The city looked peaceful from above.
Thousands of lights stretched across the horizon like stars scattered across the earth, hiding the truth beneath them. To everyone else, Helios Ward was simply another city settling into another ordinary night.
To Eiryn...
It had become a maze filled with invisible doors.
He stood on the rooftop of the abandoned hospital, the cold wind brushing against his face. Sleep refused to come. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same things.
The Observer.
The porcelain-masked woman.
The frightened child who looked exactly like his younger self.
And the final words that refused to leave his mind.
"You haven't seen the real memory yet."
Behind him, the metal door creaked open.
Riven stepped onto the rooftop carrying two paper cups of coffee.
Without saying a word, he handed one to Eiryn.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Only the wind filled the silence.
"You didn't sleep," Riven finally said.
Eiryn looked down at the cup in his hands.
"Every time I close my eyes, I feel like someone else is dreaming through me."
Riven didn't look surprised.
"It starts like that."
"You've experienced it?"
"I've survived it."
Eiryn looked at him.
Riven's expression remained calm, but his eyes carried memories that words could never fully explain.
"The deeper Helunsntion enters your consciousness," Riven said, "the harder it becomes to separate your own memories from someone else's."
Eiryn tightened his grip around the cup.
"What if they're real?"
Riven remained silent.
"What if those memories actually belong to me?"
For the first time since they had met, Riven hesitated before answering.
"Then someone made sure you forgot them."
The words settled heavily between them.
Eiryn stared across the city.
"Who would erase a child's memories?"
"I don't know."
"But someone did."
Before either of them could continue—
Every streetlight visible from the rooftop flickered at exactly the same moment.
Once.
Twice.
Then darkness swallowed the city for a single heartbeat.
When the lights returned...
Someone was standing on the rooftop of the building across the street.
A young man.
White hair moved gently in the wind.
A long black coat reached his knees.
His hands rested inside his pockets as though he had been standing there long before either of them arrived.
Riven's entire body became tense.
"Eiryn."
"I see him."
The stranger smiled faintly.
"So..."
His voice crossed the empty street effortlessly.
"The Lantern has awakened."
Eiryn frowned.
"Who are you?"
The stranger looked at him with eyes that held centuries of quiet sorrow.
"My name is Elias."
The name struck Riven like lightning.
His pupils contracted.
His breathing stopped.
"Impossible..."
The stranger nodded almost sadly.
"I've heard that many times."
Riven slowly drew one of his daggers.
"I watched you die."
"You watched someone else die."
Silence.
The wind disappeared.
Even the sounds of the city seemed distant now.
Elias took one step forward.
Instead of falling from the edge of the rooftop—
The empty air beneath his feet transformed into glowing geometric symbols.
He calmly walked across the sky as though invisible stairs had appeared for him alone.
Eiryn could only stare.
"What..."
Riven whispered under his breath.
"A Reality Walker..."
Within moments, Elias reached their rooftop.
He stopped several meters away.
"I've waited seventeen years to meet you, Eiryn."
Eiryn's heartbeat quickened.
"You know me?"
"I knew you before your first birthday."
Riven's grip tightened around his dagger.
"If you know him..."
His voice became dangerously quiet.
"...then answer one question."
Elias looked toward him.
"Where have you been?"
The smile disappeared from Elias' face.
"Hiding."
"From whom?"
"The Origin."
Those two words changed everything.
Even Riven's expression hardened.
"You've seen it?"
Elias laughed softly.
"I've done far more than see it."
He slowly reached inside his coat.
Riven instantly raised his dagger.
"Don't."
Elias ignored the warning.
Instead of a weapon...
He removed an old photograph.
Its edges had faded with time.
The paper was worn and slightly torn.
He extended it toward Eiryn.
"I believe this belongs to you."
With trembling fingers, Eiryn accepted it.
There were three people in the picture.
A smiling man.
A young woman holding a small child.
The child...
Looked exactly like him.
His breathing caught.
"My..."
His voice almost disappeared.
"My parents..."
Elias nodded.
"Yes."
Eiryn stared at the photograph.
"I don't remember this."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because you were never supposed to."
A deep silence settled over the rooftop.
Riven slowly lowered his weapon.
"Elias..."
"What happened seventeen years ago?"
Elias looked toward the moon before answering.
"The night Eiryn disappeared..."
"...was also the night his family declared war against the Origin."
Eiryn looked up immediately.
"My family?"
"They weren't ordinary people."
The wind suddenly became cold again.
"So who were they?" Eiryn asked.
Elias looked directly into his eyes.
"They were the Keepers of the First Door."
At that exact moment...
The photograph in Eiryn's hand began to glow.
Tiny silver lines spread across its surface like living veins.
The smiling faces in the picture slowly changed.
Behind his parents...
A massive black door appeared.
It had never been there before.
The moment Eiryn touched it—
A blinding light erupted from the photograph.
The rooftop disappeared.
The city vanished.
The wind fell silent.
Eiryn found himself standing before an enormous ancient door floating in endless darkness.
From the other side...
Something knocked once.
Then again.
A voice, older than history itself, whispered through the cracks.
"Welcome back... Child of the First Door."