TIME PERIOD: TWENTY-FOUR HOURS PRIOR TO THE SHATTERING
The ocean was calm that morning.
Gentle waves rolled beneath a broad trading ship as it drifted through open water, its sails full with steady wind.
Seagulls circled overhead, occasionally crying out before gliding across the bright blue sky.
The deck was alive with quiet work.
Crewmen hauled rope, checked rigging, and carried cargo between the ship's holds and the open deck.
Then the murmuring began.
Not loud.
Just enough to turn heads.
A massive man walked across the planks carrying two enormous suitcases over his shoulders as if they were empty crates.
His shoulders were broad enough to make the wooden walkway feel narrow beneath him.
Thick cloth wrappings covered his entire body, concealing everything but the immense shape beneath them.
The crew stared.
One sailor leaned toward another.
"Are you seeing this?"
Another nodded slowly.
"I've seen men that big before," the sailor muttered, "but not one built like that."
The captain noticed the man as well.
He rested a hand against the railing and watched him cross the deck.
"Hah," the captain chuckled quietly. "If I had a man like that working for me, the sea itself would think twice before trying anything."
The massive man said nothing.
He walked to the side of the ship where a smaller boat hung suspended from thick rope rigging.
With one smooth motion, he lifted the suitcases off his shoulders and set them inside the boat.
The wood groaned faintly under the weight.
Without checking them again, the large man turned and walked away from the boat.
Toward the back of the ship.
The murmuring crew slowly returned to work, though many of them continued watching him out of the corners of their eyes.
Near the quiet rear of the deck, the large man stopped.
Someone was already there.
Lee sat cross-legged near the railing, her posture perfectly still.
A small silver trinket rested between her fingers, its polished surface reflecting thin slivers of sunlight.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The faint mechanical sound echoed softly with every movement of the ship.
Her eyes were closed.
She appeared to be listening.
Or waiting.
The large man approached but did not speak.
He simply stood nearby.
The ticking continued.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Then—
Click.
The silver trinket snapped shut on its own.
Lee's eyes opened.
Cold resolve settled into them instantly.
Without looking toward him, she spoke.
"Is the boat ready?"
The large man nodded once.
Lee stood slowly, brushing invisible dust from her clothes.
"Good."
Her gaze drifted out toward the horizon.
"The boy has had enough time."
The large man remained silent.
Lee continued.
"He now has everything he needs to survive what comes next."
Her fingers rolled the silver trinket across her palm thoughtfully.
"His body has begun to remember."
The ocean wind tugged lightly at her hair.
"And his power…" she murmured.
"…has started answering him."
The large man listened.
That was all he ever did.
Lee turned slightly, glancing toward him for the first time.
"And our White Lotus…"
Her expression did not change.
"…her condition appears to be worsening."
For a moment, only the sound of the waves remained.
Then Lee walked past him toward the side of the ship.
The large man followed.
The captain was already waiting beside the suspended boat.
"You two really mean to leave here?" he asked.
His voice carried the rough honesty of someone who had spent most of his life on open water.
"These waters ahead aren't charted," he continued. "Strange currents. Worse storms. I've heard stories."
Lee simply nods.
The large man opens one of the suitcases and produces a heavy bag.
He tossed it toward the captain.
The man caught it with both hands and nearly staggered from the weight.
He openes the bag slightly.
Gold shrens glinted inside.
The captain blinked.
"…Well," he says slowly.
"That'll certainly help the crew forget how dangerous the sea is."
Lee gave a polite bow of her head.
"Thank you for your hospitality."
The captain tied the bag to his belt.
Then he frowned slightly.
"You're certain you want to head that way?"
Lee looked back toward the open ocean.
"Yes."
She paused.
Then added calmly:
"You should sail away from here before nightfall."
The captain raised an eyebrow.
"That so?"
Lee didn't explain.
The captain shrugged.
"Your funeral."
He turned toward the crew.
"Lower the boat!"
The ropes creaked as the small vessel descended slowly toward the water below.
The large man stepped inside first.
Lee followed.
