She pushed him to master the subtleties of manipution, illusion, and transformation. Every spell required precision and i, and she demanded perfe. Helios had no choice but to rise to her expectations. Ohose lessons ended, he would retreat to the cottage’s library, p over Merlin’s tomes in an attempt to bance his dark magic with light magic. This, too, was a slow and frustrating process. The light resisted him, as though relut to yield to someone so steeped in darkness.

  By the time night fell, Helios’s body was weary, but his resolve was unshaken. Eaight, he would summon a dark corridor and materialize in Skuld’s room, determio make good on his promise to her. This night was no different.

  As the shadows of the dark corridor receded, Helios stepped into the stark white room. Skuld was awake, sitting on the edge of her bed, her eyes lighting up the moment she saw him.

  “Helios!” she excimed, smiling brightly. “You came back!”

  “You came back,” she whispered, her eyes wide with a mixture of relief aement.

  Helios nodded, her a reassuring smile. “I promised, didn’t I?” He took a seat on the edge of the bed, keeping his voice low. “Now, I know you have questions, but I need you to trust me aient. Things here… are slightly plicated.”

  Skuld tilted her head, her expression softening. “I don’t know why, but… I feel like I trust you,” she said quietly. “There’s something familiar about you.”

  She wasted no time, pelting him with a barrage of questions. “Who am I? How do you know me? What’s going to happen to me? Are we friends? Do you know Isa and Lea? you—”

  Helios chuckled softly, raising a hand to calm her. “Hold on, hold on. One question at a time,” he said. “I’ll answer everything, but let’s start with the most important one.”

  Skuld paused, her brow furrowing in thought before she asked, “Who am I?”

  Helios nodded, pleased with her choice. “That’s a long story,” he said, stepping closer. He held out his hand, and with a fsh of light, his Keybde materialized, the polished on gleaming ierile room. “Do you know what this is?”

  Skuld tilted her head, studying the bde curiously. “It’s… a key?” she guessed.

  Helios smiled, dematerializing the Keybde with a flick of his wrist. “Close. It’s called a Keybde, and it’s more than just a key. It’s a on, fed from the heart, used to fight creatures called Heartless. It also holds the power to open anything. A long time ago, Skuld, you could wield ooo.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “I could?”

  He nodded. “Yes, but only if your heart calls it. It’s a part of you, Skuld. If you summon it, it means that while your head might have fotten your heart still remembers who you are.”

  Eagerly, Skuld mimicked Helios’s earlier motion, holding her hand out as though expeg the bde to appear. Nothing happened.

  Helios walked to stand beside her. “You have to call it with your heart, not just your hand. Focus. Imagihe bde in yrip, the weight of it, the light it brings.”

  Skuld closed her eyes, her brow furrowing as she trated. A faint light flickered at her fiips, growing stronger until, with a burst of energy, her Keybde appeared in her hand.

  The on was beautiful: the Starlight Keybde, with its regur blue guard, bck handle, and silver bde adorned with a golden star and an intricate design. Skuld’s eyes widened in wonder as she looked at the on, then at Helios.

  “I did it!” she excimed, her voice filled with joy.

  Helios cpped softly, his smile genuine. “You did. That means your heart is untouched by darkness. Xehanort hasn’t mao reach you yet.”

  At the mention of Xehanort, Skuld’s expression darkened. “The researcher helping me? What does he want? And what do mean by darkness?”

  Helios sighed, sitting down beside her. “Yes, Xehanort is one of the researchers keeping you here. He’s trying to figure out how hearts work, how to manipute them. If he succeeds… well, let’s just say it wouldn’t end well for you.”

  Skuld looked down at her Keybde, her grip tightening. “But… I fight him, right? With this?”

  Helios hesitated. “You , but I’d suggest we avoid that. That’s why I’m here—to help you.” He gestured to the cell door. “Do you want to leave this pce?”

  Tears welled up in Skuld’s eyes as she nodded fervently. “I want to see the outside! I want to py with Isa and Lea one day… outside.”

  Helios walked over to the door, watg Skuld as she marveled at her Keybde. Its soft glow illumihe sterile walls of the cell, casting faint refles on her wide, curious eyes.

  “So,” Skuld said hesitantly, looking at the glowing on in her hand. “You said this open anything, right?”

  Helios nodded, a small smile pying on his lips. “That’s right. It’s more than a on; it’s a key that unloy door, any barrier. But,” he added, tilting his head, “you o believe in it. It’s not just the bde—it’s your heart doing the unlog.”

  Skuld looked at the cell door, then back at Helios. “You mean… I open this door?”

  Helios stepped back slightly, gesturing toward the door with a wave of his hand. “Why don’t you give it a try?”

  She hesitated, her grip tightening on her Keybde. “How do I…?”

  “Just point your bde at the door,” Helios instructed, his voice calm. “Focus on what you want. Imagihe lock opening, the way forward clearing.”

  Skuld aking a deep breath to steady herself. She turo face the door, her arms trembling slightly as she raised the Starlight Keybde. Her brow furrowed in tration, and she whispered softly, “Please… open.”

  A moment passed, and then a beam of light shot from the tip of the Keybde, striking the lo the cell door. The room filled with a faint chime as the light settled into the meism. With a click, the lock turned, and the door creaked open, swinging outward as though it had been waiting for her all along.

  Skuld gasped, l her Keybde as she stared at the now-open door. “I did it,” she whispered, her voice filled with awe.

  Helios genuinely smiled softly, “You did.” He then summoned his own Keybde. He poi at the door, a dark beam of energy shooting from its tip and log the door with an audible click. Skuld blinked in fusion.

  “Before you ask,” Helios said, turning to her, “I locked the door to hide our tracks. If you want to leave, all you have to do is say so.” He summoned a dark corridor beside them, the swirling shadows casting an eerie glow across the room. “If you’re ready, e with me.”

  Skuld hesitated for only a moment before standing, her Keybde still clutched tightly in her hand. She stepped toward the corridor, her heart pounding in her chest. Helios extended his hand toward her, and she took it, her trust in him absolute.

  The two stepped through the swirling shadows together.