The wind felt different that morning.
No one said anything, but everyone felt it. There was something in the air. A soft pressure, like a hand on the shoulder, but growing heavier with each breath.
Kaelya and Elion walked beside Albert toward the resting pavilion for the qualified teams.
— Something's wrong, Kaelya whispered.
— There's more than magic in the air, Elion added.
— It's not magic, Albert said softly. It's memory.
When they arrived at the pavilion, a messenger was waiting for them. He wore ceremonial black robes and bore an emblem none of them recognized.
— Albert, son of unspoken worlds, the messenger began. You have been summoned.
— By whom? Kaelya asked, narrowing her eyes.
— By no one. And by all. Those who watch, those who forget. Those never born, yet who have died many times.
Albert nodded.
— I accept.
— Are you sure? Elion asked. We don't know who they are, or what they want…
— We know enough, Albert interrupted. We know they've waited long enough.
The journey didn't happen through teleportation. Nor through a gate. But through a folding of reality. The ground didn't move, but everything around them reconfigured. The sky turned gray. The buildings disappeared one by one.
Albert was alone now. Just him and the echo of his footsteps on a vast platform suspended in a cloudless sky.
In front of him… a temple.
On its steps, a voice spoke:
— You're early.
— Or you're late, Albert replied.
The temple doors opened without a sound. Nine silhouettes waited inside, each unique. One had stars in its eyes. Another had hair made of sand threads. A third was composed only of sound.
— Do you know who we are?
— I know you. But we have not met until today.
— Why did you come?
— Because the world is breaking unnoticed. And you've tried to stitch it… without a needle or thread.
— And you're the one who has them?
Albert stepped forward. Around him, in the air, floated symbols: a tree, a star, a broken sphere, a clock without hands, a heart with eyes.
— I'm the one who doesn't need them.
At the same time, in the real world, Kaelya felt a sharp pain in her chest.
— Something broke. Or… something connected?
Elion looked up. A luminous circle had appeared in the sky, but only visible to those who had truly known Albert.
[Inside the Temple – The Circle of Nine]
Entity with starry eyes:
— If you don't need symbols, then what remains?
Albert:
— Essence. Not form. Not the sign. But intent.
— Intent can be corrupted, said the entity with a voice of stone.
Albert:
— Only if guided by fear. And I no longer carry fear.
Entity made of pure sound:
— We're not interested in fear. We care about distance. How far you've gone… and how much of you is still human.
Albert:
— As much as I need to be. No more, no less.
Entity with hair of sand:
— Do you believe the world can be saved without being rewritten?
Albert:
— No. But I won't rewrite it with blood. I'll use truth.
Entity with a dual face:
— Only one question matters:
— If all follow you, and the world hates you… will you still move forward?
Albert (calmly):
— The world has no right to dictate my steps. But I have the duty to acknowledge its footsteps.
Entity with a thousand eyes:
— And if out of all realities, only one remains, and you are the cause… will you accept responsibility?
Albert:
— I'll carry it with me. Not as a burden. But as a guarantee that I won't repeat it.
Entity speaking in an unknown tongue (translating directly into Albert's mind):
> "You are not chosen. You are not destined. Yet… all eyes are on you."
Albert:
> "Then let them watch me through to the end."
[A deep silence follows]
Central Entity:
— You are the first to answer us without fear, without lies, and without… desire.
Albert:
— I didn't wish to be here. But since I am… I'll be here fully.
Central Entity:
— Then we open the first door. Not to test you… but to recognize you.
[The Temple – In Front of the First Door]
The door was not carved in stone. Nor forged in metal. It was made of fragments of memory, pulsing faintly, like hearts suspended in time.
Central Entity:
— This is the first gate. It leads not to a place. Nor to a time.
— But into a truth only you know.
Albert:
— And if I deny it?
Entity with starry eyes:
— Then the door remains. But you will be the one who becomes closed.
Albert:
— What must I do?
Entity with a thousand eyes:
— Simply step through. No weapons. No magic. No intention.
— Only with what you are.
Albert stepped forward.
The door did not open — it dissolved. The light surrounding it wasn't blinding, but… soothing. Each step Albert took seemed to melt the reality around him.
[Inside the Door – Realm of Personal Truth]
Albert found himself in an endless field of still water. The sky above was a mirror. It didn't reflect his image. It reflected his thoughts.
— You've come, said a familiar voice.
It was his own voice. A copy of Albert — no hood, no power. Just human.
The Double:
— Do you know why we're here?
Albert:
— Because I still haven't resolved who I am.
The Double:
— No. Because you chose to ignore a part of yourself.
Albert:
— Which part?
The Double:
— The part that… suffered. You closed the wound, but you didn't treat it. Now it's time.
A projection of the past appeared. The image of a hand — the hand that summoned him. A woman's voice, pleading.
— Bring him. Bring me salvation. Bring him to me.
Albert (softly):
— She…
The Double:
— You forgot her. Or… you pretended she didn't matter.
Albert:
— I couldn't afford weaknesses.
The Double:
— But you can't truly fight if you don't accept your weakness.
Suddenly, the sky trembled. The projection began to fade. Albert moved closer, but the woman's hand was turning translucent.
— You can still walk away without looking back.
— Or you can admit that something of her lives in you.
Albert closed his eyes. And for the first time, not to activate an ability — but to kneel before a memory.
— I never forgot you. I just… stayed silent for too long.
The sky cleared. The Double vanished. And in the water, reflected for the first time, appeared Albert's face — whole, serene, reconciled.