The boat touched the surface with a soft splash.
The ropes were released.
The large man took the paddles and began rowing away from the ship.
The massive vessel slowly drifted farther behind them.
Lee sat quietly at the front of the small boat.
The silver trinket rolled lazily between her fingers.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The ship shrank into the distance.
The ocean stretched endlessly around them.
Lee looked out across the horizon.
And finally spoke.
"Everything is in place."
The ticking stopped.
Lee closed the silver trinket.
Then whispered softly to the open sea.
"The foundations of the Second Sin War are now being laid."
The Cottage
Sam noticed the quiet first.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that happens when the world is waiting to see what you'll do next.
He stood near the edge of the clearing behind the cottage, bare feet pressing into the damp grass the way Xavier had trained him to feel it.
The ground was uneven beneath his toes — a root here, soft soil there — but his balance held without effort now.
Years ago he would have shifted instinctively to correct it.
Now he simply stood and let the earth exist the way it wanted.
Maria used to say the world spoke before it moved.
Lately, Sam had begun to understand what she meant.
The wind slid through the trees.
The ocean breathed in the distance.
Somewhere beneath all of it, deeper than sound, something inside his chest answered back.
Not lightning.
Not yet.
Just pressure.
A quiet reminder that whatever had awakened inside him during those nights of pain had not finished deciding what it wanted to become.
Sam exhaled slowly through his nose, steadying his breath the way Xavier taught him.
"Right," he muttered to himself. "Still figuring it out."
For a while he simply stood there.
Xavier always said the hardest part of training wasn't learning how to move.
It was learning when not to.
Sam had thought that sounded dramatic when he was younger.
At the time he assumed the lesson would eventually lead to something more exciting — sword forms, duels, techniques that looked impressive when performed correctly.
Instead, most of Xavier's lessons had looked like this.
Standing.
Breathing.
Listening to things most people ignored.
Sam shifted his weight slightly, careful not to break the rhythm of his stance.
The grass brushed softly against his ankles.
A small insect crawled across the back of his foot before disappearing into the dirt.
Nothing about the moment felt important.
Which meant it probably was.
That had been another of Xavier's habits — treating quiet moments like they mattered more than battles.
Sam used to wonder if that was just something older warriors said to make patience sound heroic.
Now he wasn't so sure.
The pressure in his chest shifted again.
Not painfully.
Just… present.
It wasn't like the lightning from the night everything went wrong.
That had felt violent — wild energy trying to tear its way out of him faster than his body could survive.
This was different.
Quieter.
Like something watching him from the inside.
Sam pressed his palm lightly against his sternum.
His heartbeat was steady.
Normal.
Still, he left his hand there for a moment longer.
"You're being weird again," he told himself under his breath.
The wind picked up slightly, rustling the leaves along the edge of the clearing.
He closed his eyes.
Maria's lessons returned more easily when he stopped trying to think through them.
Feel first.
Understand later.
So he listened.
The ocean far beyond the trees.
The branches shifting above him.
The slow rhythm of his breathing.
And beneath all of it—
That same quiet density.
It didn't feel hostile.
But it didn't feel passive either.
More like potential.
Something unfinished.
Sam opened his eyes again and lowered his hand.
"Great," he sighed. "That's reassuring."
He turned toward the cottage.
From here the building looked peaceful — warm wood walls, sunlight catching on the windows, the roof sloping gently toward the forest behind it.
Anyone passing by would probably assume it was just another quiet home in the middle of nowhere.
They wouldn't be completely wrong.
But they wouldn't be right either.
The cottage had always felt… aware.
Not alive exactly.
Just attentive.
Sam started walking back toward it, careful steps over the uneven ground.
For years this place had been his entire world.
Training with Xavier.
Learning from Maria.
Trying to understand a life that technically wasn't supposed to be his in the first place.
That thought still felt strange sometimes.
A second chance.
Given by a goddess who called him her chosen.
Sam rubbed the back of his neck.
"Still weird," he muttered.
Even after all this time, part of him expected the whole thing to unravel one day.
