[Fawcett City]
Dr. Thaddeus Sivana woke up, coughing violently as if his lungs were tearing apart. He turned to the side and reached for the small bottle of medication on the bedside table. His fingers trembled slightly as he opened it and swallowed the pills dry. For a moment, he hunched forward, breathing slowly until the pain eased.
His illness was worsening. Despite owning doctors, funding labs, and scouring ancient texts, nothing seemed to help. He could not find a cure for the cursed terminal illness that was slowly killing him.
Lifting his head, he stared at the board on the wall across from his bed. It was covered with rows of photographs, each depicting a child around nine or ten years old. Each child had stood where he once stood at that age. Before the wizard. In that cavern filled with ancient statues and crackling magic. Each of them had been chosen to be tested, yet each had also been dismissed as unworthy.
Just like him.
"Unworthy," he muttered under his breath.
His phone vibrated against the wooden desk beside his bed. He reached for it with a weary hand and pressed it to his ear.
"Doctor," a voice said on the other end. "We found it. The artifact from Khandaq. The red door. We managed to extract it from the ruins and transport it out of the country. No one noticed."
Sivana's lips curled into a faint smile. His voice was hoarse. "Bring it to the house. Immediately. Leave no loose ends."
"Understood."
He lowered the phone and whispered to himself, almost reverently, "Finally."
That evening, storm clouds filled the sky over Fawcett City. Lightning flashed in the distance. Sivana sat in his study, looking at the object he had wanted to see for years.
The ancient red door stood propped against the wall. It was taller than a man, carved from some unknown mineral that shimmered faintly. Strange symbols were carved across its surface. The metal frame around it was rusted but intact.
Two of his men stood nervously near the doorway, unsure whether to speak or flee. Why? Sivana had the entire team killed to suppress the information about the door. They are the only two alive.
Sivana ignored them.
He stepped forward and grabbed the knob. All he felt was a little tingle, but no matter how many times he tried to twist and open it, he failed. The door won't budge.
The symbols remained still and lifeless.
Sivana's jaw clenched. He leaned back, chest heaving, a bitter laugh escaping him. "You will not deny me," he muttered.
He moved around to examine every inch of it. There were no hinges or any hidden mechanisms. Just some old writings. For a moment, he stood there. Then he sat back down in his chair, eyes fixed on the red door. "This is it," he mumbled to himself. "The gateway to the power of the champion. So close, yet so far."
He picked up a worn leather journal from the table beside him. Pages filled with sketches, translations, and symbols he had gathered over decades. He turned to a page marked with a blood-red ribbon.
Beneath a crude sketch of the door were six unfamiliar symbols and a single phrase written in ancient text. His lips moved as he translated it aloud.
"Only the voice of eternity shall open the path."
...[Night]...
That night, as the storm deepened over Fawcett City. It was raining hard.
Sivana sat in the chair facing the red door, his medication bottle resting loosely in his hand. He hasn't moved from that place for hours.
Silence stretched across the room.
Then he heard it.
A faint whisper. So quiet it might have been the wind. But the window was closed, and the sound came from inside his head.
'Thaddeus…'
He straightened slightly, his fingers tightening around the armrest. His eyes darted around the room. No one was there. His two remaining men had left an hour ago.
Another whisper came. This time clearer.
'He is old. Weak. The Wizard is fading.'
Sivana sat frozen, heart thudding against his ribs.
'The power that was denied… it lies beyond the door. Yours to claim.'
His throat felt dry. He forced his voice into a whisper. "Who… who are you?"
No answer came in words. Instead, the symbols on the door seemed to shimmer faintly, as though reacting to the storm outside.
Then the voices spoke again. Not one voice, but many. Layered, whispering in unison.
'We have waited for you. We remember your anger. Your rejection. You were cast aside, branded unworthy. Just as we were. The Wizard grows feeble. His judgment no longer binds this world.'
Sivana stood up and walked closer to the door. Lightning flashed outside, casting a red gleam across its surface.
"What do you want?" he asked softly.
'The same as you. Rule this world with absolute power.'
The voices grew louder, wrapping around him like invisible chains.
'Open the path, Thaddeus. Claim what is yours. Let us in.'
"But I tried," Sivana murmured. "It will not open."
'We need souls.'
He felt a chill crawl down his spine. "Souls…"
'Blood for passage. Will for power.'
His eyes widened for a brief moment. Lightning cracked across the sky, thunder rumbling loud enough to shake the glass panes.
"You want me to kill them," he whispered.
'Bring them to the door. Give us their lives. The gateway will stir. We will answer.'
...
[Morning]
The rain had stopped.
Sivana sat in his study, still staring at the red door. He was holding his phone. Finally, he decided to make his move. Kill two birds with one stone. He dialled his elder brother's number.
After a couple of rings, his brother finally took the call.
"Sid," he said. "I want to meet. I've made a decision. I'm ready to give you my shares. All of them."
There was a pause, then his brother's cautious voice came through. "You serious? What's the catch?"
"No catch," Sivana said quietly. "Just one small favor. Something I need you to do for me. It's better if we talk in person."
Sid laughed. "Fine, fine. I'll be there in an hour. Don't die before I get there."
Sivana hung up and set the phone down. He didn't move. He simply waited.
...
When Sid arrived, he strolled into the house like he owned it. He was dressed in an expensive gray suit and wore that familiar smug look that Sivana had despised since childhood.
"Well, well," Sid said, stepping into the study. "I was starting to think you'd finally gone senile, Thad. Giving up your empire just like that?"
Sivana didn't answer. He pointed at the red door propped against the wall.
