Noa finally opens his eyes in a completely unfamiliar place.
He is sinking into an immense, infinite blue ocean, bathed in an almost blinding light. He doesn't understand how he ended up here.
"Where am I… what is all this?"
In these endless depths, a myriad of sea creatures made entirely of blue energy swim through the azure water: fish, eels, octopuses, dolphins, sharks, whales… all moving in a disconcerting harmony, unconcerned by his fall.
"I don't understand anything anymore… I wasn't supposed to be here…"
He has no control over his body, which feels impossibly heavy. The voices that used to torment him are still there… but much quieter, distant. As if the deeper he sinks, the further away they become.
"This feels strange… I can barely hear them anymore… am I getting rid of them?"
He closes his eyes.
For the first time in a long while, he feels truly relieved. His mind is calm. He lets himself sink into the depths, while the song of the whales accompanies his descent.
This calm… is what he had been searching for years.
— Oh?
"That voice…"
Noa's eyes widen.
In front of him, a white veil floats in the water. A familiar silhouette.
His face immediately tightens, overwhelmed by anger, deep fear… and uncontrollable rage.
— You!
The usurper stands above him, crouched in the void, observing him through his skeletal white mask and his immaculate veil of unsettling purity.
— Well now…
In an instant, the ocean disappears.
Everything turns black.
A total void.
Noa feels an overwhelming pressure on his chest. He cannot move even a finger.
— And to think you've made it this far while still so young… Hadès will be pleased.
His words ignite a suffocating rage within Noa. A fury he himself does not understand.
His teeth grind so hard they begin to bleed.
The usurper calmly raises two fingers in front of his face.
— I see you still can't understand the truth… such a shame. After all… you're still just a child.
Noa gathers all his strength.
His arm trembles.
Slowly, he manages to raise it… trying to touch the white mask.
But the man shows no concern.
— You're still too weak for that. So don't bother trying to reach what you can't even graze.
His silhouette begins to rise.
Noa keeps sinking.
The usurper fades away without looking back.
— Don't rush… we will meet again one day or another. That much is certain.
Noa wakes up in the real world with a start, lying in a bed, breathing heavily, cold sweat running down his face. And once again, he can hear them… those damn voices, louder than before, repeating the same thing endlessly.
He tries to calm himself and looks at his right arm, which appears to have completely healed. His entire body, despite its previous severe injuries, has been affected by this phenomenon. Even his old wounds from the underground tunnels have completely disappeared.
Only an overwhelming physical exhaustion remains, making his body feel extremely heavy.
"What happened… I… I'm completely lost…"
Noa holds his head in pain, curling into himself in the darkness, barely broken by the pale moonlight passing through the open window.
He can't calm down anymore. His heart is racing.
"Why now… what did it mean? What truth am I still not understanding…?"
His eyes faintly glow with a dark, icy light.
A black crow flies through the darkness and lands silently on the window frame.
The dark blue aura beginning to emanate from the boy's body reflects in the bird's black eyes, like a distorted mirror.
"No… I need to calm down… if this continues…"
But the more he thinks, the harder it becomes to control his emotions.
Everything is tangled.
He is completely overwhelmed.
Who is he really?
What is his connection to Hadès… and that other man?
Why was he abandoned alone in a forest of the Eastern Empire?
Where do these voices in his head come from?
Why does he have no innate technique like others?
Why can't he control his energy normally…?
All these unanswered questions are driving him mad.
— I can't keep waiting for answers I may never get! I'm sick of this!
But he also knows he cannot let his emotions explode.
He remembers what happened in that white room… the day he ended his friendship with Oliver by marking him with that irreversible scar.
He lost control.
And it always ends badly.
For him.
And for others.
— No… I have to stay calm… otherwise this will end very badly…
Despite his efforts, the situation does not improve.
He holds his head, his hair reflecting the bluish moonlight, while groaning in pain.
— You really look pathetic, kid.
Noa pauses and slowly lifts his head.
His left eye is already completely black, with a burning blue pupil.
He looks around to identify the voice… but there is no one.
Only the crow, still perched on the window frame.
He narrows his eyes, his gaze sharp.
— That's… that's impossible…
But the voice speaks again, louder and clearly annoyed.
— HOW CAN YOU MISTAKE ME FOR A DAMN BIRD?! LOOK LEFT!
He turns around.
But there is still no one.
He seriously begins to wonder if he is losing his mind.
Yet his own sword, resting beside him against a small table, vibrates, absorbing and releasing his aura.
— Ah… there we go… it wasn't that hard to understand.
Noa frowns.
Wouldn't it have been more logical for the crow to be speaking… rather than his own sword?
On the other side of the world, in unexplored lands,
the usurper stands at the summit of the highest mountain in the region.
He watches the sunrise, bathing the mountains beneath the clouds in a golden, blinding light.
As if the world had become nothing more than a tiny chessboard.
At the summit, his white cloak flutters in the calm mountain wind.
His mind is completely still, frozen like a statue facing the horizon.
— Our paths will cross again one day… that much is beyond doubt.
A golden aura begins to manifest around him. An aura so pure it feels as if it has been blessed by light itself.
He unfolds wings of pure light, pushing his veil backward.
A luminous halo slowly forms above his head.
Then, in a fluid motion, he launches himself forward.