Arc III.5: “Zero”
Chapter I: “Before the Fall”
Episode IV: “Red String”
[A couple of days later]
“Kukito.” Cataline’s voice was quiet—not soft. Controlled.
The kitchen was barely lit. The kettle hadn’t even started to sing, yet the air already carried perfume and soapstone dust, the clean kind that didn’t belong in this district.
Kukito looked up from the table. “What is it?”
Cataline rested her palm on the counter and exhaled through her nose, as if she’d been holding her breath for years.
“I’m leaving.”
The words didn’t land like heartbreak. They landed as a decision made long ago.
“Leaving…? What—what do you mean you’re leaving?”
Cataline’s gaze flicked toward the hallway—toward the room where their children slept.
“I’m done living under permission,” she said. “I’m done watching the district rot while the skyline pretends it’s merciful.”
“Cataline…”
“Don’t.” She cut him off gently, the way a blade cuts cloth. “You hear your speeches, Kukito. You believe your chorus will move the world.”
Her mouth curved—not a smile. “House Soap doesn’t bet on crowds. We bet on leverage.”
Her eyes sharpened. “Mercy is a currency here,” she murmured. “And we’ve been paying for it our whole lives.”
Kukito stiffened. “Don’t talk like that.”
“I’ll talk like the truth.” Cataline stepped closer. “You joined the Sages. You put on their colors. And you started acting like the cage is progress because the bars are polished.”
“That’s not—”
“It is.” She tapped his chest with two fingers.
Tap.
Tap.
Like checking a wall for weak stone.
“You’re a good man,” she said, almost sincerely. “And that’s exactly why you’ll lose.”
Kukito’s eyes tightened. “Where would you even go?”
Cataline looked at him like the question was childish. “Somewhere the planet can’t reach.”
She slid something across the table—a Soapline Filament, dyed deep red.
Not cloth. Not string.
It looked like it had been soaked in aether and hardened into shape.
Kukito frowned. “What is that?”
“A reminder,” Cataline said. “That fate isn’t found. It’s tied.” Her fingers released the filament like she was letting go of a leash.
Kukito picked it up without thinking.
It was warm—not from heat, but from stored Flow, like it remembered the hand that made it.
His fingers tightened around it once… then he pocketed it, more reflex than choice.
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His throat tightened. “Cataline… don’t tell me you’re—”
“I’m joining a syndicate.”
Kukito stood up so fast that his chair scraped. “W-what? Why would you do that? Our lives here aren’t—”
“—aren’t bad enough?” Cataline finished for him, amused. “That’s what slaves always say when the chains match the outfit.”
Her eyes sharpened. “I’m not joining them to wander. I’m joining them because they have reach, and I have a target.”
“What target?”
Cataline’s smile finally arrived—small, satisfied, dangerous.
“The Dark Heart.”
Kukito felt the words like cold water. “I’m not letting you take our children into—”
“You are,” Cataline said, calm as prayer. “Because you’re already too late.”
And for the first time, Kukito heard something in her voice he couldn’t argue with: practice.
His blood ran cold. “What do you mean…?”
Cataline’s body shimmered—not teleportation.
A mirage.
Pink aether peeled off her like mist, carrying the faint scent of soap and flowers.
“We,” Cataline whispered—voice fading, still perfectly steady—“already left.”
Kukito sprinted down the hall and slammed open the bedroom door.
The bed was empty.
On Bowl’s pillow, a second Soapline Filament sat neatly coiled—a signature knot, deliberate and proud.
Pink mist clung to the corners of the room, dissolving in slow spirals.
Kukito staggered, breathing hard. “No…”
His knees hit the floor. His hands didn’t shake.
That was the worst part.
Because he realized, all at once, Cataline hadn’t run.
She’d extracted.
Like House Soap had done this a hundred times before.
Kukito picked up the filament with two fingers.
The knot held tight, practiced—like it had been tied by someone who’d done this for generations.
He didn’t look at it long. He just closed his hand… and pocketed it beside the first.
[Two weeks later]
Kukito had spent the past two weeks sealed inside his home, not even leaving to buy food or go to work.
He had a disheveled appearance, a scraggly beard had come in, and his hair was unkempt.
A thin red braid peeked from beneath his sleeve—two cords woven tight at the knot.
It wasn’t until Raida came to visit him and forced him to clean himself up that Kukito saw the outside world again.
“Come on, I’ve got some people you’ll wanna meet!” Raida said with a smile, standing outside Kukito’s apartment.
The two of them walked into a wealthy Utopian district, and they passed by several popular restaurants.
I’ve never been to this part of town… Kukito thought nervously with sweat running down his cheek.
He kept his hands visible—a reflex from the district. Here, the guards didn’t look like they’d swing first… but the stares did.
“Oh, there it is,” Raida said, pointing to a small restaurant down the block. “This place isn’t as fancy as the rest, but the food is incomparable!” he said with a cheery smile.
The two of them walked to a table in the restaurant.
