The descent was endless.
Light bent and broke around Kai as he fell, his body pulled through an abyss where the laws of space had no meaning. His skin shimmered between forms, his mind flickering between consciousness and memory. He felt the pull of a thousand echoes clawing at him, fragments of a past long buried beneath divine ruin.
Leo's voice cut through the void, strained but still alive. "We're—still—dropping?"
Kai forced his head toward the sound. "No. We're being shown."
The void began to ripple, and then it burst into light.
The first thing Kai saw was the sky. It wasn't a sky as he knew it, but a vast, liquid canvas of golden fire. The ground below gleamed like glass, cities suspended in the clouds, their spires reaching toward something immense above them. It was beauty forged by impossible power. The First World—the realm before the fall.
Leo landed hard beside him, rolling to his feet. He looked around in disbelief. "Where are we?"
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Not where. When."
The air vibrated with divine energy. Beings moved through the light—humanoid, radiant, their eyes burning like stars. They were the Ascendants before corruption, gods walking among mortals. At their center was a colossal tower, pulsing with blinding energy. Every line, every vibration of the air screamed power.
Kai felt something deep inside his chest—something that recognized this place. "This… this was before the Dispersement. Before everything fractured."
Leo's expression hardened. "Then we're seeing the moment it all fell apart."
---
They moved through the luminous streets. Everything was too perfect. There was no decay, no conflict. Every being they passed smiled as though guided by one mind. It was peace—but it was wrong.
Kai slowed. "Do you feel that?"
Leo nodded. "It's quiet. Too quiet."
Then, the whisper came again.
"Lucian…"
Kai froze. The voice wasn't his own. It echoed from the very ground beneath them, vibrating through his bones. He spun toward the sound and saw it—an image forming in the air. A man in black armor, eyes burning with golden light.
Lucian.
Not the Lucian of their time. This was the original—the First Ascendant.
He stood before the tower, hand pressed against its surface. "The gods promised eternity," he said, his voice hollow. "But they gave us chains."
Around him, other Ascendants gathered. Their faces were uncertain, fearful. One of them—a woman with silver hair—reached toward him. "Lucian, the Dispersement is forbidden. The gods will—"
"The gods abandoned us!" Lucian roared. The ground trembled beneath him. The golden light in the sky darkened. "They hoard their essence while our world decays. We are meant to be their successors. Not their slaves."
Kai stepped forward, unable to tear his gaze away. "He tried to rewrite creation."
Leo whispered, "He broke the seal."
The air around Lucian tore apart. The tower pulsed violently, golden light bleeding into black. Screams erupted from the heavens as divine energy poured out in waves. Beings of light fell from the sky, their forms twisting and collapsing.
The Dispersement had begun.
Lucian raised his arms, and a corona of power exploded from his body. "Let this world remember me—not as their servant, but as their god!"
The sky shattered. The First World screamed.
---
Kai stumbled backward, clutching his head as the memory flooded him with unbearable force. The images didn't fade—they merged with him. He could feel Lucian's rage, his grief, his betrayal. The pain of watching his people fade while the gods turned away. The hatred that had festered until it consumed him.
Leo dropped to one knee beside him. "Kai—what's happening to you?"
Kai's eyes burned gold for a moment. His voice trembled. "He's in me. I saw it. He wasn't the monster they said he was… he was—he was trying to save them."
"But he destroyed everything," Leo said.
Kai nodded slowly. "Because the gods made him believe he had no choice."
The memory began to distort again, colors bleeding into static. The city cracked and burned. Above them, the once-golden sky turned to molten black. The beings of light screamed as the corruption spread, turning their brilliance into shadow.
From the wreckage, Lucian stood alone. He looked toward the heavens, his voice breaking. "If the gods refuse to rule justly… then I will tear them down myself."
Then, everything went still.
---
The world dissolved into darkness once more.
Kai and Leo fell to the ground, gasping for air. The visions faded, leaving only silence.
Leo pressed a hand to his head. "We just saw the beginning. The truth."
Kai rose slowly. "The gods didn't fall. They were killed. By one of their own."
The voice returned, softer now, almost sorrowful.
"And yet… he failed. For the world rebuilt itself from his ashes."
Kai turned toward the sound. The darkness shifted, revealing a shape—neither human nor divine. A guardian of memory. Its form rippled like smoke, its face unreadable.
"You've seen what came before," it said. "But to change what comes next, you must understand the price."
Leo stepped forward, defiant. "We've seen the price. The world paid it already."
The guardian's head tilted. "No. The world borrowed from it. The debt remains."
Kai's breath caught. "The debt… is me."
The guardian's eyes flared. "You are the echo of the broken god. The last fragment of Lucian's will. You walk the line between his ruin and his redemption."
Kai staggered. The words cut deeper than any blade. "Then… the voice I keep hearing—"
"It is not haunting you," the guardian interrupted. "It is calling you back."
Leo grabbed Kai's shoulder. "We're not playing destiny's game. We write our own fate."
The guardian's form began to dissolve. "Then find the others. The ones who still remember. Only then will you break the cycle."
The light burst again. The ground gave way beneath them.
---
They woke in the Vanguard base, gasping, drenched in sweat. Zara was the first to reach them, eyes wide. "You were gone for two hours. The sensors went dark—what did you see?"
Kai's voice was hollow. "The truth. About the Dispersement. About Lucian."
Zara frowned. "Lucian? As in the Lucian?"
Leo nodded grimly. "He wasn't a god. He was a man who broke the world trying to save it."
Silence hung in the room. The monitors behind them flickered with static, data streams corrupted by something ancient and alive.
Zara exhaled slowly. "Then what now?"
Kai turned toward the window. The world outside was still burning, the war between Awakened factions escalating with every passing hour.
He clenched his fists. "Now… we find the rest of his echoes. Before the gods do."
The faintest whisper drifted through the base's speakers—unheard by anyone but Kai.
"Awaken…"
He didn't flinch this time. He simply whispered back, his eyes glowing faintly gold.
"Soon."
---