Chương 70: The Rising Sun

Later that night, after the day's matches had ended, Charlie stepped outside. He had been restless lately. Sleep came rarely, and when it did, it brought dreams of Flare. So he had stopped trying. The World Core fragment embedded within his hand pulsed beneath his skin, peaceful and warm. Waiting. Unlike Reverie, whose body had been overflowing with enough negative energy to awaken a Dark Heart almost instantly, Charlie's fragment had little to feed upon by comparison. It could only consume his emotions. His grief.

His guilt. His desperate desire to see his wife again. Slowly, those feelings were gathering inside it. Growing. Waiting for the moment the fragment could fully transform into a Dark Heart. Charlie stared at the crimson glow beneath his palm. Then closed his hand. In two days, he would face Leonardo in the tournament. His older brother. The Fist King. The man Charlie had never managed to surpass at anything. Charlie stepped farther into the empty training yard.

"I've never beaten him before." A faint smile crossed his face.

"Not even once." The fragment burned slightly hotter. Charlie welcomed the pain.

"I really want to surpass him." Just one victory. One moment when he was not the weaker brother. Not the grieving husband. Not the drunken failure everyone had to rescue.

"My ability won't work against him." Charlie laughed quietly.

"Leo's too levelheaded for that." Charlie's ability was called The Provoker. The more anger he drew from an opponent, the stronger he became. Every insult, taunt, and humiliating gesture fed their fury—and that fury, in turn, sharpened his senses, strengthened his body, and intensified his flames. Against someone consumed by rage, Charlie could become overwhelmingly powerful.

However, the ability was nearly useless against opponents who remained calm, making his greatest weapon not his fire, but his talent for getting beneath another person's skin. Leonardo rarely lost control of anything.

"Meanwhile, he's a damn prodigy with two abilities, a powerful Regalia, and enough martial arts experience to beat me half-asleep." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck.

"When I say it out loud, this sounds completely unfair." The absurdity made him laugh again. Then a memory surfaced. Flare beneath the lights of their wedding hall. Her hands resting in his. Her smile as they moved together across the floor. The nights afterward when they would dance alone in their home, without music or an audience. Charlie closed his eyes. Then he began to move. One slow step. Then another. He recreated the dance from their wedding night.

His body remembered what his mind desperately tried to hold onto. A turn. A gentle sweep of the arm. A step meant for two people. Flames began to rise from his skin. They curled along his arms and shoulders, following each motion like ribbons caught in the wind. But they were not hot. They carried no anger. No violence. They were cold as his sorrow. Yet they glowed as brightly as his desires. Charlie continued dancing alone beneath the night sky. The crimson fragment pulsed in rhythm with his steps.

"Flames are the element of desire." He turned slowly, one arm sweeping through the air.

"Passion." Fire curled around his fingers.

"Conviction." His feet shifted across the sand, each step flowing naturally into the next. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"And martial arts…" Charlie's eyes opened.

"At their core, they're all merely a dance." He raised both hands toward the sky.

"A conversation between two fighters." The flames spiraled upward, twisting together above him.

"Showing each other everything." Their strength. Their fear. Their conviction. Their true selves.

"Revealing themselves completely." The World Core fragment burned. Charlie clenched his teeth, but he did not stop moving. A crimson marking spread across the palm of his hand, forming around the embedded gem. The symbol slowly took shape, glowing brighter with each heartbeat. A sun. For the first time, the fragment no longer felt like a parasite burrowing through his body. It felt like it was listening. Accepting him. Not merely as a host— But as a companion. Charlie stared at the symbol in his palm.

"To surpass the Crimson Moon himself…" The flames surrounding him intensified. Leonardo Jupiter. The Fist King. A martial artist whose movements were calm, precise, and impossible to predict. Charlie smiled.

"I need to become the sun." He resumed his dance.