Sid looked at it, frowning. "What's this? Another one of your little obsession projects? Ancient relics and fairy tales?"
Sivana's voice was steady. "That door is older than civilization. It leads to something… powerful. You always said I wasted my life chasing magic. But right beyond that door lies the secret. The truth... The source of magic. Go ahead. Open it." He grinned for the first time. "Take a look for yourself. Prove me wrong... and you can have everything I own."
Sid let out a loud laugh, holding his belly. He laughed hard for a few seconds before stopping. "Magic? You still believe that garbage? You are still that same pathetic kid..." He walked up to the door and ran a hand over the surface. "What's it supposed to do? Summon ghosts? Turn lead into gold?"
"Open it," Sivana looked at him with cold eyes. "See for yourself."
Sid shook his head, grinning. "You really are out of your mind. There's no such thing as magic, Thad. Only money and power. And you already gave up both."
He wrapped his fingers around the knob.
The moment he twisted it, a blinding flash of red light exploded outward.
The sound was like metal tearing through the air.
Sid screamed once, the noise cut short as arcs of crimson lightning shot through his body. In a heartbeat, he was gone—reduced to a pile of ash and smoke on the floor.
The door pulsed once, the symbols glowing faintly red before fading again.
"Of course, there is magic," Sivana said as he looked at the charred remains of his brother.
Then with a hiss, the door began to glow.
'Open it.'
He heard the voices again.
Sivana grabbed the knob and twisted. A jolt of lightning crawled up his arm as the door finally opened. He walked through and found himself standing in that ancient place where he once stood. Around him were those seven statues, a glowing orb floating on the pedestal on the right, and the old wizard sat alone on the throne. The wizard was holding the magic staff.
The wizard opened his eyes and sat up straight.
Sivana walked forward. He smiled at the old man. "You remember me?"
"Thaddeus Sivana," The wizard said as he stood up and walked down the stairs. "You shouldn't be here."
"Of course, I shouldn't be here. I was unworthy after all. But you see..." He walked toward the glowing orb. "Some think I'm worthy."
"Thaddeus," the wizard's voice boomed, heavy with power and warning. "You do not understand what you are doing."
Sivana took a slow step forward, his eyes fixed on the glowing orb. "Oh, I understand perfectly," he said, his voice trembling with both rage and awe. "You chose children. Dreamers and fools. And you called them unworthy. Do you have any idea what that does to children when you call them unworthy? No. You don't know. You let me rot in the dark, chasing your fairy tales."
"You were filled with anger," the wizard said, descending the steps, his robes trailing over the floor. "Your heart was consumed by envy. By hate. That is why you failed the test."
Sivana's lips curled into a bitter smile. "And yet, here I stand."
The wizard's eyes flickered with sorrow. "The door is not a gift. It is a prison. Those who speak through it are not gods or angels, but monsters and sins bound in flesh and stone. You do not hear destiny whispering, Thaddeus. You hear your doom."
A low rumble echoed through the chamber. The seven massive statues that surrounded them began to tremble. Cracks spread across their surfaces, glowing faintly red.
The voices returned, layered, serpentine, full of temptation.
'Do not listen to him.'
'He fears you.'
'He knows what you could become.'
'He feared our power—he caged us, called us evil.'
'But we are truth. We are freedom. We are the rulers!'
Sivana clutched his head, staggering. The whispers surged, filling his skull, his pulse quickening as the power radiated from the orb.
The wizard raised his staff. "Thaddeus! You are being deceived! That orb is a vessel of the Seven Deadly Sins. They are the entities of destruction! If you release them, the world will drown in shadow!"
But Sivana's expression hardened, his eyes burning with fury. "All my life, I've been dying—sick, forgotten, mocked! Now, this chance... you'll not deny me what's mine. You talk about worthiness? I'll show you worthiness!"
The orb pulsed brighter, reacting to his rage. It rose from the pedestal, spinning slowly in the air. The whispers turned to a roar.
'TAKE WHAT IS YOURS!'
'CLAIM YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE!'
'WE CHOSE YOU AS OUR CHAMPION!'
The wizard raised his staff, shouting over the storm of voices. "Thaddeus! STOP!"
But Sivana reached out. His hand shook, trembling inches from the orb. "Power… mine…"
The orb flew toward him, slamming to a stop, hovering just before his face.
The statues exploded, shards of stone raining across the chamber. From within each shattered form, a shadow rose—a twisted, writhing creature of smoke and flame, eyes burning with hunger. One by one, they screamed and hurled themselves into the orb.
Sivana's eyes widened as the orb began to glow even brighter than before. It looked like a ball of compressed energy. His body jerked violently as the sphere spun faster and faster, until it shot straight into his right eye with a flash that split the air.
He screamed, falling to his knees. The light burst from every vein in his body. His veins blackened, his back arched, and when his head snapped up, his right eye glowed with blue light. His body quickly turned back to normal, except for the eye.
The wizard staggered back, gripping his staff. "No… no… what have you done?"
Sivana rose slowly to his feet. The trembling stopped. The cavern was silent, save for the low hum of dark energy radiating from him.
"Finally…" His mouth curled into a grin. "I can see." Multiple voices overlapped each other.
The wizard pointed his staff at him. "You are consumed, Thaddeus. That power will destroy you and all mankind!"
"So much power..." Sivana clenched his fist.
The wizard thrust his staff forward, releasing a blast of lightning. But to his surprise, Sivana absorbed the lightning and then threw it back at him, sending him flying a few feet back.
"You can't stop me," He turned back toward the door. "No one can."
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