Sakolomé slowly reopened his eyes.
His physical body had returned to him, sitting cross-legged under the night sky.
The cool wind brushed his cheeks, and the stars still shone above the castle walls.
But his gaze had changed.
It was no longer that of a curious boy, nor even of a warrior eager for power.
It was a glance laden with awareness, full of silent knowledge, as if he had just contemplated something that surpasses the very fabric of existence.
He sighed.
Then smiled.
— …I am so proud… to have seen all this. To have witnessed… what lies beyond meaning.
Rivhiamë, present in his consciousness, answered gently:
— You see?
Now that you have crossed all this… only one thing remains for you to understand:
What lies beyond yourself.
And to reach it… you must become a Deviant.
Sakolomé nodded slowly.
— Yes. But… I noticed something.
— What is it? asked Rivhiamë, attentive.
He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the stages of his ascent. Then declared, his voice deeper:
— …Concepts… laws… dualities.
At every level where I rose… they changed.
It was not just the forms that shifted, but their very essence. Their nature.
Rivhiamë smiled inwardly.
— Continue, I'm listening.
Sakolomé resumed, enumerating, his voice almost rhythmic like a chant from Beyond:
In the Delzluhud
— The laws were solid, rooted in Singularity.
— Concepts were clear: life, death, light, shadow.
— Dualities vibrated like two opposite strings, pulled by the same primordial tension.
In the Giant Dimensions
— The laws were no longer than floating intentions, scattered desires.
— Concepts lost their shapes, becoming pure faceless tensions.
— Oppositions no longer coexisted, they fractured, irreconcilable.
Beyond where the giant dimensions became voids up to the Sibylline Worlds
— The laws… became silence.
— Concepts… became absence.
— Dualities… withdrew, as if they had never existed.
He then lifted his eyes toward the sky, his gaze lost among the constellations.
— …So I wondered…
What comes after absence?
What even precedes the first idea?
If all this fades away… what remains?
Rivhiamë responded slowly, almost reverently:
— What remains… is at the level of the Primordial Void.
It is the origin of everything, even of Singularity.
Where no law was born,
Where no concept ever sprouted,
Where even the tension of duality never vibrated.
Sakolomé closed his eyes.
— …Then it is there that the meta-concepts were born, isn't it?
— Yes, whispered Rivhiamë.
They are the pure echoes of the Primordial Void.
The next morning, under the first opaline glimmers of the mythical sky…
A fresh breeze swept through the field before the castle. The grass rippled like a green sea beneath the slow steps of the small group. Sakolomé adjusted his jacket, Salomé yawned loudly, Bakuran rubbed his eyes, still half asleep, and Kai watched the horizon with a hard but silent eye.
Ysolongue waited for them outside, leaning against a tree with golden leaves. Shushu, sitting on her knees, stretched like a lazy cat.
She smiled softly.
Ysolongue:
— So it's today.
Sakolomé stepped toward her, his gaze calm.
Sakolomé:
— We'll try to find your brothers… and above all, not mess things up this time.
Salomé (crossing her arms, proud):
— No question of coming back without them! Even if they're in an inverted volcano or an endless labyrinth, I'm bringing them back!
Bakuran (muttering):
— As long as there aren't any weird beasts or things that bite...
Ysolongue walked slowly toward them. Her gaze rested one by one on each of them.
Ysolongue:
— Thank you… to all four of you. I'm not coming with you, this time Shushu asked me to stay here. He says he hates it when there's too much danger and not enough cuddles. (she smiles tenderly, rubbing the little demon's head, who whistles with pleasure)
Sakolomé:
— That works. We'll send you a signal as soon as we find a lead.
She nodded. Then she looked Kai straight in the eyes, with a gentle firmness:
Ysolongue:
— Good luck, Kai. I hope this journey will help you see more clearly… and become the one I knew again.
Kai averted his eyes, embarrassed, then nodded slowly.
Kai:
— …Thank you.
Ysolongue (smiling at Salomé and Bakuran):
— Take care of Sakolomé, okay?
Salomé (tapping her brother's arm):
— Promise! I'll hit him if he becomes annoying.
Bakuran:
— I'm taking the snacks.
The group burst out laughing briefly.
Then Ysolongue stepped back and held out her hand.
Ysolongue:
— Go ahead. I'll wait for you here. Come back alive.
Sakolomé approached her one last time and whispered:
Sakolomé:
— We'll bring them back. Even if we have to go to the edge of the story itself.
She said nothing. But in her eyes shone a silent confidence… and a hint of fear.
As the group moved away in the rising light, Ysolongue sat down again, Shushu curled on her knees. The wind already carried the whispers of destiny. And somewhere, far above the visible layers, something watched them…
The path wound through a misty region where the trees were twisted by ancient mana. A cool breeze descended from distant peaks, carrying the scent of crystalline minerals and forgotten legends. It was in this atmosphere that Sakolomé, Salomé, Bakuran, and Kai walked, heading toward the mysterious cave of Évoressence — the place where, according to texts, rested the Egg of the Eleventh Heir.
Salomé, lively as always, hopped excitedly ahead, alongside her brother Bakuran.
— Do you think the egg is the size of a castle? she asked, eyes shining. Or that it floats in the air, suspended in the middle of a vortex?
— I mainly hope it doesn't hatch in front of us, answered Bakuran flatly, yawning without hiding it. I wanted to keep sleeping, you know.
— You have no sense of adventure, baka-kuran, chuckled Salomé.
— Baka-kuran? Repeat that once more and see…
And it started again. They threw insults back and forth, their voices rising and falling in rhythm, like an old fraternal refrain. Sakolomé walked behind them with a slight smile on his lips. He did not intervene — he just observed, silently happy to see them still capable of lightness despite recent tensions.
But soon, his gaze slid to the figure behind.
Kai.
Still as distant as ever, Kai walked at a good distance from the group, jaw clenched, arms crossed over his chest. He avoided looks, conversations, any unnecessary contact. He seemed to carry the world on his shoulders… or rather, ready to challenge it at the slightest provocation.
Sakolomé stared at him for a few seconds, undecided. Then he slowed his pace until he was almost walking beside him. A heavy silence hung between them. Finally, in a calm and simple tone:
— Wow… This road is going to be long, don't you think?
Kai didn't even turn his head. He barely raised an eyebrow and replied coldly:
— Get lost. I'm not going to talk to you.
He immediately quickened his pace to put distance.
Sakolomé stopped dead, hands in his pockets, then watched him walk away without saying anything. He just let out a sigh, then resumed his walk at his own pace.
Rivhiamë (internally, mockingly):
— He's so stuck up, that one. Too proud in his head.
Sakolomé (internally, chuckling):
— Honestly? He strangely amuses me. He's like a cactus in a tea room.
Ahead, Salomé had turned back to cast a curious look.
— You talked to him, huh? He sent you away again? she asked, smiling.
Sakolomé shrugged, not answering. It wasn't a big deal. Kai had his demons, his pride, his wounds. He would open a breach someday… or not. But Sakolomé wouldn't force anything. Not after what they had all gone through.
The road continued, between rocks raised like fangs and blue flowers that seemed to open under their steps. The sky gradually covered with amber clouds, and in the distance, one glimpsed the first black arches marking the entrance to Évoressence's territory.
Sakolomé cast one last look back. Kai was still walking at the same pace. Alone. But he was there. That was already something.
And despite the silence… he had not turned away from the path.