Like he'd wake up and discover it had all been a long dream — the cottage, the training, the people who had somehow become his family.
He stepped onto the wooden porch and paused.
The pressure in his chest shifted again.
Stronger this time.
Not painful.
Just enough to make him stop moving.
Sam frowned slightly.
"…Okay."
He waited.
The feeling faded almost immediately.
Like whatever had stirred inside him decided the moment wasn't worth pursuing.
Sam exhaled.
"Good talk," he said dryly.
He reached for the door.
Before he could open it, a thought crossed his mind — quiet but persistent.
Maria's voice.
Not a memory.
A lesson.
Power notices hesitation.
Sam's hand stopped just short of the handle.
For a moment he stood perfectly still again.
The wind passed through the trees.
The ocean breathed.
And deep inside his chest—
Something answered.
Not with lightning.
Not with force.
Just awareness.
Sam narrowed his eyes slightly at the door.
Then he stepped back from the door.
While walking along the cottage's side, Sam noticed someone sitting on the rear porch as he wiped sweat from his neck.
Maria.
She sat against the wall beside the back door, knees loosely drawn up, staring out at the vast ocean stretching endlessly beyond the cliffs.
The wind moved gently through her white hair, strands drifting across her face before sliding away again.
When the breeze lifted them, the soft blue of her eyes caught the light.
But something about her expression felt… distant.
Gloomy.
Like she had been sitting there longer than she realized.
"Maria?"
Sam pushed the back door open and stepped outside.
She didn't react.
Unaware of his presence, she remained completely still, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
Sam walked over quietly and sat down beside her.
"Is everything alright, Maria?"
She blinked slightly, as if returning from somewhere far away.
Looking up at him, she gave a faint smile before turning her attention back to the ocean.
"Just enjoying the view," she said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
Sam followed her gaze.
The ocean rolled endlessly under the sunlight, waves moving in slow, steady breaths against the distant rocks.
"You know," he said after a moment, "sometimes it's nice to have company while enjoying a view."
He leaned back against the wall.
"It is certainly beautiful though."
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The wind moved across the water.
The sound of waves drifted up from the cliffs below.
Then Maria spoke quietly.
"Sam… what do you love?"
Sam turned to her, surprised.
The question caught him off guard.
He thought for a moment, searching for an answer.
His mind drifted through simple things—the warmth of the cottage, the quiet rhythm of training with Xavier, the small moments that made life feel real.
And this.
Sitting beside her.
"I love moments like these," he said finally, his voice soft with a hint of nostalgia.
He glanced at Maria briefly before looking back toward the sea.
"…And I guess I love the people in them too."
Maria froze.
Her eyes widened slightly.
She understood exactly what he meant.
That was the problem.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then her brows slowly knit together, and her eyes shimmered faintly with unshed tears she was trying very hard to hide.
Her voice came out quiet.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't know you felt that way."
She took a slow breath.
"Sam, I—"
She hesitated.
"…well, it is only natural."
Her expression softened, though something sad lingered beneath it.
"You've lived a very isolated life," she continued gently. "And I'm the only woman you've really known since you were born."
She raised her index finger playfully, forcing a light expression onto her face to break the tension.
"But once you travel the world," she said, "and meet new people… I'm sure you'll find those feelings somewhere else too."
The smile didn't reach her eyes.
Sam looked away.
"…And what if I don't?" he asked quietly.
"What if I still feel the same way?"
Maria's playful expression faded.
She stared out at the ocean again, her face turning serious.
"It simply cannot happen."
Sam rubbed his hands nervously against his legs, anxiety creeping into his chest.
Neither of them spoke.
They just sat there together, staring at the endless water.
After a moment, Sam broke the silence.
"What do you love, Maria?"
She paused.
Her eyes drifted across the horizon.
"Hmmm," she murmured.
Her thinking expression deepened. She pressed a finger lightly against her lip.
Then she asked softly,
"Question."
Sam glanced at her.
"How can you love someone you have never met?"
Sam blinked, surprised.
Does Maria know I'm not from this world?
