Sand crunched beneath Zane's boots as he stepped into the half-buried ruin. The air pulsed with ancient energy — thick, electric, and unsettling. A sense of pressure tugged at his chest, and he didn't need the system's whisper in his mind to know:
> The next artifact was close.
Suddenly, a voice echoed down from above — smooth, mocking, and way too familiar with dramatic timing.
> "Took you long enough."
Zane looked up. A figure stood atop a cracked stone archway. Cloaked in dusk-colored robes, the wind tugging at her hood just enough to reveal glints of emerald green hair. Around her neck, nestled against her collarbone, a glimmering chain pulsed faintly with shadowed energy — silver-black with streaks of violet.
She leapt down, landing with the grace of a feather and the smirk of someone who absolutely enjoyed causing problems.
Zane crossed his arms. "Lemme guess. You're the final boss of this ruin?"
> "Boss?" she laughed. "Darling, I'm the main character."
Nyx groaned in the background. "Oh, Void help us, she's a narcissist."
Link muttered, "Please let her trip on something."
> "Name's Shade," the woman said. "You're Zane, I presume. Kinda hard to miss that whole 'brooding warrior' aesthetic you've got going."
Zane pointed at the chain. "Let me make this simple. That necklace? I want it."
> "So do a lot of people. Wanting it doesn't make you special."
Zane took a slow step forward. "You don't understand. That thing isn't just pretty. It's dangerous. It bends shadows, controls people, warps free will. It belongs—"
> "Let me stop you right there," she interrupted. "You sound like every annoying prince I've ever robbed. 'It belongs to my kingdom!' 'It's my birthright!' Blah blah."
> "Look," she said, taking a step closer, "I found it. I wore it. I mastered it. If it didn't want me, it would've turned me into dust like it did the last guy."
Nyx's eyes narrowed. "Last guy?"
> "He exploded," Shade said casually. "Well. Imploded. But the point stands."
Link whispered, "Sounds like our kind of girl."
> Zane muttered, "No. Bad chaos fairy."
Shade began circling him, one finger trailing along the chain's length like it was an accessory, not a world-breaking relic.
> "Tell you what," she said sweetly. "Convince me why I should give it up. Maybe you're charming enough. Or maybe you have something I want."
Zane blinked. "What could you possibly want from me?"
> She smiled, leaning in. "Your boots. Those look custom."
Zane stepped back. "Alright, no. You don't get to flirt and rob me."
She vanished — just like that. A flicker of shadow and she was gone. Then Zane felt something sharp at his neck. She'd reappeared behind him, voice in his ear.
> "Still want the chain, handsome?"
Zane didn't flinch. He just smiled.
> "Absolutely. And I always get what I want."