Somewhere deep within the dream realm, he opened his eyes—no longer in his room. The courtyard, the walls, the familiar scents of Dreamtide City were gone.
In their place stretched a vast expanse of twilight, streaked with violet and black. The air hummed with raw energy, alive yet patient. Kaelvir—no, Orien realized—he was in some kind of dreamscape.
And there, at the far edge of the void, floated a glowing golden door, its surface etched with intricate runic designs. Not a reflection, but the real giant door he had seen in his dream last time. He moved closer, remembering how someone had walked out of it before.
In this realm, his soul wore its original earthly appearance. Here, he was not Kaelvir. The realization startled him—he had not seen that long-forgotten face in what felt like ages. Emotion flickered across his features as fragments of his former life resurfaced. After several moments of reminiscence, he approached close enough to take in the full grandeur of the door.
He stared at it in awe, marveling at its aura, when familiar footsteps began to echo from behind it. Orien tensed, determined this time to see who was there. The steps drew closer, closer… then stopped.
With a slow creak, the door opened. A burst of divine light spilled out, nearly blinding Orien. He squinted, shielding his gaze until the brilliance receded.
A tall figure emerged—no shadow this time. The real Kaelvir.
He looked exactly as Orien remembered: calm, composed, radiating an unyielding spirit. Pale-gold eyes, like the rising sun, locked onto Orien's, piercing as though to read the depths of his soul.
"Who are you?"Orien whispered. Not sure if it was really Kaelvir. His voice sounded foreign here.
"You… are Kaelvir?" Surprise flickered in his eyes.
"And you are?" Kaelvir's tone was steady, but cautious.
Orien swallowed. "I'm… Orien." He hesitated, then admitted, "I've been… inhabiting your body for a while now."
Silence fell sharp between them. Kaelvir's gaze narrowed. "Inhabiting… me? Explain."
"I… don't fully understand it myself. I died in a faraway world. Then I woke up again—alive—only to find myself in your body, looking nothing like I once did." Orien's voice trembled with confusion, but he pressed on. "So you could say I've been living your life."
Kaelvir's expression darkened—not with anger, but calculation. "So my body is not dead, nor unconscious… but you've been me. Walking my world. Living with my family. All this time?"
Orien nodded, guilt and awe tangled in his chest. "You should know—I had no control over this. I never wanted to take someone's body. Things just… happened. I only pieced together your life after I read your memories."
Kaelvir stepped closer, surprised. "You can read my memory?! strange. Recently i keep seeing strange scenes… Was that your memory too?" His eyes softened with a sudden, almost familiar recognition.
Orien's eyes widened. "Wait—you can read my memory too?"
Kaelvir nodded, realization dawning. "So it was you all along."
He remembered dreams of another life: different parents, siblings, and a culture far from Soneth. He had dismissed them as symptoms of his anomaly. He even remembered glimpsing the never-before Nytra in those dreams. Until now, he had believed them meaningless illusions. But here, the resonance between their souls pulsed undeniably.
A final piece clicked into place in his mind.
"And now you've found me in this… dream space," Kaelvir murmured, his tone carrying no malice, only a relieved conclusion. "What do you seek here, Orien?"
"I… I don't know." Confusion clouded Orien's expression. "I need answers. I need to understand why we are connected. Why my soul and yours share a body."
Kaelvir's eyes flickered, not with judgment, but determination. "Then you're ready to see the truth. My guess is that we were once one soul, split for some reason… Tell me, do you remember your dreams, your affinity with the supernatural… and the day of your accident?"
"Yes," Orien nodded. "I do. But what does that have to do with this?"
"Wait—let me cook." Kaelvir raised a hand, using an oddly familiar phrase from Earth. "On the day of your accident, you saw something strange, didn't you? A shadow beside you, like death itself. And after that… what did you see next?"
He paused, waiting.
Orien fell into a trance, forcing himself to recall every detail of that day. Behind him, space trembled. Dark energy began to swirl and surge, its pressure cracking the dreamscape like a spreading web.
Orien was oblivious, but Kaelvir saw it clearly. His eyes glowed with excitement. "Now I'm a hundred percent sure," he muttered.
"Don't stop," Kaelvir urged. "Now—remember what you saw in the white space before waking as me."
The space behind Orien finally shattered, fragments scattering into the void.
From the rift emerged a massive, ancient dark door. Its surface was riddled with red runes, pulsing with dreadful energy. Kaelvir's smile widened. "We're close. Orien—link that shadow with the door you saw."
Still in his trance, Orien obeyed. The black door trembled, releasing waves of dark energy. Its heavy hinges strained before slowly creaking open.
A flood of darkness poured forth, threatening to devour everything. From it, a giant shadow took form—humanoid, but indistinct, looming behind Orien like an evil guardian.
As if in response, the space behind Kaelvir split apart as well. A golden door burst open, radiating divine light. The brilliance coalesced into a guardian of pure gold, standing at his back.
Sensing their opposition, the two entities vanished from their places and collided at the center of the dreamscape. Energy swirled violently, as if deciding whether to merge or annihilate each other.
Orien snapped from his trance, stunned. "Nytra?!" Has it been with me all along?—even back on Earth? That means my soul and Kaelvir's truly were one before their split.
Kaelvir, watching from the other side, marveled at the overwhelming pressure their seedbound released. The power rose higher, evolving into an unknown realm.
The energies finally pulled apart: one radiant with golden light, flowing and pure—Solune. The other, dark as a moonless night, flickering with subtle malice—Nytra.
"Our seedbound," Orien breathed. "They are stirring… reacting to us."
Kaelvir's chest tightened. He had always sensed them but could never project them fully—his burden as an anomaly. Yet here they stood, solid and alive.
He reached out, feeling Solune's warmth and Nytra's cold. Unlike the ethereal seedbound of others, these were tangible, complete.
"They're finally complete," Orien whispered.
Kaelvir shook his head. "No—and yes. They're not yet whole, but different. They are two halves of one soul. And soon… they will demand unity."
Orien's thoughts reeled. If the seedbound fused, the body could cultivate again—but who would control it?
Kaelvir smiled. "Why? Don't you see yet? I am you, and you are me. If we don't become one, they will never merge. And we… will not survive."
Understanding dawned on Orien. His eyes shone. "Then what are we waiting for? They won't wait forever."
"The awakening draws near," Kaelvir agreed. "We must be ready—both as Orien, and Kaelvir."
As the two walked toward each other, their seedbound did the same. A tremor shook their souls, resonance pulling them closer.
The truth became clear—they could not hide. They could not separate. Fusion was inevitable.
Solune's golden light flared. Nytra's shadows writhed. Together, they entwined around their hosts, pushing boundaries, testing limits.
Both Orien and Kaelvir felt the surge of unimaginable power as their souls began to fuse.
And they both had the same thought:
Once the seedbound is complete… nothing in Soneth, or beyond, will ever be the same.
As the Awakening loomed. For the first time, they felt the true weight—and promise—of power.