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Darkness.
Not empty… but alive.
Thick. Heavy. Breathing.
Lyon felt himself drift through it as though suspended in ink. There was no ground beneath his feet, no air in his lungs, no sense of direction—only endless black, stretching into forever.
For a moment, he wondered if he was dead.
Again.
But then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Slow. Soft. Echoing across the void—like someone walking on an invisible surface. Each step sent faint ripples through the darkness, bending the shadows as though they bowed to the approaching figure.
Lyon tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. He felt like a mind without a vessel, floating helplessly.
The footsteps stopped right behind him.
A voice—deep, controlled, layered with authority that demanded reverence and fear—spoke.
"So… the heir opens his eyes once more."
Lyon's heart lurched.
He knew that voice.
Not from memory… from instinct.
A recognition engraved deeper than life itself.
He forced the darkness to release him. Slowly, painfully, he shifted—enough to face the towering silhouette emerging from the endless black.
A figure stepped into view, cloaked in a long mantle of shadow that seemed to swallow light. His mask—bone-white with sweeping crimson lines—covered his entire face save for the eyes.
Eyes that glowed with cold, ancient certainty.
Lyon's breath stilled.
"You…" he said quietly.
"Who are you?"
The masked figure tilted his head slightly.
"Once, you knew me by name—though I doubt you remember your past clearly."
Lyon tried to speak again, but the figure raised a hand, silencing him without a gesture of force—only presence.
"I am," he continued, "the one who ended your previous life."
The words hit Lyon like a blade.
"You're the Prime Inquisitor," Lyon whispered.
"Correct."
Lyon's throat tightened with a surge of emotion—fear, rage, confusion, grief he never knew he carried.
"You killed me."
"I did," the Inquisitor answered, his calm tone unchanged.
"And I am prepared to do so again."
Lyon felt heat crackle through the void.
"Why?"
His voice trembled with anger.
"Why kill me then? Why threaten me now? Why keep calling me 'heir' as if I belong to something I don't understand?"
The Prime Inquisitor clasped his hands behind his back, posture straight, unshakable.
"You were the only living being capable of merging with the Prime Fragment—a power meant for no mortal. Not then. Not now."
Lyon stared.
"Meaning what, exactly?"
"Meaning," the Inquisitor said, "you were a contradiction. A miracle… and a catastrophe wrapped in one body."
Lyon swallowed hard.
"What did this power make me?"
The Inquisitor's eyes narrowed.
"It made you the greatest threat the Order had ever faced. And the only one capable of dismantling everything we built."
The darkness trembled with each of his words.
"And now," he continued, "reincarnated into a weaker shell, the fragment has begun awakening again. Your body is unprepared. Your mind unstable."
Lyon shook with frustration.
"I didn't ask for this! I didn't choose any of this!"
"No heir ever chooses," the Inquisitor replied.
"It is chosen for them."
The void pulsed with a deep, resonant vibration.
"Your awakening tonight disrupted the entire network. Hundreds felt it. Even I, guarded by twenty layers of seals, sensed the surge of forbidden energy."
A pause.
"You are dangerous, Lyon Kade."
Lyon gritted his teeth.
"And you expect me to trust the man who murdered me? Who chased my past self into death?"
"I expect nothing," the Inquisitor said.
"I am here to deliver a choice."
Lyon blinked.
"A choice?"
"Yes."
The Inquisitor's voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"Will you continue what your past self began… or will you force me to end your cycle once more?"
Lyon's rage flickered—but beneath it was something else.
Curiosity.
"What exactly did I start?"
The masked figure let the silence stretch before responding.
"In your previous life, you sought to break the Order—piece by piece, secret by secret, law by law. Your existence alone threatened the world's equilibrium."
Lyon's heart raced.
"And I was strong?"
The question escaped before he could stop it.
The Inquisitor's answer was slow.
Measured.
Truthful.
"You were… unrivaled."
Another pause.
"Powerful beyond limits. Brilliant beyond reason. And ultimately… doomed by your own potential."
The void contracted around Lyon.
He felt his pulse echo through the darkness.
"Then why am I back?" he whispered.
"That," the Inquisitor answered, "is the mystery. You were not meant to return. No heir ever has."
Lyon took a shaky breath.
"Then tell me who I was."
The Inquisitor's eyes sharpened.
"No. You will remember on your own. When your mind is ready… or when the fragment forces you to."
Lyon clenched his fists.
"There has to be more. If you killed me once, why are you giving me a choice now?"
"For one reason only," the Inquisitor answered.
"I do not know which version of you has returned. The one seeking control…
or the one destined for annihilation."
The void suddenly cracked like shattered glass.
"What—?" Lyon reached for balance, but the world around him fractured, dissolving into rushing fragments of black and gold.
The Inquisitor's final words echoed as the darkness collapsed:
"Remember this, heir. If you repeat your former path… I will finish what I started."
A pause heavy enough to shake the soul.
"You cannot escape your destiny. Only choose how you meet it."
---
LYON WOKE WITH A GASP
His eyes flew open.
His chest heaved.
Sweat drenched his skin.
The mark on his arm pulsed like a second heartbeat—golden veins spreading faint light across the room.
"Lyon!"
Kael was beside him instantly, gripping his shoulder.
"Easy. Breathe. You're safe."
Safe?
Lyon didn't feel safe at all.
He fought to steady his breath.
"I saw him."
Kael went still.
"Who?"
Lyon swallowed.
"The Prime Inquisitor."
Kael's expression drained of color.
"He spoke to you? Inside a vision?"
"More than spoke," Lyon whispered.
"He showed me… pieces. And he said he killed me before."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"What else?"
Lyon forced the words out.
"He said I was born to merge with something called the Prime Fragment. That I was too powerful. Dangerous. That I tried to destroy the Order."
Kael's eyes widened.
"…So the rumors were true."
"What rumors?"
Kael paused, then spoke softly.
"Lyon… in your previous life, you weren't just any heir. You were the heir everyone feared. The one the Order was created to stop."
Lyon felt his stomach twist.
"And he said I have to choose," Lyon whispered, voice thin.
"To continue what I started… or die again."
Kael stepped back, shock and fear mixing together.
"Then it's confirmed. Your power is returning faster than expected."
Lyon looked down at his glowing mark.
"I don't want to die again, Kael."
Kael met his eyes—serious, steady.
"And you won't. Not this time."
"How can you be sure?" Lyon asked.
Kael pointed at the mark.
"Because this time… you won't face your destiny alone."
Lyon stared at him.
Kael exhaled shakily.
"It's time, Lyon. No more running. No more hiding."
He straightened.
"You must learn to control your power before the Inquisitor or his hunters reach you."
"So what do I do?"
Kael's answer came with the weight of a decision that could change everything.
"You train, Lyon Kade."
A pause.
"And you become stronger than the man who killed you."
The room fell silent.
But something in Lyon's chest—the same spark that awakened in the forest—ignited again.
This time, not with fear.
But resolve.