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enough that his own light seemed to answer it on instinct .
those echoes had crossed distance .
reached into sector 2814 loudly enough to drag him from earth before he had known what shape they belonged to .
“ doesn’t change why i’m here . ”
he did not elaborate ⤸
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immediately .
did not give her the history sitting behind the statement , or explain the names his mind had supplied when his ring first screamed warning . none of that mattered yet .
instead , his stare remained fixed on hers while the last crimson sparks from the ⤸
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briefly eclipsing it before continuing into the dark .
darius let his arm lower , the construct remained . ready , but no longer raised .
his posture followed the same principle . shoulders loose . feet set beneath him despite there being no ground to stand upon . ⤸
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not erase what had brought him here .
the red around darius changed subtly , TIGHTER .
the loose haze surrounding his body drew closer until it clung along his shoulders &&. spine in a thin , controlled corona . the light over his knuckles deepened . his ring pulsed ⤸
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was full of entities &&. hosts bleeding together until separating intention from influence became little more than semantics .
parallax .
the butcher .
greed consuming whatever boundary had existed between bearer &&. beast .
possible did not mean s͟a͟f͟e &&. it did ⤸
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gaze lingered once on the place where the phoenix had disappeared into her , then returned to jean .
“ then 𝑦𝑜𝑢 . ”
that was as much acknowledgement as the distinction received .
he had seen stranger things than two minds becoming one purpose . lantern history ⤸
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chin slightly lowered . nothing openly aggressive in the way he held himself , though there was equally nothing relaxed about the attention behind his eyes .
“ fine . ”
the word came low &&. rough , almost lost beneath the hum of scarlet energy surrounding him .
his ⤸
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⠀
respective energies translated into sensation … behind jean , fragments of stone still drifted from the violence of their collision , turning lazily through distant red &&. gold illumination . one larger shard passed between them &&. some far—off star , ⤸
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only the armour around his right forearm remained .
dense . brutal in its simplicity . layered crimson plates hugging fist &&. bone like something *𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 rather than summoned .
his ring continued feeding information across his vision . ⤸
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