Elias walked slowly toward the glowing flight of stairs, his eyes darting around at the statues of nightmarish Echoforms. If there was anything this place had taught him the hard way, it was that these statues weren't exactly harmless stone decorations.
They might as well have been the real things—just a little handicapped without the freedom to move.
He gritted his teeth, his breaths coming out in harsh bursts as his chest rose and fell. He shook his head, trying to push away the terrifying thoughts. Accepting that he was surrounded by thousands of Echoforms, some so huge they disappeared into the clouds, wasn't going to help his already crumbling sanity.
Stopping in front of the first step—its surface glowing gold, rippling gently like calm waves—Elias glanced at the Echoform statue that had spoken earlier, now frozen again, then looked up at the black throne above the stairs. Its presence bent the light around it, swallowing it whole. Its outline alone was enough to send goosebumps crawling across his skin.
But Elias wasn't ready to climb those stairs. Not yet.
There was no such thing as a free lunch, and thrones didn't just show up and ask you to be king.
There had to be some kind of price for this power. There had to be a reason he was the one standing here, right in front of the throne, being told to claim it.
But even though Elias knew all of that—even though every sane part of him was telling him to slow down and question this—
He didn't give a fuck!
That's right. Why should he turn down the one thing that could solve all his problems just because it felt suspicious? Like hell he cared!
His parents had surrendered to the corruption, and there was no way he could save them while being mundane.
Only power could get answers!
Only strength could solve the impossible!
He was tired of being looked down on, sick of getting trampled like he was some kind of joke.
So when he looked at the outline of the throne above him, and the seven flights of stairs that could very well try anything to stop him, his face twisted into a grimace as he screamed:
"BRING IT ON!"
No more hesitation.
No time for second thoughts.
Elias leapt onto the first staircase.
That was the trigger.
The golden steps turned blood-red, sizzling like boiling lava, the calm waves that once rippled across them breaking into chaotic surges.
Then, from the staircase itself, came a song.
It was fast—violent—rumbling like thunder in his ears. A brutal clash of sounds so fierce Elias felt heat explode in his eardrums. Something in his chest surged under the noise, something sharp and burning that felt like… anger.
But that was only the beginning. Heightened emotions were nothing more than a side effect of what violent songs were truly known for.
The real damage was something else—something far more horrifying.
They were known to burn.
And burn they did.
Massive columns of fire blasted out of the staircase and shot into the sky, and Elias felt his clothes and footwear disintegrate under the heat.
But Elias stayed whole.
The flames didn't melt him. They didn't turn him to ash.
They did something far worse.
They gave him pain unlike anything he had ever felt in his life—pain so vicious even death wouldn't have been able to save him.
"AAAAGH!" Elias roared, his eyes bloodshot—but he still moved.
Slowly, he lifted one foot after the other, forcing himself toward the next step.
He didn't fall.
He refused to falter.
He screamed, but he didn't give in—didn't stop—didn't surrender to the madness ripping through his mind.
"Pa… pain," he choked out, eyes nearly rolling back as he dragged his foot onto the next step. "I– I am… fam-familiar… with pain."
The moment he stepped onto the next staircase, the fire died, the first song cut off, and the heat shredding through his body vanished.
But it wasn't over. Not even close.
The second staircase was already shifting.
Elias watched its golden color fade into a deep azure, every muscle in him tightening.
Then came its song.
Soft.
Mournful.
Heavy with sorrow so deep Elias could feel it sink into his bones.
Blue mist rose from the step, swallowing him whole.
With a scoff, Elias kept walking, heading straight for the next staircase. He ignored the mist curling around him. He could feel the song amplifying his regrets, dragging them up from the pit of his mind.
But regret?
He could deal with regret.
This was nothing.
But it wasn't meant to be that easy.
The blue mist thickened, twisting into multiple figures in front of Elias—each one speaking words that made him grit his teeth and fight back the tears burning at the edges of his vision, forcing him to relive memories he would rather die than face again.
"Elias," the little girl's figure called, her voice trembling like she was about to break. "Promise that you'll come find me after you awaken. I'll be waiting for you at the Resonance Academy, so you have to promise! They're taking me away, but—" her voice cracked into sobs, "but I only want to be with you, Elias!"
"Seraaaa!" Elias choked out through clenched teeth, refusing to stop even as his knees wobbled under the crushing anguish.
Sera Myllan.
Everyone knew her name. One of the apex of the Chord generation. The blade of justice. A living hope for humanity.
But almost no one knew she had been his friend.
That they had been inseparable.
And that he had made her a promise—a promise that now felt like the biggest joke of his life.
"Kid," his grandfather's figure said next, warm and familiar. "Come play one round of chess with me, let's see if these old bones still have some strength left!"
Elias let out a bitter smile as the weight of loss sank deeper into his chest, each step growing heavier.
He remembered that day clearly. The only day he ever refused a game of chess—because he was too busy with a stupid video game.
His grandfather died that night.
Passed quietly in his sleep.
Voices echoed all around him, overlapping, digging into every regret he'd buried, but Elias still refused to stop.
Even as his eyes reddened.
Even as his resolve wavered.
