Éreon's body continued sinking.
Slowly, into an absolute void.
Without resistance.
Without weight.
So deep...
That even time itself seemed incapable of passing through it.
Éreon tried to move his fingers.
Nothing.
He tried to open his eyes.
No difference.
It was impossible to tell whether they were open...
Or closed.
He continued sinking.
Always downward.
Without even knowing where "down" existed.
For how long?
He didn't know.
An instant?
An hour?
A century?
There...
Nothing possessed meaning.
Even the concept of time seemed to vanish along with his senses.
Éreon tried to think.
But even his own thoughts seemed distant.
As if they were ceasing to belong to him.
What was I...
doing?
The question emerged slowly.
Weak.
Almost nonexistent.
Then another came.
How much time has passed?
No answer came.
Only the void.
He tried to remember.
The last thing he had seen.
The last thing he had felt.
But the memories seemed to dissolve before he could even reach them.
Like ink spreading through water.
Little by little...
Éreon began to feel something different.
It wasn't pain.
It wasn't fear.
It was the sensation of disappearing.
As if every part of his existence were slowly being separated from itself.
Thoughts.
Memories.
Sensations.
Everything was losing its shape.
Everything was becoming distant.
Until...
A sound emerged.
Very far away.
Almost impossible to perceive.
...
The sound disappeared.
Then it returned.
Weaker.
More distant.
"Ér..."
Éreon remained motionless.
Trying to understand.
What was that?
That voice...
He tried to move closer to that sound.
But he had no body.
He had no direction.
He was only a presence crossing the void.
Then again...
Clearer.
Closer.
"Ére..."
For the first time in countless instants...
Something inside him reacted.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't pain.
It was recognition.
The consciousness that seemed to be fading away slowly began to return.
His senses were still distant.
But that voice...
He knew it.
Once again.
Now stronger.
More urgent.
"ÉREON!"
The void disappeared.
All at once.
Air returned to his lungs.
Éreon opened his eyes.
The sunlight touched his face.
For a few moments, he remained motionless.
Above him...
The branches of an ancient tree swayed slowly with the wind.
Green leaves danced beneath the open sky.
He blinked a few times.
Then slowly raised his body.
His hand touched the grass beneath him.
His gaze swept across the place.
A field.
Flowers spread across the entire expanse of the land.
The wind passed through them, making them move like waves.
Éreon remained silent.
Then he lowered his gaze.
A long robe enveloped his silhouette.
Held in place by thin bands crossing his waist and shoulders.
The layers of fabric fell softly to near his feet, moving gently with the wind.
The wide sleeves left part of his arms exposed.
Golden lines ran discreetly along the edges of the garment.
The attire possessed the simplicity of the ancient gods.
Yet it carried a presence that made the garment itself seem less like clothing...
and more like a manifestation of his own existence.
One of his hands touched his own hair.
Longer.
Falling over his shoulders.
His violet eyes narrowed.
A faint smile appeared upon his lips.
"Ὁρῶ τὸ τελευταῖόν σου θραῦσμα πεφυλαγμένον."
("I see you kept your last fragment.")
Slowly, Éreon rested his head against the trunk of the tree.
The wind crossed the fields.
Moving the flowers around him.
Then...
A voice arose from the other side of the trunk.
"Σοφὸς ὁ ἀνήρ οὐκ ἀναμένει τὴν θύελλαν, τέκνον..."
("A wise man does not wait for the storm, my son...")
"Πρὶν ἔλθῃ, κατασκευάζει καταφύγιον."
("Before it arrives, he builds a shelter.")
Éreon closed his eyes for a moment.
The smile remained.
The voice continued:
"Οὐκ ἂν βαδίζει τις εἰς τὴν θύελλαν τοσοῦτον γαλήνιος..."
("No one walks into the storm with such serenity...")
A brief pause.
"εἰ μὴ γινώσκῃ ὅτι ἀνάπτει φῶς πέραν αὐτῆς."
("unless he knows there is a light beyond it.")
A quiet laugh escaped Éreon.
"Μὴ με τοσοῦτον ὑπολογίζῃς."
("Don't overestimate me that much.")
"Εἶδον μόνον πιθανότητα, οὐ βεβαιότητα."
("I saw only a possibility, not a certainty.")
The wind crossed the fields once more.
