The fire had long since died, leaving only the cold shimmer of dawn spilling over the shattered bridge. Kael hadn't slept.He stood at the edge of the ruin, watching the gray mist roll over the valley below, the remnants of Eryndor's towers jutting through it like broken bones.
The wind carried the faint scent of ash and something older—metal, incense, the ghosts of forgotten prayers.
Serah approached quietly. She carried no weapon, only a small book bound in cracked black leather. When she spoke, her voice was soft but steady.
"It's time you knew what the void remembers."
Kael didn't turn to her."Then speak."
She opened the book. The pages were brittle, filled with lines of ancient script that seemed to twist and shimmer when the light touched them.
"Before the gods ruled this world, there were voices older than flame," she began. "The void was not death, nor evil. It was creation in its purest form — raw, shapeless, endless. From it came the first light, and with that light, the first betrayal."
She looked at him, eyes reflecting the pale morning.
"The gods rose from that betrayal. They took the light, shaped it into law, and banished the darkness that birthed them. But the void remembered… and it waited."
Kael's hands clenched at his sides. "And my blood? What does it have to do with this?"
"Everything."
Serah stepped closer, the mist curling around her feet.
"When the gods made their thrones, there were those among men who refused to kneel. They sought the forgotten power—the shadow that still whispered beneath creation. One of them was your ancestor, the first King of Ash."
She opened the book to a sketch — a figure in black armor, eyes of molten gold, wearing a crown shaped like thorns of fire.
"He made a covenant with the void," Serah said. "He offered his soul in exchange for dominion over life and death. And the void gave him the Crown — a fragment of its will, bound in gold and flame."
Kael stared at the drawing. The resemblance was faint but undeniable."My eyes…" he whispered.
"A mark of inheritance," Serah said. "The light of the void's fire still burns in your veins. That's why you survived the awakening. Why it called your name."
Kael turned away, running a hand through his hair, his voice sharp with disbelief."So I'm descended from a monster."
"He wasn't a monster," Serah said. "He was a man who tried to free the world from divine chains. The gods called him heretic, and when they killed him, the Crown shattered. Its pieces were lost—until now."
She closed the book, stepping closer.
"You carry one of those pieces, Kael. Not in your hands, but in your blood."
Kael looked at her, eyes narrowing."What are you saying?"
"The void chose you because you are already bound to it," she said softly. "Your life, your curse, your strength — all of it is the Crown trying to remember itself."
He felt dizzy, the air thick with static. "And when it remembers?"
Serah's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Then the gods will fall, and the world will burn clean."
For a long moment, there was only silence between them. The mist swirled. Somewhere far away, thunder rumbled like the heartbeat of something immense.
Kael finally spoke, his tone low and bitter."Why tell me this? Why not just kill me before it happens?"
Serah met his gaze, her silver eyes unwavering.
"Because I believe the void can be more than destruction. It is change. It is freedom. You could end the gods' tyranny… or replace it."
Kael looked down at his hands. The faint golden veins beneath his skin pulsed like living fire.
"And if I refuse?"
Serah smiled sadly.
"Then it will take you anyway. The Crown doesn't ask for permission."
The wind shifted. The ruins groaned.Kael turned toward the horizon, where the sun struggled to break through the ash-thick sky. For a heartbeat, he thought he saw a dark shape moving within the light—a crown suspended in the air, turning slowly, dripping with shadow.
The whisper came again, calm and inexorable:
"Remember who you are, Ash-Born. The world is your inheritance."
Kael closed his eyes.He felt the weight of the words press against his chest, heavier than any armor, sharper than any blade.
He didn't know whether he was standing on the edge of salvation or damnation.But for the first time, he no longer felt lost.
"If the Crown wants me," he said quietly, "then it will have to earn me."
Serah said nothing.But when he turned, he saw her smile — faint, knowing, and tinged with something like sorrow.
And in that smile, Kael saw a glimpse of what awaited them both:a war not between light and darkness, but between truth and the lie that created it.