For a moment, the cloaked figure stood still, its hand gently resting on Noir's head, like a ghost trying to erase something not meant to be seen.
Then..
Slash!
A gleaming card spun through the air, severing the figure's neck in a single, silent motion. No blood spilled. Its head dropped from its shoulders and hit the ground with a dull thud, vanishing into motes of light.
The body collapsed next. Swift. Clean. Unnatural.
Noir stumbled back and fell, breath hitching in his throat. His hands trembled. His eyes wide with a terror that felt older than himself.
Then, a voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
"Do not be afraid.. this is just a Mnemosyne's rift"
It was distant yet close, like a whisper carried by the wind across dimensions.
"Do not be fooled… by the slave of remembrance."
A soft hand touched his shoulder.
He flinched.
"Easy," said a gentle, soothing voice. "I won't hurt you."
Before him stood a woman in a simple black habit, like a nun from some forgotten era. Her long hair flowed to her waist. A black blindfold covered her eyes, but somehow, she saw him.
She knelt and offered her hand.
"You can trust me."
Noir, shaking, uncertain, reached out. Their fingers touched.
"My name is Azura Igris," she said softly. "You are in a zone between memory and reality. A rift. A liminal space."
She rose, pacing slowly across the void. "Right now, your body lies impaled by the Grand Drown's trident. Your comrades… are still fighting."
Noir's eyes widened. "But… then that wasn't a dream?"
Azura shook her head. "This is not the final conclusion of your tale. The sun is not yet set to die."
She turned to face him fully.
"You must return, Dawnbringer. You must rise again. Use the one thing the world fears most.."
"Your will."
"I… I don't understand," Noir said. "I'm just a commoner. What am I supposed to do against something like this?"
Azura held up a glowing card between her fingers.
"This," she said, "will allow you to negotiate with death. When you're ready... throw it to the sky. It will return you to where you belong."
Noir stared at the card.
"Why me?" he whispered. "Why burden me with all this? What am I really destined for?"
She raised a hand, silencing him with grace.
"Every creation has a purpose," she said. "You and I... we must serve ours. There is no difference between machine and man. Not when both are built with conditions, code, and cause."
She paused.
"'All paths lead to the same conclusion.'"
She smiled faintly. "Wise words… from one of your companions."
Azura turned, walking further into the void.
"Break the cycle, Dawnbringer. Escape this mediocrity. The world does not need another hero."
She looked back over her shoulder, blindfold still hiding her eyes.
"It needs a catalyst."
[—To be Continued—]