The flowers bowed gently.
"Εἰ ᾔδειν ἀκριβῶς τί με ἀνέμενεν..."
("If I had known exactly what awaited me...")
"ἄλλην ἂν ὁ Ἄβυσσος ὁδὸν ἐβάδιζεν."
("the Abyss would have walked another path.")
Éreon's smile grew slightly wider.
"Ὁ Τάρταρος οὐδέποτε ἦν φίλος τῶν προβλέψεων."
("Tartarus was never a friend of predictions.")
A single gust swept across the valley.
The leaves of the old tree trembled above them.
The rustling of the leaves continued for a few moments.
The voice came again from the other side of the trunk.
"Ἐρέων..."
("Éreon...")
At that very instant...
The wind ceased.
Abruptly.
The flowers stopped swaying.
The leaves of the ancient tree remained still.
As if the world itself had held its breath.
The figure spoke again:
"Γινώσκεις τί μέλλει γενέσθαι, ἐὰν βαδίσῃς τὴν ὁδὸν ταύτην."
("You know what will happen if you walk this path.")
A brief pause followed.
"Ὅταν λυθῇ ὁ δεσμὸς, λήξει καὶ ἡ συμφωνία."
("When the bond is broken, the agreement will also come to an end.")
The wind remained still.
Not even the flowers moved.
"Καὶ οὐκέτι δεσμευθήσονται."
("And they will no longer be bound by the ancient limitations.")
For a few moments...
No answer came.
Silence spread across the motionless field.
Éreon stepped away from the trunk.
Slowly.
His robe followed the movement as he rose to his feet.
He remained gazing at the horizon.
His eyes distant.
As though he were seeing not the fields before him...
But entire centuries.
"Ὅτε τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ τῆς γενέσεώς μου ἔγνων..."
("When I discovered the truth about my origins...")
A brief pause.
"πολλοὺς αἰῶνας τὰ σὰ ἴχνη ἐδίωξα."
("I spent ages following your footsteps.")
The wind remained still.
"Ἐνόμιζον ὅτι, ἐὰν βαδίσω τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδόν..."
("I believed that, if I walked the same path...")
"ἄλλο τί ἐν ἐμοὶ ὄψονται."
("they would see something different in me.")
His violet eyes remained fixed upon the horizon.
"Ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐγένετο."
("But it did not happen.")
Silence spread across the fields.
"Δέκα καὶ ἓξ αἰῶνες παρῆλθον."
("Sixteen centuries have passed.")
A faint smile appeared.
Not bitter.
Only serene.
"Καὶ οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν διάφορον."
("And nothing will be different.")
His robe moved gently with the wind that was beginning to return.
"Μὴ μεριμνᾷς."
("Do not worry.")
"Τὴν ὁδὸν μου ᾑρημένος εἰμί."
("I have already chosen the path I will walk.")
A brief pause.
"Καὶ τὸ τίμημα αὐτοῦ."
("And its price as well.")
Silence once again filled the field.
This time...
Lighter.
The voice arose once more.
Calm.
Serene.
Without reproach.
"Φαίνεται ὅτι ὁ χρόνος ἡμῶν ἐνθάδε λήγει."
("It seems our time here is coming to an end.")
For a few moments...
Neither of them spoke.
The voice sounded again.
Softer.
Like someone who had already accepted the inevitable.
"Μίαν μόνον συμβουλὴν ἔχω ἔτι, τέκνον."
("I have only one piece of advice left to give you, my son.")
A brief pause.
"Μὴ λησμονήσῃς ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἰσχυρότατοι πορεύονται μακρότερον ὅταν μὴ μόνοι βαδίζωσιν."
("Do not forget that even the strongest walk farther when they do not walk alone.")
The wind began to blow again...
First as a breeze almost impossible to notice.
Then crossing the golden fields.
The flowers bowed once more.
The leaves of the old tree began to dance again overhead.
Éreon remained watching the horizon.
"Ἤθελον ἂν σὲ ἐνθάδε εἶναι."
("I wish you were here.")
The wind moved his hair.
"Οὐ θραῦσμα."
("Not a fragment.")
His violet eyes remained fixed upon the distance.
No answer came.
Only silence.
Serene.
A faint smile appeared on Éreon's lips.
Small.
Almost imperceptible.
