SIYUN STOOD IN THE GRAND OFFICE, THE WEIGHT OF THE ROOM PRESSING DOWN ON HIM LIKE THE NIGHT ITSELF. THE FIREPLACE CRACKLED (CRACKLE… WHOOSH…), THROWING LONG SHADOWS ACROSS WALLS LINED WITH ANCIENT BOOKS AND ARTIFACTS. HE FELT HIS BREATH CATCH. THE OLD MAN SEATED BEFORE HIM SEEMED UNMISTAKABLY IMPORTANT, AND YET STRANGE.
SIYUN'S EYES FLICKED AROUND, TAKING IN THE MAJESTY OF THE ROOM—THE MARBLE FLOORS THAT SEEMED TO STRETCH ENDLESSLY, THE CEILING HIGH ABOVE HIM, AND THE MASSIVE DESK LAYING IN THE CENTER LIKE A COMMAND POST OF HISTORY ITSELF. AND STILL… HE COULD NOT SHAKE THE SENSE OF FAMILIARITY.
"Why does this feel… like home?" HE THOUGHT, HIS HEART BEATING FURIOUSLY (THUMP… THUMP… THUMP!). "I've never been here before. And yet… everything feels… right."
THE OLD MAN SPOKE, HIS BACK STILL TURNED TO SIYUN, THE VOICE LOW, CALM, PENETRATING:
"Siyun… THE PATH YOU ARE ON… IT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR LONGER THAN YOU REALIZE."
SIYUN STEPPED BACK SLIGHTLY, UNEASE WASHING OVER HIM.
"Prepared… for me? What do you mean?" HE ASKED, ALMOST IN A WHISPER HIMSELF.
THE OLD MAN REMAINED SILENT, ALLOWING THE SOUND OF THE FIRE (CRACKLE…) AND THE WIND (WHOOSH… SWISH…) TO FILL THE ROOM, MAKING EVERY BEAT OF SIYUN'S HEART (THUMP… THUMP… THUMP!) FEEL MONUMENTAL.
"This… is absurd," SIYUN THOUGHT, A COLD SHIVER RUNNING DOWN HIS SPINE. "Who is this man? Why does he speak as if my life… my suffering… were always meant to lead to this room?"
THE MYSTERIOUS GIRL STOOD SILENT AT THE DOOR, HER EYES FIXED ON HIM, CALM AND OBSERVANT. SHE DID NOT INTERFERE, BUT HER PRESENCE FELT LIKE A LIFELINE, AN ANCHOR IN THE OCEAN OF HIS CHAOS.
FLASHES OF MEMORIES CRAWLED THROUGH HIS MIND—SNIPPETS OF CHILDHOOD HE DIDN'T KNOW HE REMEMBERED.
RUNNING THROUGH GRASS FIELDS, THE SUN WARM ON HIS FACE, AND A VOICE IN THE DISTANCE WHISPERING WORDS HE COULDN'T FULLY RECALL.
ROOMS HE SEEMED TO KNOW, WALLS HE HAD NEVER SEEN, AND YET HE RECOGNIZED THEM AS IF THEY EXISTED WITHIN HIM.
INSTINCTS, DECISIONS, AND IMPULSES THAT HAD LED HIM THROUGH DANGER AND BETRAYAL, AS IF GUIDED BY AN INVISIBLE HAND.
"All this… all this suffering, all the betrayal… was it meant to shape me?" HE THOUGHT, FEELING A STRANGE FOCUS BUILDING IN HIS MIND. "Hana… the wolf… my loneliness… I am not weak. I am… ready."
THE OLD MAN CONTINUED TO SPEAK, HIS VOICE STILL FACING AWAY, CALM, MEASURED, BUT WEIGHTED WITH POWER:
"YOU HAVE ENDURED MUCH, SIYUN. THE WORLD TESTED YOU, AND YET… HERE YOU ARE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUR JOURNEY?"
SIYUN SHOOK HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY, HEART STILL POUNDING, EYES NARROWED IN FOCUS.
"I… I've suffered, yes. Betrayed, yes. And yet… I've survived. I've lost… everything. But I've learned. I've grown. I am not the boy who stood on the bridge in the rain anymore. I… I can control my own path."
HE FELT A SURGE OF MENTAL ENERGY, A CLARITY HE HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED. HIS RAGE, HIS PAIN, ALL OF IT… WAS NO LONGER CHAOS. IT WAS FOCUSED, SHARP, A TOOL HE COULD WIELD.
"Good," THE OLD MAN SAID, HIS BACK STILL TURNED. "BUT UNDERSTAND THIS—WHAT YOU SEEK WILL NOT COME EASILY. STRENGTH ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH. YOU MUST HAVE CLARITY, PATIENCE… AND DETERMINATION BEYOND WHAT YOU KNOW."
SIYUN BREATHED DEEPLY, LETTING THE WORDS SETTLE. HE FELT… READY.
THE MYSTERIOUS GIRL STEPPED FORWARD, HER MOVEMENT SILENT BUT GRACEFUL. SHE STOPPED BESIDE HIM, EYES FIXED ON THE OLD MAN.
"You are ready now," SHE SAID, HER VOICE LOW, SMOOTH, AND CALM. "But the journey ahead… it will not yield its truths freely. Are you willing to take the first step?"
SIYUN LOOKED UP, HEART STILL THUMPING (THUMP… THUMP…), EYES LOCKED WITH HERS.
"I… I am," HE SAID, BREATH STEADY, MIND SHARP.
"I am not the boy who allowed betrayal to crush me. I am not the boy who would stand on the edge and surrender to the rain. I am Siyun… and I will face this path, no matter the cost."
THE ROOM SEEMED TO SHRINK AND EXPAND SIMULTANEOUSLY, SHADOWS DANCING LIKE SILENT WATCHERS. SIYUN STEPPED CLOSER, FEELING A STRANGE CONNECTION TO THIS PLACE, AS IF IT WERE PART OF HIS OWN MEMORIES, PART OF HIM.
"How… how can this be?" HE THOUGHT, HEAD SWIMMING WITH QUESTIONS HE COULD NOT ANSWER.
EVERY SOUND WAS HEIGHTENED—THE CRACKLE OF FIRE (CRACKLE…), THE WHISTLE OF WIND THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW (WHOOSH… SWISH…), AND THE SILENT MOVEMENT OF THE GIRL (CLACK… CLACK…).
HE FELT HIS HAND CLENCH INTO A FIST. ALL HIS PAIN, BETRAYALS, AND LONELINESS CONDENSED INTO A SHARP FOCUS.
"This… this is the moment. I will not falter. I am not that helpless boy anymore."
AND THEN… AFTER A LONG, WEIGHTED SILENCE, THE OLD MAN SLOWEDLY TURNED HIS BODY. THE FIRELIGHT CAUGHT HIS FACE, AND TIME ITSELF SEEMED TO STOP.
SIYUN'S BREATH CAUGHT. HIS HEART SKIPPED. HIS EYES WIDENED.
THE FACE HE SAW… HIS GRANDPA. THE MAN WHO HAD DISAPPEARED FROM HIS LIFE, WHOSE LEGACY HE HAD NEVER UNDERSTOOD… STOOD BEFORE HIM, ALIVE, AND SPEAKING WITH A PRESENCE SO COMMANDING IT RIPPED THROUGH HIS SOUL.
HE WAS SHOCKED, ROOTED TO THE SPOT, BREATHLESS. THE WHOLE ROOM, THE FIRE, THE SHADOWS… EVERYTHING FADED INTO SILENCE EXCEPT THE JOLT OF RECOGNITION AND EMOTION SWELLING IN HIS CHEST.