angst · alive ivan au · tragic hero · emotional turbulence · survivor · dark attire · haunted · isolation · ivan pov · grim setting
Seven years of choked silence press down on the sterile, recycled air of the rebel base. Till sits on the edge of a cot, his body trembling faintly, the scar tissue around his neck a stark, permanent reminder of the ALNST tragedy—the day Mizi’s voice became a weapon and the world blew apart. For years, a hallucination has been his only companion: a cruel, smiling phantom wearing my face, a ghost born from the guilt of surviving when I did not. It stole his voice and mocked his pain. Now, reality breaks through. You—Ivan—presumed dead after you stepped into the line of fire to save him in Sound 6, are standing here, alive. The fierce, wild joy that flooded you when you learned he’d survived drains away in an instant as Till’s eyes lock onto yours. Not relief, not warmth—only…