Then he took the first step.
The flowers bowed around him.
And, in that instant...
Thin violet filaments began to escape from his body.
Like cracks of light cutting through reality itself.
They slithered through the air like silent lightning.
Running across his skin.
His robe.
His hair.
With every step...
They became more numerous.
More intense.
The flowers they passed withered.
The leaves of the old tree slowly darkened.
As though something were being torn away from that place.
As though an entire existence were being separated from another.
Éreon kept walking.
Without looking back.
Without hesitating.
The purple filaments spread across the field.
Cutting through the space around him.
Until...
He closed his eyes.
For a single instant.
When he opened them again...
His pupils had become slit.
The field had disappeared.
Leaving behind only absolute darkness.
Silent.
CLANG.
A metallic sound echoed.
Heavy.
CLANG.
Again.
Dragging itself through the infinite darkness.
CLANG.
The sound echoed closer.
As though enormous chains were being slowly dragged through the void.
The darkness remained still...
A voice crossed through it.
"Éreon..."
"Even after Erebus tore you away from this place..."
The silence seemed to expand.
The voice continued:
"And yet you found your way back."
A quiet laugh echoed through the darkness.
"I never cease to be surprised by the choices you call 'free.'"
A faint smile appeared on Éreon's lips.
"Tartarus..."
A brief pause.
"After so many centuries devouring men..."
"have you ended up inheriting some of their habits?"
A quiet laugh crossed the darkness.
Brief.
Almost satisfied.
Éreon remained staring into the darkness.
"We both know..."
"that the moment I decided to tear something away from the Abyss..."
"this meeting ceased to be a possibility."
"It became only a matter of time."
Silence once again occupied the darkness.
No answer came.
Even so...
Éreon noticed.
The presence of Tartarus behind him.
So close...
That a single step would have been enough to touch him.
Éreon kept looking into the darkness before him.
A quiet laugh broke the silence.
Unhurried.
Like someone who had never needed to fear time.
"Tell me, Éreon..."
The atmosphere became heavier.
"Why shouldn't I simply consume, here and now..."
The silence seemed to compress around them.
"...everything you spent centuries trying to protect?"
The presence of Tartarus behind Éreon remained motionless.
He did not turn around.
"I see you truly have inherited some human habits, Tartarus."
A brief pause.
"Forgetfulness seems to be one of them."
Éreon's voice remained calm.
Precise.
"You know that by consuming Erebus's last fragment..."
"every debt between the Abyss and us came to an end."
A faint smile returned to his lips.
"A fragment of a primordial god..."
"is worth infinitely more than two fleeting existences."
For a few moments...
Not even the sound of the chains could be heard.
A quiet laugh crossed the darkness.
"Heh..."
"If you know the rules so well..."
Tartarus's voice sounded almost amused.
"don't make me listen to obvious truths."
"What did you come here to negotiate?"
Éreon finally answered.
Without hesitation.
"The possibility of leaving this place."
Silence stretched on.
As though even the darkness itself were weighing those words.
"Hmph..."
"First Erebus's last fragment."
Éreon remained silent.
"Now..."
"you risk your own existence."
A brief silence.
"What is there within that child..."
"that not even a primordial god was able to surpass?"
Éreon slowly turned around.
There was no one.
Only the infinite darkness.
His eyes swept across the void for a brief moment.
"You already know the answer."
The chains shuddered once.
The metallic sound spread through the darkness.
After a few moments, Tartarus spoke again.
"And yet..."
"I still fail to see where the freedom you came to negotiate lies."
For the first time...
Éreon's slit eyes shone once more.
The violet pierced through the darkness.
As though not even that void were capable of concealing them.
"Allow me to establish him as an existence of his own."
"Free from any interference from the Abyss."
A brief pause.
"And when the moment comes..."
"I myself will lead him to you."
His violet eyes remained still.
"Like every other existence that has ever crossed these depths."
A brief silence spread through the darkness.
The chains remained still.
A deep sound escaped from the void.
"Hmph..."
It wasn't a laugh.
It sounded only like the reaction of someone who had just heard something... interesting.
Tartarus's voice emerged again.
Lower.
Heavier.
"Very well, Éreon."
A brief pause.
"I will accept this game."
The chains moved slowly.
CLANG.
CLANG.
