[DING!]

The sound snapped through Kaiden's head as if someone had just thrown a grenade right into his brain.

Kaiden blinked, glanced up again at Alice, still floating, still winged, still glowing like she'd swallowed a star, and then back to the message materializing across his inner vision.

[System Notification]

The Paragon of Sin is a class fundamentally aligned with shadow, hunger, impulse, and all unseen forces.

Alice's class represents light in its purest expression.

These two stand on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Yet without light, there can be no dark.

Without dark, light has no shape.

Despite being opposites, they are not mutually exclusive.

In rare cases, when opposite-class holders form a bond that transcends standard emotional thresholds…

… a Symbiosis may occur.

"…A what?"

Kaiden said it out loud.

To no one in particular but the universe itself.

To whatever fever dream he was apparently living in.

He looked up again, hoping the sight would somehow make more sense the second time.

Nope.

Alice was still floating.

Hair white.

Eyes sun-ringed.

Wings bigger than she was.

And then, she smiled.

Not her usual smug gremlin grin, which told Kaiden a line he did not want to hear was about to erupt from her delicate lips.

Nor her bratty little-sister eyes, those damned begging puppy ones she loved to use after saying her lines, hoping it would earn her forgiveness and perhaps head pats.

It wasn't even her "I'm clinging to my brother until death, so shoo," glare, reserved for basically anyone but Kaiden.

No.

This smile was warm. Soft. Serene.

Like she understood.

Despite having no system.

Despite no notification popping up for her.

Despite logic, reason, or common sense.

She drifted forward without flapping, without effort, just a smooth glide, until she was right against him. Her hand slid behind Kaiden's head, guiding him gently, and pulled him into her chest.

He stiffened.

Not from embarrassment.

But from how impossibly calm she felt all of a sudden.

Her fingers threaded into his hair, stroking slowly, soothingly.

She said nothing.

But her touch said everything:

I don't care about anything as long as you're with me.

[Ding!]

Symbiosis progression has begun.

Conditions detected:

— Emotional resonance beyond sibling bond thresholds.

— Mutual dependency established.

— Anchoring event triggered by remorse, reacceptance, and restoration of trust.

Result:

A Celestial-Abyssal Symbiotic Link is forming.

Warning:

This process is unstable.

Warning:

Outcome unpredictable.

Warning:

If either party rejects the bond, backlash may occur.

—

Kaiden's eyes snapped wide open.

Backlash?

Unstable?

Unpredictable?

Those were not the words he wanted to hear right now.

—

Symbiosis advancing…

Secondary evaluation initiated.

Assessing compatibility of class archetypes:

— Paragon of Sin: a dominion-based dark class.

— Seraph of Light: a conduit-based light class.

Ordinarily incompatible.

However…

New determining factors detected:

— One seeks to lead.

— One seeks to follow.

— One inherently shapes the world by merely existing in it.

— One shines through the one who shapes.

Conclusion:

Asymmetrical Bond Pathway available.

Mutation Type:

Dominant Core / Conduit

–

Kaiden blinked.

"…Wait. What?"

He had no idea what any of that meant.

He barely understood regular system messages, and now it was throwing cosmic relationship metaphysics at him as he'd accidentally agreed to Terms and Conditions written by a drunk philosopher.

He turned toward Alice.

But Alice was no longer simply glowing.

Her wings arched forward, feathers stretching, each one sharp and bright like a blade made of daylight. Her wings wrapped around Kaiden, enveloping him in a hold of her own, returning the hug as her hair flowed behind her in a long white stream, no longer behaving like something bound by gravity. The symbols in her irises rotated slowly, akin to turning the gears of a clock.

And she smiled, warm and radiant. Certainty oozed from her entire existence.

Her touch said everything:

I accept.

I belong with you.

I won't let go.

[Symbiosis Mutation Confirmed.]

Designation:

ECLIPSE-LINK

Role Division Established:

— Kaiden: Dominant Core

Primary actor. Decision-maker. Ability initiator. Growth driver.

— Alice: Conduit

Power amplifier. Harmonic synchronizer. Light-based secondary combat role.

Additional Functions Unlocked:

— Conduit Attachment

— Conduit Detachment

— Shared Ability Channeling

— Dual Burst Potential

Further evolution possible.

Kaiden stared upward, dumbstruck.

"What the fuck…"

Alice's arms tightened around him.

Her cheek rested atop his head.

Her wings folded around them both like a sheltering cocoon.

Light wrapped them.

Darkness stirred in response.

[System Notice]

Awaiting acknowledgment from the Dominant Core.

—

Kaiden swallowed.

His hand rose.

He placed it against her back.

"I accept," he whispered.

[System Notice]

Acknowledgment received.

ECLIPSE-LINK COMPLETE.

—

A pulse of light and shadow burst outward, like a heartbeat shared between two souls now tied together in a way neither destiny, logic, nor system originally intended.

Alice exhaled softly, sinking against him in pure relief. It was as if she were a wanderer all this time, looking for a home. And she finally arrived at her destination.

Kaiden felt something settle inside him.

Something new.

Something… shared.

Alice lifted her head, eyes shining like twin starbursts, and a bubbly little giggle slipped out of her.

"I got new abilities!"

Before Kaiden could ask how many, what kind, or whether any of them would cause property damage, and if they should conduct the tests outdoors, Alice raised her hand, and her body dissolved into shimmering motes of light.

"Alice!?" he jerked his body, hoping to find the girl somewhere in the room. But she was nowhere to be seen… Save for the motes of light in the air.

They drifted toward him.

Gathering.

Curling.

Sinking into his skin like glowing fireflies being welcomed home.

Kaiden gasped as his vision flickered, making him feel as if something was horribly wrong. But then he blinked, once, twice, and then everything stabilized.

One of his eyes now reflected Alice's gleaming white iris, radiant and bright.

The other remained his own, dark and sharp.

But instead of losing vision in the eye that had been overtaken - or so he thought had happened - clarity expanded.

He could see more.

More detail.

More color.

Mana, even, flying in the air freely all over the room.

His eyes were now akin to two viewpoints layered atop each other, harmonized instead of clashing.

Then *fwip!* something appeared above his head.

A halo.

A very sparkly, very girlish, very feminine halo. The kind you'd expect above a choir girl in a school play.

Kaiden stared upward in disbelief. He didn't like it.

Alice's voice chimed inside his head. Her words were not spoken through her lips, perhaps not even transmitted telepathically. They were just… shared.

"My badass big brother won't be embarrassed by my presence! I refuse!"

The halo shimmered, warped, and reshaped.

Half of it darkened to deep obsidian.

The other half stayed bright.

Its frills smoothed out, turning sleek and simple.

Minimalistic and balanced.

Kaiden exhaled slowly.

Much better.

The front door banged open.

"Dude," Luna's voice rang out, amused, "Are you okay, or did the little sister obliterate you?"

The others rushed in behind her, but all four women stopped dead in their tracks.

Their eyes traced:

Kaiden's mismatched gaze.

The half-light, half-dark halo.

The motes still fading around him.

The hum of shared power in the air.

Silence.

A long, stunned silence followed.

Then Luna deadpanned.

"Kai, be honest with me. Did you eat your little sister using Gluttony?"

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