The tremor ended as abruptly as it had begun.
Silence settled over the Ancient Sanctuary—heavy, oppressive, almost suffocating.
Celestine felt as though the air itself had thickened, pressing against her lungs with every breath.
The cracked pillars surrounding the platform seemed to watch her, silent witnesses to an age long erased from history.
Leonhardt stepped forward.
"I don't like this. Nothing here feels… truly dead."
The Guardian inclined his head slightly.
"Because it isn't. This place was built to remember."
"And memories never truly die."
Celestine kept her gaze fixed on the center of the platform.
There, an ancient inscription began to glow—delicate lines surfacing like veins of light beneath the stone.
The Void within her remained still.
Too still.
---
1. The Call
When Celestine took her first step forward, the inscription reacted.
A deep resonance echoed—not a sound, but a vibration that sank into bone and soul alike.
Light spread across the floor, forming circular sigils that linked to the surrounding pillars.
"Celestine," Leonhardt murmured. "Maybe we shouldn't—"
"No," the Guardian cut in. "This place answers only to her."
Celestine drew a steady breath.
"If all of this began here… then I need to hear what it has to say."
She stepped into the circle.
The moment her foot touched its center, the world inverted.
---
2. The Mirror of the First
Reality unraveled.
Celestine blinked—and the Sanctuary vanished.
She stood in an open field beneath a dark sky streaked with crimson stars.
In the distance, a city burned in silence, its flames giving off no heat, no sound.
And before her…
stood another woman.
Long silver hair.
Steady, weary eyes.
A face hauntingly similar to her own—yet etched with something older, heavier.
The woman studied her with calm intensity.
"So… you've finally arrived."
Celestine swallowed.
"You are…?"
"The one who came before," the woman replied.
"The first bearer."
Celestine's heart pounded.
"My name was Elyndra."
---
3. The Truth of the Inheritance
Celestine's legs nearly gave way.
"So it's true… I inherited your soul?"
Elyndra nodded slowly.
"Not by chance."
"And not as punishment."
She lifted her hand, and visions bloomed around them:
gods enthroned in radiant light, legions marching, cities condemned for sins imposed upon them.
"The gods created the Void as a tool," Elyndra said.
"A means to erase what they could not control."
Celestine's stomach twisted.
"But it grew. It learned."
"It became something even they could not foresee."
"Then you sealed it," Celestine whispered.
Elyndra's smile was faint—and sorrowful.
"I became the seal."
The sky trembled.
"My body perished," Elyndra continued,
"but my soul was shattered and cast into the cycle, waiting for someone who could endure what I could not bear alone."
Her gaze locked onto Celestine's.
"You are not my full reincarnation."
"You are my continuation."
Tears burned at the corners of Celestine's eyes.
"So all of this… the war, the Void, the hatred… wasn't meant for me."
"It was meant for someone strong enough to choose differently."
---
4. The Void Awakens
The dark sky shuddered.
A presence stirred behind Elyndra—a vast, unfathomable shadow, immense yet restrained.
"It listens to you," Elyndra said softly. "It always has."
The shadow spoke—not in words, but in emotion.
Recognition.
Relief.
Ancient sorrow.
For the first time, Celestine felt the Void touch her consciousness gently.
"I… don't want to repeat your mistakes," she said.
"I don't want to become an eternal seal."
Elyndra closed her eyes.
"Then don't."
She extended her hand.
"The Void does not need to be sealed again."
"It needs to be understood."
Celestine hesitated only a heartbeat…
and took her hand.
---
5. The Return
The vision shattered like glass.
Celestine collapsed to her knees at the center of the Sanctuary, gasping for breath.
Leonhardt rushed to her side.
"Celestine! You vanished for a moment!"
She slowly raised her head.
Her eyes glowed with a calm, silver-gray light—steady and unbroken.
The Guardian observed in reverent silence.
"You heard it," he said.
Celestine nodded.
"I did."
She rose to her feet.
"And now I understand."
"The Void is not my curse…"
"It is my responsibility."
The Sanctuary answered.
One by one, the pillars ignited, as if acknowledging her resolve.
In the distance, something shifted within the deepest shadows of the Sanctuary.
Something ancient.
Something that had not awakened for centuries.
The Guardian's expression darkened.
"It seems the world was not the only thing that heard you."
Celestine tightened her grip on her sword.
"Then let's see who else has awakened."