H-huh?! Kukito was surprised by the two faces that he saw. “What are you two still doing here?!”
Carrie and Mizuka were sitting at their table, dressed in Utopian garments.
“Hmph, I could ask the same about you, why’d you bring this guy, Raida?” Carrie said.
Mizuka looked at Kukito shyly, unable to get her words out.
“Now, now, calm down. These girls can’t go back to Planet Kaelos since they defied their orders and stopped trying to conquer Utopia.”
“Yeah, yeah, you should be thanking us, uhh…”
“Kukito…”
“Yeah, yeah, right. We totally could’ve taken over this planet, but we decided to spare you guys, right, Mizuka?” Carrie said as she nudged her.
“Huh!?” she said, being startled out of the trance that she was in. “O-oh, right.”
“Is that so…” Kukito started, “then, what made you change your mind?”
For an instant, it appeared that Carrie was blushing, but after glancing at Raida, she quickly hid the emotion.
“Eh, I just didn’t feel it was worth my time.”
This ticked Kukito off, since he believed that he could have defeated them during that fight.
“You—”
“Alright, let’s order some food.” Raida interrupted.
“Finally, we’ve been starving over here!” Carrie exclaimed.
The four of them enjoyed the meal and had a long conversation full of playful banter.
At one point, Mizuka got up to use the restroom.
“You know, something’s been bothering me,” Raida said as he picked up a glass of what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage.
“What?” Carrie asked.
“Kaelithian names… Carrie, your name is a Kaelithian name, right?”
“Yeah… of course it is, what are you talking about?”
“Then what about Mizuka’s? Her name just doesn’t scream Kaelithian for me.”
“Oh, right.” Carrie leaned in to whisper to them. “Mizuka’s kind of a special case. Her parents died while she was being incubated as a child, so she never got her real name. The elders sent her off to conquer some backwater planet, but instead she ended up living there. I think someone there probably raised her, so that’s why she has a different kind of name. After the planet was finally conquered by some other Kaelithians, she was taken back to Kaelos. Ever since then, she’s been treated as an outcast. They probably sent her on this mission to get rid of her.”
“Oh… I see,” Raida said.
“That’s awful…”
“Yeah…”
“So, they tryna get rid of you too?” Raida asked playfully.
“Hell no, you idiot! I told you, I’m an elite class warrior. If I used my special technique, I could have destroyed you all in my sleep!” she blushed. “A-anyways, I thought this would be a good chance for Mizuka to finally escape.
“She’s never been much of a fighter,” Carrie muttered, then glanced away. “But she can seal wounds and throw up barriers when she’s scared. Kaelos doesn’t like that kind of Kaelithian.”
“Wow, how sweet of you.” Raida teased. “But what about you? Now you can’t go home either.”
“Hmph, I couldn’t care less. That place was just full of brutes. Besides, now that they’re taking orders from Acier… yeah, I just want no part of that.”
“Acier?” Kukito asked.
“Yeah, you haven’t heard of him? He’s some young prodigy who just inherited a large space syndicate. He basically has his own private army that rules half the universe!”
A space syndicate? Kukito had a troubled look on his face.
Mizuka walked back from the restroom, so they concluded the conversation.
[A couple of hours later]
“Ahhh!” Raida said as he finished another drink.
Raida and Carrie were both sloshed, but they continued drinking, nonetheless.
“Um, Carrie… I think… I’m ready to go.” Mizuka nudged her.
“R-really? A-already? I’m gonna keep drinking for a little while, so- *hiccup*, you can go back if you want. I can’t let this guy beat me!” She said, butting heads with Raida.
“I-I won’t lose to y-you either!” Raida hiccuped.
Kukito watched the two of them in embarrassment.
“Oh, that reminds me… where have the two of you been staying this whole time?” Kukito asked Mizuka.
“Ah, Mr. Raida has been providing for us. He’s been renting us a room at what seems to be quite an expensive inn, haha.” She chuckled as a drop of sweat rolled down her cheek.
“I see… if it’s where I think it is, then that’s a bit far from here.”
“Oh, that’s right!” Raida said. “If Mizuka wants to leave, then I guess you’ll have to walk her back, Mr. Kukito.”
“Yeah, yeah, just walk her back. The two of us are finishing our competition!” Carrie added on.
“M-me? You want me to walk her?”
“I-if you don’t mind, Mr. Kukito,” Mizuka said innocently.
Kukito let out an exasperated sigh.
As she lifted her hand, her sleeve slipped back.
A thin red thread was tied around her wrist—faded, frayed at the knot, like something she’d worn too long to remember why.
Kukito’s eyes snagged on it for a moment. The red looked strangely familiar—
But the thought slipped away as quickly as it came.
Then he looked away.
“Alright, I’ll take you,” he said as he stood up.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “Fate”
[Yield Levels]:
Kukito: 15,000
- Suppressed: 1,500
Cataline: 16,500
Raida: 20,000
- Suppressed: 2,000
Carrie: 20,000
Mizuka: 2,000