The rain had stopped hours ago, but the scent of thunder still clung to the air — that sharp, metallic tang of storms long gone. The ruins of the ancient citadel stood silent beneath the gray dawn, its broken arches jutting out like ribs from a corpse long forgotten.
Kael stood among them, his cloak fluttering faintly in the morning wind. His hands trembled — not from cold, but from the lingering echo of the dream.
He had seen her again.
That voice, soft as spring water and painful as loss, whispering his name from a distance he could never cross. Every time he woke, the memory slipped further away, leaving only a hollow ache behind.
> "You can't save me, Kael."
He clenched his fist until his nails dug into his palm. "Watch me."
A faint light pulsed on the inside of his wrist — the sigil of his Soul Core, its glow unstable, flickering like a candle in the wind. The System's message hovered briefly before fading:
> [Warning: Emotional instability detected. Synchronization at 78%.]
Kael exhaled sharply. "Yeah, join the club."
Behind him, footsteps approached. Lira's familiar voice broke the silence.
"Still arguing with your System, I see."
He turned, forcing a half-smile. "It's the only one that listens without interrupting."
Lira's golden hair glinted in the weak sunlight as she joined him among the ruins. Her armor was dented from the last battle, and faint bruises painted her neck, but her eyes — those bright, defiant eyes — still burned with unyielding fire.
"You didn't sleep," she said flatly.
"Didn't need to."
"Liar."
He smirked, but it faded almost instantly when his gaze drifted back toward the collapsed altar at the center of the ruins. There, half-buried beneath stone and moss, was what they had come for — a fragment of an ancient relic, humming faintly with sealed power.
The Heart of Eos.
Lira crossed her arms. "You're thinking about using it, aren't you?"
Kael didn't answer. The wind howled softly through the broken walls.
"It's a fragment of a god's heart, Kael," she pressed. "Even touching it could tear your soul apart. We don't even know what kind of energy—"
"I know," he cut in quietly. "But I can feel it calling to me."
She took a step closer. "Or it's manipulating you. Like the last time."
Her words stung, but he didn't deny them. The last time he had listened to that voice — that pull — he'd nearly lost himself in the labyrinth beneath Solen's Gate. He could still feel the phantom burn where the corruption had crawled into his veins.
But this was different. He could sense it — not darkness, not malice, but… recognition.
"Maybe it's not calling me," he murmured. "Maybe it's remembering me."
Lira frowned. "That doesn't even make sense."
"It does," Kael whispered. "If souls can reincarnate… then why can't memories?"
---
They descended toward the altar together. With every step, the ground seemed to hum louder, resonating through Kael's bones. The moment he brushed the moss away, a surge of warmth spread up his arm — not burning, but familiar, like a heartbeat syncing with his own.
> [Soul Resonance Detected.]
[Origin Signature: Classified.]
[Warning: Potential temporal overlap.]
"Temporal overlap?" Lira echoed, scanning the holographic text only Kael could see. "What the hell does that mean?"
Kael didn't reply — because he already knew.
It meant the System was recognizing something from before. From one of his past lives.
A memory ignited behind his eyes — brief, fragmented, but vivid.
A temple bathed in golden fire.
A woman in white, holding the same crystal shard.
Her voice trembling as she whispered, "If you ever return, remember me through the light."
The vision faded, leaving him gasping. Lira grabbed his arm.
"Kael! Hey! Snap out of it—"
He stumbled back, breathing hard. The world spun, static crackling in the corner of his vision.
> [Memory synchronization: 42%... 58%...]
He dropped to one knee. "It's… her. The woman from my dreams."
"Dreams?" Lira's tone shifted from anger to confusion. "Kael, what are you—"
Before she could finish, the ground trembled. The altar split open, and from the fissure, tendrils of golden light burst outward — beautiful and terrible, wrapping around Kael's form.
"Kael!" Lira shouted, drawing her blade, but she couldn't get close. The light was scorching, radiant like sunlight condensed into pure energy.
Kael felt his mind fracture — flashes of other lives flickering behind his eyelids. Faces, battles, deaths. Worlds ending. A thousand versions of himself, screaming, fighting, dying — all converging into one unbearable moment.
And then, silence.
When he opened his eyes, the world had changed.
The ruins were gone. The rain, the wind — gone. He stood in a vast, endless field of white light, the horizon stretching forever. A single figure stood before him, her back turned.
He knew that silhouette.
"...You," he breathed.
The woman turned, her eyes glowing with soft, sorrowful gold. "You found me again."
Kael's throat tightened. "Who are you?"
Her smile was fragile. "You once called me Eos."
His heart stopped. The Heart of Eos — not just a relic, but her soul. The goddess herself, fragmented and forgotten, bound within the System that governed life and death.
"Why show yourself now?" he asked.
"Because this cycle is breaking," she said, stepping closer. "And you, Kael… you are the fracture."
He swallowed hard. "I don't understand."
"You will," she whispered, touching his chest. "But understanding comes with pain. Will you still seek it?"
Kael hesitated — only for a moment. Then he nodded.
"I've already died too many times to turn back now."
Her expression softened. "Then remember this: you were not reborn by accident. You were chosen — because you once made a promise to destroy the very System you now wield."
The light around them shattered like glass.
---
Kael gasped awake, collapsing onto the cold stone floor. Lira was beside him, shouting his name, shaking his shoulders.
"You were gone for ten minutes!" she cried. "Your pulse vanished, your Core almost disintegrated!"
He blinked, his vision hazy. "Eos… she's alive."
"What?"
"The relic — it's not just power. It's her. The goddess who made the System."
Lira stared at him, pale. "You're saying a god just… talked to you?"
"Not talked," he whispered. "Remembered."
He looked down. The shard had fused into his chest, glowing faintly through the fabric of his shirt. His Soul Core pulsed in rhythm with it, steady and strong.
> [System Update: Synchronization Complete.]
[New Ability Unlocked — Origin Recall.]
[Warning: Use may result in temporal instability.]
Lira exhaled shakily. "You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
He smiled faintly. "If I did, I wouldn't be me."
She smacked his arm. "You're impossible."
"And yet, here you are," he said, meeting her eyes. "Still following me into every disaster."
Her lips twitched into a reluctant grin. "Someone has to make sure you don't explode."
---
The humor faded as Kael turned toward the dawn. The rain clouds had parted, revealing streaks of pale light over the horizon. Yet beneath that beauty, a sense of unease coiled in his chest.
Eos's words echoed in his mind — "You are the fracture."
What did it mean? That the cycles were breaking? That his existence itself was undoing the laws of the world?
He touched his chest, feeling the steady beat beneath his palm. For the first time, it didn't feel like just his heartbeat — but someone else's, resonating within him.
Lira's voice broke the silence. "So what now?"
Kael's gaze hardened. "Now… we find the truth. Before it finds us."
As they began their descent from the ruins, the wind carried with it a faint whisper — soft, melodic, almost like laughter.
> "Welcome back, Kael Ardyn."
His steps faltered. The voice wasn't Eos's.
It was someone else's.
Someone who remembered him too.
---