Zero closed the chronicle with trembling hands, the echoes of Xalvar's words still burning in his mind like fresh scars. For a long while, he could only hear the hollow rhythm of his breath, feel the taut silence of the room press against him. The chamber of records was vast yet suffocating, an ocean of dust-laden shelves reaching into shadows that swallowed the edges of sight.
He rose from where he sat, stepping away from the lectern as if distance alone could grant clarity. His gaze trailed upward to the tall ceiling where faint motes of light seeped in through slits of stone, scattered like stars barely daring to shine in a place so heavy with ancient weight.
That was when Lilith's soft voice cut through his wandering thoughts.
"My father once told me…" she began, fingers brushing over the spine of a nearby tome as though caressing a living creature, "…that this room is not what it seems. He said it is almost… alive."
