[Prologue]
"Finally…"
His eyes widened at the sight of the miracle before him. The Piece of Eden—heaven itself condensed into a fragment, spinning blue orbs circling its radiant core. A relic too beautiful, too impossible, yet somehow it made perfect sense. He stared, consumed. Salvation. His suffering had meaning. His patience, his faith, his endurance—they had all led him here. At last.
He stepped forward. Though he had seen wonders far greater, nothing compared to this. Not now. Not ever. The sight felt both familiar and new, as though he had lived with it all his life but only now understood its value.
"Finally… Finally, I can…"
Hope stood within reach. A shining end to his torment. His sins—erased. His exile—ended. This was no trophy, but a key, the key. He raised his trembling hand toward it. Logic, caution, fear—none of them mattered. He only wanted it. He needed it. He longed for the power to return. To go back. To reclaim the days he had lost.
Tears welled in his eyes, tears he should never have shed. He was not meant to feel this fragile, human weakness. He despised it. And yet, now, it felt like relief. Joy and sorrow tangled together, raw and overwhelming. For once, he was grateful. Grateful to be human.
"I can… I can finally… go home…"
The light grew unbearable, searing his vision. Any mortal would have gone blind, but he embraced it. The pain was bliss, a reunion with something long lost. His tears turned crimson as his eyes burned under the brilliance of the relic. He reached for it—so close, so close—
The Piece of Eden moved. It rose from the shallow altar and drifted toward him. His heart leapt.
"YES! I WIN! I WIN! THIS IS THE END OF MY SUFFERING!"
Blood streamed down his face as he screamed in ecstasy. At last, freedom. Liberation. Victory.
But fate was cruel.
The relic drifted past him. Toward her.
He froze. Only then did he notice the girl behind him.
"What…? Who…?"
The glow moved closer to her with every heartbeat, and with it, despair flooded him.
"No… No… No… NO!!!"
The relic ignored him. It ignored everything. It was divine. Unmoved by pleading, untouched by desire. This had been decided long before.
The girl stood paralyzed, eyes wide, legs refusing to move. She wanted to scream, but no sound came. She wanted to run, but her body betrayed her.
He howled. His voice cracked like a dying beast, echoing through the castle hall. His grief drowned the storm outside. The great chamber bore witness to his unraveling.
"NO! I'M RIGHT HERE! WHY IS IT LEAVING ME?!"
He collapsed, first to his knees, then to his hands. His body broke under the weight of despair. The universe forced him to watch—his punishment was to see it all.
The girl whispered. Barely a sound. A ghost of a word.
"Help…"
The relic struck her. Her body was hurled across the hall, crashing into the ornate wall. Stone and plaster crumbled, but she felt nothing. Or perhaps the pain was too vast to comprehend. The Piece of Eden vanished inside her. She lay broken in the rubble, bleeding, eyes wide and empty.