Shojiro: "…Is this… all real?"
His voice cracked as the words left his lips. The sound felt small, fragile — swallowed by the vastness of the cradle.
For a moment, none of the Primordials answered. Their gazes weighed on him like the eyes of eternity — patient, unblinking, waiting to see if he would ask again.
He swallowed, forcing another breath.
Shojiro: "Where… am I? What is this place? Am I… dead?"
The silence broke, soft and steady.
Thanamira stepped forward, her form shimmering like a reflection in still water.
Her voice was a whisper and a melody — the sound of souls remembering themselves.
Thanamira: "Not dead. Not alive. You were held between both — a spirit suspended within Yggdrasil's roots. For one hundred and fifty years, your essence lingered there, refusing to fade."
Shojiro's eyes widened. "One hundred… and fifty?"
He stumbled back a step, the weight of time hitting him all at once. His friends, his family — everything he knew — dust.
Poseidara spoke next, calm and flowing, her tone wrapping around his panic like a wave that smoothed the tide.
Poseidara: "Time flows differently in the roots. To us, your century and a half was a single heartbeat. To you… it was eternity unbroken."
Shojiro clenched his fists. "Then… why me? Why bring me back at all?"
A low rumble echoed through the chamber as Kaiser shifted his stance, crossing his arms. His crimson aura dimmed slightly — a respectful flicker.
Kaiser: "Because your blood remembers."
Shojiro blinked, confused. "My… blood?"
Artemis stepped forward, her gaze sharp, analytical — yet not unkind. Lines of silver geometry shimmered in her eyes as she spoke.
Artemis: "You are not a random soul, Shojiro Momo. You are the descendant — a Chosen from the previous cycle. The spark that survived within you drew our attention."
Savitar grinned faintly, pacing in a slow circle around Shojiro.
Savitar: "Most descendants forget. Their blood dilutes, their will weakens. But you — even dying — still tried to fight a creature far beyond mortal limits. That's what caught our eye."
Hephaestus: "Your body broke, but your resolve didn't. That kind of spirit is rare. It's what allows us to rebuild you — to forge you as something more."
Shojiro's breathing steadied, though the tremor in his voice lingered. "So… I was chosen because of my bloodline?"
Aegriya: "Because of your lineage, yes. But more importantly — because of your choice. Blood alone cannot awaken a shard. It must answer will."
The Primordial of Protection placed her hand lightly over her chest, her armor shimmering faintly.
Aegriya: "When you stood before death and refused to yield, the shard of Kaiser resonated. That defiance called to us."
Shojiro lowered his gaze, memories flashing behind his eyes — his father's death, the demon's scream, the pain that tore through him before everything went dark.
Shojiro (softly): "So… all that pain… all of that was… fate?"
Nocturne's voice emerged from the shadows, smooth and low.
Nocturne: "Not fate. Design. Fate implies mercy. Design carries intent."
His words hung in the air like smoke.
Moara: "And now, child of strength… your design begins again."
The chamber dimmed, every Primordial's aura flickering like the heartbeat of a vast machine beginning to awaken.
Shojiro's mind reeled — 150 years lost, his body rebuilt from divine sap, his soul branded by a lineage he never knew existed.
He looked up, his crimson eyes meeting the gaze of ten ancient beings who had shaped the cosmos itself.
Shojiro: "…Then tell me what you want from me."
Shojiro's words still echoed through the cradle —
"Then tell me what you want from me."
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then — laughter.
Deep, rumbling, primal. It didn't come from mockery, but from something older — a being who had long since lost patience for weakness.
Kaiser stepped forward, his colossal frame casting a crimson shadow that blanketed Shojiro in heat.
Kaiser: "What do I want? Simple. I want you to die again."
Shojiro froze. "…What?"
Kaiser (snarling): "Die. Again and again and again — until your body stops fearing pain. Until your soul stops flinching at death. Only then will you be worthy to bear a shard of my strength."
The air thundered with the weight of his words. The vines along the cradle walls quivered, as if even Yggdrasil's roots dared not interrupt.
Savitar scoffed, his voice a sharp crack of amusement.
Savitar: "There he goes again, preaching extinction as a training method."
Poseidara sighed softly, a ripple of blue calm pushing through the heavy air.
Poseidara: "Kaiser, if you break him now, the shard will reject him entirely. Mortals need balance, not annihilation."
Hephaestus folded his arms, embers flickering from his palms as his voice rumbled like iron striking an anvil.
Hephaestus: "We've forged his body but not his will. You'd shatter him before he even learns to shape Vythra."
Shojiro blinked, still struggling to keep up. "Vythra? What the hell is Vythra?"
The chamber pulsed at the word — as if the air itself bowed to its significance.
Artemis turned toward him, her eyes glowing with calm precision, every syllable deliberate.
Artemis: "Vythra is not a tool. It is the axis of existence itself — the Breath of the Root."
She gestured toward the glowing veins along the cradle walls, where Yggdrasil's sap still pulsed like flowing veins of light.
Artemis (continuing): "It is the flow that connects all things — mortals, Primordials, even Arae himself. To control Vythra is to command the current that shapes reality."
Shojiro: "So… it's like energy?"
Voltraeus chuckled, lightning sparking from his fingertips.
Voltraeus: "Energy? That's like calling a storm a breeze. Vythra is the storm — the raw pulse of creation before it decides what it wants to become."
Thanamira stepped closer, her voice soft, almost maternal.
Thanamira: "Every soul carries a spark of it — even yours. It's how I found you, little one. Your Vythra called to me when your body fell."
Shojiro frowned, staring at his glowing hands. The faint crimson pulse beneath his skin seemed to quicken, as though responding to the conversation itself.
Shojiro: "So… this power was always inside me?"
Aegriya: "Dormant. Sleeping. But now that you've been reforged through Yggdrasil's sap, your connection to Vythra runs deeper than any mortal alive."
Nocturne's shadowy voice drifted from the edges of the cradle, cool and calm.
Nocturne: "And that connection is dangerous. One misstep, and you'll burn your own soul out trying to command it."
Shojiro's gaze hardened, but before he could speak again —
Kaiser slammed his fist into his palm, the echo shaking the entire cradle.
Kaiser: "Then he needs to burn. That's how the weak learn what it means to live in strength."
Moara sighed, her green eyes gleaming with cunning amusement.
Moara: "And that's how the last vessel you trained turned to ash, remember?"
A low growl rumbled from Kaiser's chest, but before he could answer, Artemis raised a hand — the chamber instantly falling silent.
Artemis: "Enough. The boy will learn Vythra before he learns death."
She turned her gaze toward Shojiro.
"You are a spark from an ancient lineage, child. But a spark is not a flame — not yet."
Shojiro: "…Then teach me."
Kaiser's grin returned — wide, savage, and proud.
Kaiser: "Good. You finally sound like someone worth breaking."