The moment their feet met the ground, it was as if a switch was violently flipped. Their eyes, previously filled with the triumphant glow of escape, widened with dawning horror and fear. All heads instinctively snapped upwards, searching the sky. But like a terrible dream dissipating, the colossal mage vessel was no longer there, darkening their world. There was no trace of it ever being there.
Ikenga and Keles keenly felt the moment this "switch" happened. To them, it was palpable—the deceptive memory had ended, and the harsh, unvarnished truth of Kaelen's reality snapped into focus. And that was precisely what had occurred.
The instant they touched down, the crushing reality of having lived under a profound, years-long illusion became agonizingly clear. With that understanding came another, more immediate memory, and a crucial, terrifying truth that Kairos, for all his perceived brilliance, never found out until this very moment.