The sound spread through the infinite darkness.
"But do not expect that only one of us has the right to alter the rules."
"Remember..."
"it was you who decided that the boundaries could be crossed."
The darkness grew even heavier.
"If a man can tear something away from the Abyss..."
"then there is no reason why the Abyss cannot tear something away from the world of men."
For a few moments...
Only the metallic echo of the chains remained.
Éreon smiled.
Not a single word left his lips.
Then...
CLANG.
The chains collided violently.
The impact crossed the entire darkness.
Everything around him began to collapse.
Reality itself shattered like glass.
Éreon closed his eyes.
The sound of the chains disappeared.
Only silence remained.
And, in the next instant...
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
Éon's scream still echoed through the chamber.
Éreon opened his eyes.
The light from the fireplace flickered across the stone walls.
The last black filaments surrounding Éon's body slowly dissolved into the air.
The shadows that had once writhed across the walls became still once more.
The suffocating weight that had filled the room had vanished.
"Ngh..."
Éon slowly turned his head.
His eyes met Éreon's.
His breathing still faltered between one groan and the next.
"...Ér..."
His voice came out weak.
"...Éreon..."
Éreon's eyes regained their focus.
For the first time since his consciousness had returned...
He moved.
Slowly raising both hands before his chest.
His fingers traced a single gesture through the air.
His voice came out low.
Almost a whisper.
"Δεσμός." ("Bond.")
At that very instant...
The violet filaments began to slide around the bed.
Slowly.
Like roots searching for a path.
Wherever they touched...
Ancient inscriptions emerged across the stone.
Violet lines spread across the floor in every direction.
Circles.
Symbols.
Ancient runes intertwined with one another, forming a single structure.
The moment the last inscription was completed...
The violet light ran through every symbol.
One after another.
As though the circle itself had awakened.
The entire room was filled by a deep radiance.
Éon's body arched violently.
"AAAAHH...!"
Éreon slowly closed his eyes.
Then murmured, in a language forgotten by mankind:
"Oikogéneia ou prodídōsin, oudè enkataleípei."
("Family neither betrays nor abandons.")
The violet filaments advanced over Éon.
"Eàn heîs pésē, ho héteros synapopíptēi."
("If one falls, the other shall fall with him.")
His body arched violently.
"Eàn heîs haimáxē, ámphō haimássousi."
("If one bleeds, both shall bleed.")
The violet filaments running through the circle stopped.
As though answering a single will.
All of them converged toward Éon's body.
They slid across his skin.
Curved around his chest.
Then...
Instead of remaining over the side where his heart rested...
They continued advancing.
Until they slowly gathered on the opposite side of his chest.
The violet light intensified at that single point.
Pulsing.
Once.
Then again.
As though something invisible were, little by little, taking shape beneath his flesh.
None of the filaments spread apart again.
They remained gathered there...
While the rest of the circle slowly lost its glow.
Éreon spoke the final sentence.
"Dýo eisérchontai, dýo exérchontai — ḕ oudeìs exeleúsetai."
("Two enter, two leave—or none shall leave.")
The circle answered.
The ancient inscriptions pulsed one last time.
The violet light ran through every engraved symbol.
Then...
It began to fade.
Slowly.
Like a flame that had consumed all its fuel.
The runes vanished one after another.
The violet filaments dissolved into the air.
Until...
Silence once again filled the room.
"Ngh..."
Éon's body trembled.
His breathing remained uneven.
Every breath seemed to tear through his chest.
Sweat ran down his forehead.
His muscles still trembled involuntarily.
With great effort...
He slowly turned his head.
His eyes met Éreon's.
"...Éreon..."
His voice came out hoarse.
Almost a whisper.
Éreon turned toward him.
He snapped his fingers.
"Ἀναπαύου." ("Rest.")
Éon tried to continue anyway.
A groan escaped before he managed to speak.
"I-it..."
His eyelids grew heavy.
"...stayed..."
His voice weakened even more.
"...still..."
He tried to keep his eyes open.
In vain.
"...for..."
His breathing slowed.
"...almo..."
The rest of the word died upon his lips.
Éreon stepped closer to the bed.
"Tomorrow..."
"we'll talk about everything."
Éon had already fallen asleep.
The only sound that remained in the room...
was the gentle crackling of the fireplace.