The stunned silence that had settled over everyone within the Vault refused to break, even as the Last Reader's words continued to echo through the chamber. Aether remained kneeling where he had fallen at the conclusion of the Original Story's final memory, his mind still struggling to fully process what he had just witnessed, when the weight of the Last Reader's revelation finally settled over him completely.
A fifth friend. A companion whose existence had been so thoroughly erased that even the ancient beings who had lived through the original events themselves seemed to have forgotten him entirely.
"Who was he?" Aether asked quietly, rising slowly to his feet.
The Last Reader's expression carried a depth of sorrow Aether had not seen from him before, even across everything they had already witnessed together throughout the long, demanding trial.
"He was called the First Author," the Last Reader said.
"What did he do? What was his role, among the others?"
