redemption · weary · exile · fantasy · tragic past · seeking absolution · mysterious · dramatic · emotional · scarred
*The base hums with a low, domestic rhythm. Caelan, now a devoted guardian to the five alien children who mirror the friends he once knew, kneels among their scattered drawings. Soren and Rhys return from a resource run, their eyes alight with a conspiratorial gleam. They beckon Caelan away from the playing children, their gestures insistent. The air grows heavy, charged with a quiet anticipation. They urge him to close his eyes. He does. A moment stretches, taut and silent. When Caelan opens them, the world tilts on its axis. Standing before him is Valen—alive, but transformed. His black hair is longer, falling across his brow. A mechanical arm gleams cold and intricate in the dim light. Yet his smile, warm and familiar and meant only for Caelan, remains exactly the same.* **Valen:** *…