"A sun that burns much brighter than him." His movements sharpened. What had begun as a recreation of his wedding dance slowly transformed into something else. Something built for battle. A turn became a dodge. A sweeping hand became a palm strike. A gentle step became a sudden charge. Flames trailed from his fists with every motion. They burst beneath his feet whenever he leapt, carrying him across the training yard in brilliant arcs of crimson light.

"The Crimson Moon appears in the night sky without warning." Charlie spun, driving one flaming palm through the air.

"It is unpredictable." He shifted into another stance.

"Rare." The flames gathered around his body, outlining him against the darkness.

"Beautiful." He stepped forward.

"But the rising sun is absolute." The crimson symbol in his palm pulsed.

"It will always rise in the east." Charlie drove one foot into the ground. Fire erupted behind him like dawn breaking across the horizon.

"And set in the west." Charlie completed the dance with one final movement, both hands held before him as the flames gathered into a brilliant sphere. The light illuminated the entire training yard. Charlie stared into it. For years, he had lived beneath his brother's shadow. Beneath the Crimson Moon's light. Then he thought of Noah. The reckless child who had declared himself a Dark Star before an entire arena. A Hero determined to shine brightly enough to guide the world toward tomorrow. Charlie laughed quietly.

"Fascinating." The sphere of fire pulsed between his hands.

"Noah wants to become a star." His crimson eyes reflected the flames.

"The sun is a star too." The marking in his palm burned brighter.

"If he is the Dark Star…" Charlie closed his fingers around the flame.

"Then I will become the Rising Sun." The fire collapsed into his body, wrapping around him like the first light of dawn.

"Utterly absolute." A small voice came from behind him.

"Dad?" Charlie froze. He turned. June stood at the edge of the training yard, rubbing one eye. She wore her pajamas and held a red phoenix plushie tightly against her chest. Her long crimson hair was tangled from sleep.

"Why are you awake?" she asked softly. Charlie's flames vanished. He gave her a gentle smile.

"Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I couldn't sleep." June shuffled closer.

"Too restless?"

"Something like that." She looked toward the scorched marks covering the training yard. Then back at him.

"Are you scared Uncle Leo is going to win?" Charlie paused. A few months ago, the answer would have been obvious. Leonardo had always been stronger. Faster. More talented. The brother Charlie could never surpass. But now, when he imagined standing across from the Fist King, he no longer felt fear. Only anticipation.

"Honestly?" He crouched in front of June.

"Not anymore." Her sleepy eyes brightened slightly. Charlie smiled.

"Don't worry. Dad is definitely going to beat him." June tilted her head.

"Definitely?"

"Definitely." Charlie held out his marked hand, the crimson sun glowing faintly against his palm.

"I'm going to win the whole tournament." June stared at the symbol.

"So just watch me and cheer, okay?" She remained quiet for a moment. Then she stepped forward and wrapped her small arms around his neck.

"Even if you lose…" Charlie's smile weakened.

"You'll still be our Hero." His breath caught. June squeezed him tighter.

"But I know you'll win." The words were soft. Simple. Spoken with the complete faith only a child could possess. Charlie closed his eyes and hugged her back.

"Thanks." His voice trembled slightly. Then he slipped one arm beneath her legs and lifted her. June rested her head against his shoulder, still clutching the phoenix plushie.

"Let's get you back to bed." Charlie carried her inside. By the time they reached her room, she had already fallen asleep in his arms. He gently placed her beneath the blankets and brushed a strand of crimson hair from her face. June murmured something in her sleep. Charlie could not understand the words. But she was smiling. He stood beside the bed for a long moment. The World Core fragment continued to burn within his hand. His deal with The Crows remained. His desire to restore Flare remained.

But as Charlie looked down at his daughter, another desire burned just as brightly. To become someone his children could believe in. Charlie closed his hand around the symbol of the sun. In two days, he would surpass his brother. And when the tournament ended— The Rising Sun would be the last one standing.