Because what was the point of drowning in regret when the solution to most of them was right in front of him?
All he had to do was keep walking.
All he had to do was reach that damn throne.
He stepped onto the third staircase.
It turned pitch black instantly, violet veins crawling across its surface like a massive web.
A song vibrated through the air.
Low.
Faint.
Barely there.
Sung with a trembling voice.
Emanating in short, unsettling pulses.
Darkness rose, swallowing Elias in its horrors.
First came the sinister laughs. Then the guttural, animalistic growls.
And then he tasted fear.
Faces materialized out of the darkness—rotting, broken, half-missing. Some had one eye, others had far too many. Their disgusting mouths stretched open in laughter that felt like worms crawling under Elias' skin.
Elias squeezed his eyes shut, taking a sharp breath as he clenched his teeth. But he quickly realized it didn't matter—because even with his eyes closed, he could still see them.
Annoyance flared through him, cutting through the terror hammering in his chest. "Get out of my way, you bunch of uglies!" he yelled.
He pushed forward, even as the nightmarish faces swarmed him—laughing, shrieking, some even crying with the voices of little children.
With trembling limbs and fear shaking through his entire body, Elias forced himself onto the fourth staircase.
The fourth step radiated a sharper, more brilliant gold.
Its song rang through the air.
Triumphant. Regal. Drenched in extravagance.
Elias felt his heart swell with pride—arrogance—an unshakable sense of superiority.
Phantoms of himself formed around him, each bowing low and drowning him in praise.
"Sire!"
"The greatest Chordbearer alive!"
"I want your autograph, Elias! I'm your biggest fan!"
A part of him wanted to raise his head, to stand tall and bask in the worship washing over him.
But he shook his head instead, eyes stinging as he turned away and kept walking.
"Me?" he laughed, harsh and bitter. "I'm just trash."
He stepped onto the fifth staircase.
Thunder roared across the crimson sky, red lightning cracking violently against the ground.
The staircase shifted into a deep indigo.
And the song that reached Elias this time was soft… quiet… like a breath right before the end.
Elias waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened.
The staircase was too peaceful.
Too harmless.
At least until he looked down and saw his hands dissolving into faint motes of white light, the erasure crawling rapidly up his arms and across his body.
"Don't tell me," Elias stammered, trembling, "that I am fucking dying!?"
The rest of the words died in his throat as even his face disintegrated into drifting light.
But somehow… he still felt alive.
He could still see the glowing staircase, still hear its soft song whispering in the back of his mind.
But his body was simply… gone.
He couldn't feel anything—not his hands, not his legs—nothing. The sensation was disorienting, like floating in empty space or drifting above a bottomless ocean.
The trial is still going on, Elias thought, forcing logic to cool the fear buzzing through him. This is just another test.
But that only brought another problem.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Elias looked up toward the dark throne, frustration pounding through whatever was left of his emotions. He had never been this close and yet this far at the same time. Giving up now felt laughable—unthinkable—after everything he had pushed through to get here.
'Dammit, I have to move. There has to be something I'm missing.'
That was when Elias saw it.
A few faint moths of light tracing the outline of his arms—only for them to scatter the moment they appeared.
Oh. The realization hit him like a slap.
An idea sparked.
He focused on everything pushing him forward—all the reasons he needed power so desperately.
'I need to save Dad and Mum from the corruption. And the path to that answer is right in front of me.'
This time the light returned, forming his arms a little more clearly.
'I want to punch Sebastian and that bitch so badly in the face.'
His thorax flickered into shape, the lights gathering and forming the start of his torso.
'I want to go to Resonance Academy. I want to meet Sera and keep my promise.'
The particles spread, forming his thighs, then his legs, the shape building faster now.
"Power is the only way to protect Lizzy and anyone I give a fuck about! Power is the only truth in this shitty world!" he shouted, teeth clenched as the lights finally shaped his full face.
He forced himself forward, fists tight, repeating every reason he had to keep moving—every reason he couldn't stop.
"Fuck the Resonant Prince! Fuck the so-called anomaly of the Chord generation! I want the news to be about me! I want to be the shit everyone can't stop talking about!"
He marched on, the next staircase just meters away.
"I want to destroy those Harmonic Council bastards that took Sera away—starting with that green-bearded son of a bitch who dared call me a leech!"
He reached the sixth staircase, his expression fierce as he lifted his foot to step on it. His chest tightened as he mentally braced himself, half-dreading whatever came next.
"FUCK IT!"
He stepped up.
The realm shook as if an earthquake had ripped through it.
Thunder rumbled violently across the skies.
The sixth staircase shifted to a silvery-white glow.
Then it sang.
Its song was like a lullaby.
Airy.
Ethereal.
Serene.
A wave of calm washed over Elias—soft, soothing… and then everything changed.
***
He was nine again. Lying on a mat in the middle of a vast grass field, his face tilted toward the clouds, a gentle east wind ruffling his hair. A few meters away, on another mat, were his parents and Lizzy, their faces alive with smiles and laughter as they ate and joked with each other.
Something squeezed his hair.
"Ouch!" Elias grimaced, turning to see who was trying to make him bald.
There she was.
Sera Myllan.