The doorway closed behind Kael and Eryx.
Silence surrounded them.
There was no ground beneath their feet.
No sky above them.
Only an endless sea of dying stars.
Kael stared in disbelief.
"Where are we?"
Eryx looked around.
"I don't know."
Aetherion's voice suddenly echoed through Kael's mind.
"You do."
Kael froze.
"What?"
"This place remembers you."
A distant star suddenly exploded.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The explosions formed a path through the darkness.
Kael and Eryx followed it.
As they moved deeper into the strange realm, Kael began seeing fragments of memories.
A laboratory.
Massive structures floating around a newborn universe.
Thousands of beings watching from behind glass.
The Firstborn.
Kael stopped.
"I remember this."
Eryx looked at him.
"What do you remember?"
"Being here."
A massive structure appeared before them.
It was larger than an entire planet.
At its center floated a sphere of pure silver energy.
The Origin.
Kael felt the power inside his chest respond.
The sphere pulsed.
Boom.
Kael's heart answered.
Boom.
Eryx stepped backward.
"It's reacting to you."
Kael slowly approached.
The closer he got, the more memories returned.
He saw himself as a child.
Eryx standing beside him.
The Firstborn teaching them.
Showing them stars.
Teaching them how to control energy.
For a brief moment, everything felt peaceful.
Then the memories changed.
The Firstborn began arguing.
Some wanted to use Kael as a weapon.
Others wanted to destroy him.
Eryx stood between them.
"He's not a weapon!"
One of the Firstborn raised its hand.
"He's too dangerous."
Kael watched helplessly.
Then he remembered.
He had stepped forward.
"I'll prove you wrong."
The memory shattered.
Kael fell to his knees.
Eryx caught him.
"You okay?"
Kael breathed heavily.
"They were afraid of me."
Eryx shook his head.
"They were afraid of what you could become."
Kael looked at the Origin.
"There's a difference."
Suddenly—
The entire realm shook.
The silver sphere cracked.
Eryx looked upward.
"Something's coming."
A dark figure appeared above the Origin.
Kael recognized it immediately.
The creator.
The being who had appeared behind Eclipse.
It descended slowly.
"You came."
Kael stood.
"You wanted me here."
"Yes."
"Why?"
The being looked toward the Origin.
"Because it is dying."
Kael's eyes widened.
"The Origin can die?"
"Everything can."
The being extended its hand.
The silver sphere began losing energy.
Kael felt something being pulled from his chest.
He grabbed himself.
"What are you doing?"
"Returning what belongs to me."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"What belongs to you?"
The being looked directly at him.
"The Origin."
Silence.
"You stole it from me."
Kael shook his head.
"I don't remember stealing anything."
"You were a child."
"You didn't understand."
The being's voice became colder.
"The Firstborn took a fragment of my power."
"They placed it inside you."
Kael stared at the Origin.
"So the power inside me..."
"Was mine."
Eryx stepped forward.
"Then why didn't you take it back?"
The being smiled.
"Because your brother protected him."
Eryx froze.
Kael looked at his brother.
"What did you do?"
Eryx lowered his head.
"I made a deal."
Kael's eyes widened.
"With who?"
The being answered.
"With me."
Eryx looked at Kael.
"I promised to give myself to the Origin..."
"...if it meant you could live."
Kael's expression broke.
"You sacrificed yourself for me."
Eryx smiled faintly.
"I would do it again."
Before Kael could respond—
The realm shattered.
The Origin exploded with silver light.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
Not the creator.
Not Aetherion.
Not Eclipse.
Something completely new.
"The children have returned."
The creator turned.
For the first time...
Fear appeared in its eyes.
Kael looked toward the source of the voice.
A gigantic silhouette emerged from within the dying Origin.
It had no face.
No body.
Only a crown of burning stars.
The creator whispered—
"Impossible."
Kael stared.
"Who is that?"
The answer came from the silhouette.
"I am the Origin."
The universe shook.
"And you are my children."
Kael and Eryx stood frozen.
Then the Origin looked directly at Kael.
"But only one of you was meant to inherit me."
The stars went dark.
And Eryx disappeared.