Darkness didn't come suddenly.
It settled.
Like something waiting for him to notice it.
Cain lay still.
Eyes closed.
But not asleep.
That state again.
The one between.
"…You're here faster this time."
The voice didn't startle him anymore.
Cain opened his eyes.
White.
Endless.
The space stretched in all directions—
unchanged.
But this time—
he wasn't searching.
Elios stood there already.
Closer than before.
Not distant.
Not fading.
Clear.
Cain exhaled lightly.
"…So this is how it works now."
Elios didn't deny it.
"You're adapting."
A small pause.
"Faster than expected."
Cain didn't react to that.
He looked around once—
then back at him.
"…I have questions."
Elios gave a slight nod.
"I know."
No hesitation.
No avoidance.
Just acknowledgment.
"…Then answer them."
A brief silence.
Then—
"Some."
Not all.
Never all.
Cain didn't push that.
"…That thing."
Straight to it.
"The fragment."
Elios didn't look away.
"It's incomplete."
"I know that."
"Not enough."
A pause.
"What you experienced…"
Elios' gaze lowered slightly.
"…is only a fraction."
Cain's eyes narrowed.
"…Of what?"
This time—
Elios didn't answer directly.
Instead—
"You're asking the wrong way."
Cain didn't like that.
"…Then what's the right way?"
Elios stepped closer.
The space didn't react.
But the presence did.
"You want to understand what it is."
A pause.
"But that isn't where it begins."
Silence.
"…Then where?"
Elios looked at him.
For a moment—
longer than usual.
Then—
"I know you have many questions."
His voice didn't change.
"But the answers—"
A slight pause.
"…at least part of them…"
Another.
"…require context."
Cain didn't interrupt.
Because this time—
it felt different.
"…Before we continue…"
Elios' gaze sharpened slightly.
"…you need to see how it all started."
There it was.
Not explanation.
Experience.
Cain exhaled slowly.
"…So this isn't just talking."
"No."
Immediate.
"You won't understand it by hearing it."
A pause.
"You will understand it by witnessing it."
Cain's gaze didn't waver.
"…And I'm just watching?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
"You cannot interfere."
Expected.
"You cannot change anything."
Obvious.
"But you will feel it."
That—
was new.
Cain's expression shifted slightly.
"…Feel?"
Elios didn't elaborate immediately.
Then—
"Not as yourself."
A faint shift in the space.
"But as part of it."
That landed differently.
"…So I experience it."
"Yes."
"Not as memory."
A pause.
"As reality."
Silence.
Cain processed that.
"…And if I get lost in it?"
Elios answered without delay.
"You won't."
A slight pause.
"Not yet."
Not reassuring.
But honest.
Cain looked at him.
"…And this is necessary."
Not a question.
A statement.
Elios gave a small nod.
"If you want to understand what you carry…"
A pause.
"You need to understand what it became."
Another.
"And why."
The space around them began to shift.
Not breaking.
Not collapsing.
Changing.
Subtly.
Like something underneath was being revealed.
"…Stay aware."
Elios' voice came one last time.
"Don't resist it."
A pause.
"And don't lose yourself in it."
The white space flickered.
Then—
It was gone.
Not fading.
Replaced.
The ground beneath Cain's feet hardened.
Cold.
Uneven.
The air changed.
Thick.
Damp.
A smell filled his senses.
Earth.
Rust.
Something faintly metallic.
His body felt—
different.
Not weaker.
Not stronger.
Just…
not fully his.
Cain's eyes opened.
Darkness.
Not complete.
But heavy enough to swallow everything beyond a few steps.
A faint light flickered ahead.
Torchlight.
Voices.
Real.
Not distant.
Not echoes.
Present.
Cain didn't move.
Because he understood now.
This wasn't a dream.
This wasn't memory.
This was—
experience.
"…So this is how it begins."
No answer came.
Because Elios was no longer speaking.
He was showing.
End.