[Back in the Temple]
Albert stepped out of the light. The Nine watched him silently.
Central Entity:
— The first door opened. And it didn't break you.
— That means you can go further.
Albert:
— I don't want to open all of them.
— But if I leave them closed… then I'm nothing but a shadow.
Interlude – When the First Door Opened
[Central Academy – The Forbidden Library]
Kaelya passed the wardens without being questioned. It was as if… they already knew to let her through.
Deep within the library, in front of a faintly humming oval mirror, stood Master Zhelenya.
— Do you feel it? Kaelya asked.
— I don't feel it. I hear it, Zhelenya replied. Like a song played backward, as if reality itself were trying to breathe.
Kaelya stepped closer to the mirror. Her reflection was not there.
Instead… it was Albert, walking through a place she did not recognize. Moving among mirrors, shadows, and violet light.
— He opened it, Kaelya said, a quiet fear in her voice.
— Yes, Zhelenya answered. And every door opens… both ways.
[The Realm of Uncontrolled Shadows – Edge of the Void]
An old man with shut eyes suddenly awakened.
— Time skipped.
Beside him, a feminine entity formed out of pure darkness materialized.
— Not time. But memory of time.
— Has he entered?
— Not only entered. He has been recognized.
— Then… it is time I met him.
[Temple of the Three Stars – Hall of the Unspoken]
In a silent hall draped with gray banners, three women with closed eyes sat listening.
— It has begun, said the first.
— Another gate has cracked, the second added.
— And the world heard nothing, whispered the third.
[Beneath an Academy – The Forbidden Cell]
A young man bound in magical chains smiled for the first time in years.
— He… is alive. And inside.
One of the guards approached, alarmed:
— What did you say?
— It's time. Let the chaos from within rise.
[Between Stars – In Cosmic Silence]
An ancient spirit made of living constellations turned toward a distant horizon.
— You've taken the first step, child of infinity.
— But when you open the third door…
— We shall meet.
The air had become hard in the temple. The nine had retrieved in silence, and Albert was alone in front of the second door, which slowly pulled, like a sleeping heart.
Suddenly, an invisible vibration crossed the space - an attempt to follow from the outside. An attempt to draw reality, to force an invisible eye on him.
Albert flinched.
- Attack ... No. Verification. Location attempt.
Without saying a word, Albert took his hand to the temple, and then closed both eyes. When he opened it again, his eyes sparkled in bright yellow, and in the center of each one was a magic circle engraved with two zigzag lines-living symbols, swing slowly.
At that moment, the whole magical world tightened on him felt a break.
In the fortress of the Observatory Council, all the spheres of pursuit were dark. In the magical academies, the divination rituals are crushed. In prisons, the prophets suddenly lose their vision.
Zhelenya, in a room full of crystals:
- Something was broken.
Kaelya, suddenly feeling tranquility in the soul:
- He disappeared ... Everything that was connected to him.
In the temple, a voice from outside the nine was heard:
- What did you do?
Albert replied in a low but clear voice:
- I canceled the pursuit. All types. From all plans.
"There is no such power," said an entity from the edge.
Albert smiled:
- Yes. Just appeared.
The tranquility was complete. None of the entities try to follow him. Nobody felt Aura anymore. It was ... completely free.
Albert closed his eyes again, and the yellow gradually disappeared, like a flame that retired into a sacred fire.
Central Entity (in silence):
- Not only did the test pass ...
- He begins to rewrite the rules.
The moment Albert closed his eyes and the yellow light faded completely, something far deeper spread across the world: a heavy silence, like a veil of darkness that didn't threaten… but protected.
This new silence was not the absence of sound. It was the absence of observation.
For the first time since the creation of the magical network, no eye — human, divine, or cosmic — could follow a single entity: him.
—
[Eternal Citadel – Seat of the Ten-Eyed Council]
One of the elders fainted while attempting to access the prediction flow.
— Was he erased from existence? one council member asked.
— No, replied the eldest. It's worse. He withdrew from existence willingly.
Silence fell across the chamber.
—
[Underground Kingdom – The Blind Prophet's Sanctuary]
The prophet, who hadn't opened his eyes in centuries, suddenly did… but there was no light or color in his gaze. Only void.
— He is here. But we can no longer feel him.
— Who?
— The one who will decide whether we have a future.
—
[The Hall of Tens – Ancient Realm of Chronomancers]
Over the time-maps where mages wove the threads of reality, a pattern broke. Not cut. Not destroyed. Just… missing.
A young scribe cried out:
— His timeline vanished! There's NO path left!
The arch-archivist, calmly, murmured:
— He became free.
—
[Central Academy – Crystal Tower]
Kaelya dropped to her knees, hand over her chest.
— He didn't just cancel all traces… he became… impossible to see.
Zhelenya stepped beside her, smiling with a strange sadness.
— This is the beginning of a new era. Magic will no longer bind him. Nor time. Nor us.
—
[In the Depths of Nonexistence – Before a Forgotten Silhouette]
An entity whose thoughts had not touched the world in thousands of years smiled for the first time. It had the form of a cloak of darkness filled with stars.
— One of ours has finally… understood.
—
At that time, Albert walked calmly among the temple's columns. Space no longer restrained him. Magic no longer recorded him.
He was a white point in a world of color — impossible to grasp, impossible to bind.
He stopped. Turned to one of the Nine watching silently over the test.
— Are you afraid?
The entity didn't answer at first. But then, for the first time in its existence, one of the Nine nodded.
Albert looked toward the second door.
— Good.
He stepped forward.