Prologue
Kairos awakens to an endless darkness. Disoriented, he suddenly sees a beam of light strike directly into his eyes. He cannot move. All he can do is receive that light as it slowly reveals a vision.
The voice he had heard before now feels like a stronger will emerging from that light. At the same moment, a face begins to form—the face of a woman he has never seen before. Her features grow clearer the longer he looks at them.
Suddenly he understands: the voice he had been hearing came from that very light. All the sensations around him fall silent.
The luminous figure begins to speak again, accompanied by a feeling of infinite ecstasy. A melody fills his mind along with the woman's presence—a chorus announcing the arrival of something greater.
"This is your destiny. This is what you must become."
With every word she speaks, her voice becomes clearer, as if everything is beginning to fall into place—meaning emerging from the void.
As the light slowly fades, it carries away the chaos and the doubt. Clarity reaches his mind along with his memories, his senses, and his emotions.
The warmth of the campfire.
The cold of the night.
The pain of loss.
Kairos suddenly opens his eyes.
But something is different.
When he looks up at the stars, something echoes in his mind. He hears a distant chorus, as if coming from nowhere.
Just a bad dream, he thinks.
Across the campfire, Exine lies on the ground, staring at him.
"It's been years since I've seen someone cry… especially over a dream, Kairos," Exine whispers with a slightly condescending tone.