Darkness stretched endlessly around him.
Luke stood barefoot within a vast empty space where neither stars nor skies existed. The air felt cold yet strangely calm, like the silence before dawn touched the world.
He recognized this place immediately. The void beyond creation. But this time…
it did not feel hostile.
Golden Balance threads floated softly around Luke like drifting ribbons of light while distant whispers echoed faintly beyond the darkness.
The black cracks along his arm glowed beneath his sleeve.
Then the ancient voice returned.
"LITTLE HEIR."
Luke turned slowly.
Far ahead in the darkness stood something enormous.
Not monstrous anymore. Not terrifying.
Ancient.
Vaelthoros emerged slowly from the void itself, massive wings folded behind a form no longer entirely consumed by corruption. Parts of its body still carried darkness, but golden Balance patterns now spread across the Primordial like glowing scars.
Luke stared quietly.
"You're really alive."
The Primordial lowered its head slightly.
"BARELY."
Its voice sounded weaker now.
Tired.
Luke stepped closer carefully.
"What happened after I left?"
The void darkened instantly around them.
For a moment, Luke saw flashes beyond Vaelthoros. Ancient horrors screaming.
Nerath-Kul tearing through collapsing pathways.
Primordials fighting one another in the darkness.
Then the vision vanished.
Vaelthoros answered quietly:
"THE VOID HAS AWAKENED."
Luke's chest tightened immediately.
The Primordial slowly sat within the endless darkness, exhaustion weighing heavily in every movement.
"THEY KNOW THE HEART LIVES AGAIN."
Luke lowered his gaze.
"And they'll come eventually."
Vaelthoros did not deny it.
For a while neither spoke.
The void around them remained strangely still compared to the chaos Luke remembered before.
Then unexpectedly, Vaelthoros spoke again.
"YOU ARE AFRAID."
Luke blinked slightly.
"…Yeah."
The honesty came easier now.
Maybe because this place held no need for pretending.
The Primordial's glowing eyes remained fixed on him.
"GOOD."
Luke frowned immediately.
"Good?"
Vaelthoros nodded slowly.
"ONLY FOOLS FEEL NOTHING BEFORE POWER."
The ancient being looked toward Luke's glowing arm.
"THE HEART CHANGES YOU."
Luke became quieter.
"I know."
His voice dropped lower afterward.
"Sometimes I don't feel like myself anymore."
The void trembled faintly.
Vaelthoros watched him silently.
Luke continued softly:
"The sanctuary reacts to my emotions now."
Golden threads flickered anxiously around him.
"People look at me differently."
His chest tightened painfully.
"And sometimes…"
He hesitated.
"…sometimes I'm scared I'll become something no longer human."
Silence followed.
Then Vaelthoros spoke words Luke did not expect.
"YOU ALREADY ARE."
Luke froze.
Pain crossed his face instantly.
But before despair could settle fully, the Primordial continued:
"YET YOU REMAIN LUKE."
The void became still again.
Vaelthoros lowered its massive head slightly.
"THAT IS WHAT MATTERS."
Luke stared at the ancient being quietly.
Somehow…
he understood.
Power changed people.
Pain changed people.
Loss changed people.
But change itself was not the same as losing oneself.
Lucien had changed after Celestia died.
Vaelthoros had changed after Balance touched its darkness.
And Luke was changing too.
That did not mean he was gone.
Then suddenly the void trembled violently.
Vaelthoros stood instantly.
Its expression hardened.
"THEY ARE SEARCHING AGAIN."
Luke felt it immediately afterward.
Something moving through the darkness beyond them.
Watching.
Hunting.
Massive ancient eyes opened faintly in the distance.
Nerath-Kul.
The Primordial's voice echoed through the void like poison crawling across reality itself.
"THE LITTLE HEIR HIDES BEHIND TRAITORS."
Luke instinctively stepped backward.
Vaelthoros moved protectively in front of him immediately.
Golden Balance energy flared around Luke while the darkness beyond the void shifted violently.
More eyes opened.
More Primordials awakening.
Nerath-Kul laughed darkly.
"YOU CANNOT GUARD HIM FOREVER."
Vaelthoros roared furiously.
The entire void shook.
"LEAVE."
But Nerath-Kul ignored the warning.
Instead, its six massive eyes fixed directly on Luke through the darkness.
And suddenly…
Luke felt something terrible.
Recognition.
The Primordial had marked him.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Like the void itself now knew his existence completely.
Nerath-Kul's voice lowered into something almost amused.
"WE WILL MEET AGAIN, CHILD OF BALANCE."
Then the darkness surged violently forward.
Vaelthoros slammed into the incoming corruption instantly while roaring loud enough to shatter the dreamscape around them.
"LUKE!"
Everything exploded into light.
Luke woke up gasping violently.
Golden energy burst across his sanctuary room instinctively while the windows rattled beneath the sudden pressure.
His breathing came unevenly.
Sweat covered his skin.
The black cracks along his arm burned painfully beneath the bandages.
Then suddenly the chamber doors burst open.
Lucien entered instantly with infernal flames already swirling around his hands.
"Luke!"
The Prince of Hell stopped sharply after seeing his son trembling in bed.
The room still glowed faintly with unstable Balance energy.
Lucien immediately moved closer.
"What happened?"
Luke looked up slowly, fear still visible in his glowing eyes.
"I saw Vaelthoros again."
Lucien's expression darkened immediately.
"And?"
Luke swallowed hard.
"They found me."
Silence filled the room instantly.
Outside the sanctuary windows, the dawn skies flickered uneasily.
Because somewhere beyond creation…
the Primordials had begun searching for the Heir of Balance personally.