In the sprawling, ethereal majesty of the City of Gods, the air was perfumed with the scent of blooming flowers and ancient incense.
Adam stood alone in the royal palace gardens, his gaze fixed upon the billions of shimmering, spherical bubbles that drifted lazily through the air.
Each sphere was a microcosm, a preserved sanctuary for the souls currently undergoing the process of reintegration.
A single, crystalline tear escaped his eye, tracing a path down his weathered cheek. It was a tear shed for a million years of solitude, for the crushing weight of a guilt that had defined his existence since the end of Old Era.
To see these souls, his brothers, his sisters, his peers, pulsing with life once more was to feel the frozen chains around his heart finally beginning to melt.