Or maybe she means—
"Oh," he said slowly, "you mean our parents."
He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Well… I haven't met them yet," he admitted. "But I know they must be good people. Xavier says so."
He shrugged lightly.
"I do wonder why they aren't here sometimes."
His gaze drifted back to the ocean.
"But I like to think they're doing something important… something amazing that we just can't be part of."
He smiled faintly.
"But I bet they still think about us."
"Wondering if we're okay."
"Whispering that they love us."
Maria's expression softened as she listened.
But the longer Sam spoke, the darker her expression became.
A heavy sadness settled over her eyes.
"…Maybe," she replied quietly.
The word carried something ominous.
Sam turned toward her.
"Is everything okay, Maria?"
"I'm fine," she said quickly.
Then she tried to stand.
The moment she did—
Her body froze.
Pain exploded through her chest.
"AHHH—!"
She collapsed against the wall, falling to her knees as black blood spilled from her nose and mouth.
"Maria?!"
Sam rushed to her side, panic flooding through him.
"Hey—hey—what's going on?!"
Maria clutched his shirt tightly, her fingers twisting into the fabric as a low, dragged scream escaped her throat.
Her body trembled violently.
Sam froze in fear.
"M-Maria…"
After a few agonizing seconds, the scream faded.
Her grip remained tight, but she went still.
Too still.
Sam carefully rubbed her back, trying to calm her breathing.
"Maria… talk to me."
For a moment she said nothing.
Then, with her head still lowered, she spoke.
"Sam…"
Her voice was weak.
"There's something I have to tell you."
She took a painful breath.
"But before I can… you have to promise me something."
Maria's fingers tightened slightly against Sam's shirt.
Her breathing was uneven, shallow from the pain still lingering in her chest.
Sam didn't move.
He kept one arm around her shoulders, steadying her as best he could.
"Anything," he said immediately. "Just tell me what you need."
Maria lifted her head slightly.
Black blood still stained the corner of her lips.
When her eyes met his, something in them looked… different.
Not fear.
Resignation.
"You have to promise me," she whispered, "that no matter what happens after this… you won't blame yourself."
Sam frowned instantly.
"Maria—"
"Promise me."
Her voice sharpened just enough to stop him.
The wind brushed across the porch, lifting strands of her hair again.
Sam hesitated.
"I don't even know what you're talking about."
Maria's gaze softened.
"That's why I'm asking now."
She slowly loosened her grip on his shirt, though her hand still rested there as if she needed the contact to stay upright.
Sam exhaled slowly.
"…Alright."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"That wasn't a promise."
Sam held her gaze.
"…Fine," he said quietly.
"I promise."
Maria studied his face carefully, searching for hesitation.
Finding none, she nodded faintly.
"Good."
For a moment she said nothing.
The ocean moved endlessly behind them.
Then she spoke again.
"Sam… the world is changing."
Sam blinked.
"That's… not very specific."
Maria almost smiled.
Almost.
"The night you awakened," she continued, "something else woke up too."
Sam's chest tightened.
He remembered the dream.
The burning cottage.
The choice.
"…You mean another Sleeping God?" he asked cautiously.
Maria shook her head.
"Not exactly."
Her gaze drifted toward the horizon again.
"Sleeping Gods awaken slowly."
"This didn't."
Sam felt the strange pressure in his chest again.
The same feeling he had earlier outside the cottage.
"What does that mean?"
Maria's voice dropped.
"It means something that was supposed to stay buried… didn't."
Sam watched her carefully.
"Buried where?"
Maria's expression darkened.
"In history."
The wind picked up again, stronger this time.
Sam felt a strange chill run along his spine.
"…And Xavier knows about this?"
Maria nodded once.
"He felt it before sunrise."
"That's why he left."
Sam straightened slightly.
"He left because of this?"
"Yes."
"Where did he go?"
Maria hesitated.
"That's the problem."
Sam's brow furrowed.
"What problem?"
Maria looked directly at him.
"He didn't say."
Silence settled between them.
Sam ran a hand through his hair.
