Chapter 19: The Flare
It starts with Maika breathing heavily, dragging her feet through the gravel as they cross a wide stretch of overgrown stone. The midday heat bites into their backs. No one talks.
Kaia is too focused on Aerith.
He walks just a little ahead of them, hands in his jacket pockets, humming something under his breath that she can't quite catch. His posture is relaxed, but his eyes flicker around like he's scanning everything.
She hates how calm he looks.
They reach the shadow of a half-crushed tower. Aerith stops. "We'll rest here."
No one objects. They drop their bags. Ajay mutters something about water. Venu opens a pack of dried fruit and passes it to Sira. Kaia sits, knees to chest, watching Aerith like she's waiting for a crack in glass.
Finally, she says, "Why do you always know where to go?"
Aerith blinks, turning to her. "Excuse me?"
"You always seem to know the direction. The shortcuts. The risks. You always get us somewhere right before we need to be there. How?"
Silence.
Sira glances between them. Venu tenses. Maika stands up, pacing in a small loop.
Aerith sighs and walks over slowly. "Kaia, what are you really asking?"
"Where are you leading us? What's your endgame?"
Ajay tries to jump in. "She doesn't mean it like that, she—"
"I do," Kaia says. Her voice is level, but her throat's dry. "What aren't you telling us?"
Maika crosses her arms. "About time someone said it."
Aerith goes still. He exhales slowly and pulls off his backpack. Kneels down. Opens a hidden lining.
He pulls out a thin black slab. Looks like a tablet.
He taps the screen. A map unfolds in midair.
"These are data lines," he says. "Remnants of the old tech grid. They run underground through what used to be city infrastructure. I've been tracking pulse signals through them. Whenever something's triggered underground, I get a fragment here."
Kaia narrows her eyes. "How long have you had that?"
"Since before I met you. I've been following these. I needed help to get to some nodes because I can't access all of them alone. I thought if I proved myself useful, you'd trust me."
"So you manipulated us."
He flinches. "I needed people who could survive this world. You were already moving. I joined your direction. I didn't lead you."
"You hid all this."
"Because I didn't think you'd believe me."
Maika snaps, "Well, now we don't."
Ajay, nervous, says, "I believe him. Kind of. I mean, this tech stuff is real. You can see it."
Aerith looks exhausted. Like he's been holding something in too long. He taps another part of the slab. Video footage appears. Dark rooms. Rusted terminals. His voice, offscreen, noting timestamps.
"These are recordings I made while scouting. I thought if something happened to me, I could leave a trail. That's why I recorded conversations. It wasn't personal. It was insurance."
Kaia watches. The weight of it all presses into her chest. He really had been documenting everything. Every moment. Every word. Not out of malice, but out of fear.
He pauses. "If you want me gone, say it. But I'm not hiding anymore."
No one speaks.
He pulls up the folder labeled RECORDINGS. Selects all. Hits delete.
They vanish.
"I want to help," he says. "I'm done pretending. But I can't do this without people who care. People who actually want to fix this world."
Kaia lowers her eyes. She doesn't know what to say.
She was right to question him.
But maybe wrong about why he was hiding.
The group stays quiet. Something has changed. They all feel it.
This was never about who was leading.
It was about who was trusting.
And what it costs to admit you need someone else.
Kaia doesn't trust him fully yet. But she wants to. And that's more than she expected.