"That sounds like Xavier."
"Yes."
"But this time it's different."
Sam waited.
Maria inhaled slowly.
"When your uncle left… he wasn't preparing for a fight."
Sam felt the pressure in his chest pulse again.
"What was he preparing for?"
Maria's answer came quietly.
"A possibility."
Sam frowned.
"That's even less helpful."
Maria leaned her head back against the wall again, exhaustion creeping into her posture.
"If what he felt is real," she continued, "then the world may be entering something we hoped would never happen again."
Sam stared at her.
"…What?"
Maria's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Another age of gods."
The words lingered heavily in the air.
"That's… concerning." he said slowly.
Maria nodded faintly.
"Yes."
Then she looked back at him.
"Which brings us to the second thing."
Sam didn't like the sound of that.
"…There's a second thing?"
Maria placed her hand gently against her chest.
Right where the pain had struck moments ago.
Her expression turned serious again.
"Sam…"
Her voice grew quiet.
"What just happened to me…"
"…is going to start happening more often."
Sam's stomach dropped.
"What are you talking about?"
Maria's blue eyes met his.
For the first time since the conversation began—
She looked afraid.
"My body isn't rejecting my power anymore."
Maria looked down at her hands.
"They used to call me the White Lotus."
Her voice was quiet.
"People thought it meant something beautiful."
She shook her head faintly.
"They didn't understand what it really meant."
Sam's chest tightened.
"What are you saying?"
Maria lifted her eyes to him.
For the first time since the conversation began—
There was real fear there.
Maria looked down at her hands.
"They used to call me the White Lotus."
Her voice was quiet.
"People thought it meant something beautiful."
She lifted her eyes to the ocean.
"But powers like mine don't grow quietly, Sam…"
The wind moved through her hair as she spoke.
"They grow the same way wars do."
Sam's expression hardened.
"What does that mean?"
Maria didn't answer right away.
"It means the world starts changing before anyone realizes it."
Then she looked back at him.
"Which is why I need you to promise me something," she continues, "Sam… if the day comes when I lose myself…"
Her voice wavered.
Sam already hated where this was going.
"What?"
Maria held his gaze.
"If I become something that can't be stopped…"
"…you have to stop me."
The meaning hung between them.
Sam's expression hardened immediately.
"No."
Maria didn't look surprised.
"You promised."
Sam's jaw tightened.
"The first promise was to listen but this one, I absolutely can't," he continues, "Not that, not ever."
Maria didn't argue.
She just looked back out at the ocean.
"…Then I'll ask again when you're stronger."
The wind moved gently across the porch.
Neither of them spoke.
After a moment Maria wiped the remaining blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.
The movement was small, but Sam noticed.
"Maria…"
"I'm fine," she said quickly.
He didn't believe that for a second.
She pushed herself upright slowly, leaning against the wall for balance.
For a brief moment her vision blurred, and the world tilted sideways.
Black veins flickered faintly beneath the skin of her wrist.
Gone as quickly as they appeared.
She lowered her sleeve before Sam could notice.
"I just need to rest," she murmured.
Sam stood as well, watching her carefully.
"You should lie down."
Maria nodded faintly.
But before she turned to go inside, she paused.
"Sam."
He looked at her.
Her eyes lingered on him longer than usual.
"…The reason I asked you that promise isn't just because of me."
Sam frowned.
"Then why?"
Maria hesitated.
For a moment it seemed like she might say something else.
Instead she shook her head softly.
"…Because the world is starting to move again."
That answer didn't satisfy him at all.
But before he could ask another question, she stepped inside the cottage.
The door closed quietly behind her.
Sam remained standing on the porch.
The ocean stretched endlessly before him.
For a long time he didn't move.
The waves below crashed slowly against the cliffs, steady and patient, as if the world itself had no idea anything had changed.
But something had.
Sam could feel it.
That same quiet pressure deep in his chest stirred again.
Not pain.
Not lightning.
Just awareness.
He placed a hand against the wooden floor beside him.
The boards were warm from the sunlight.
For a moment everything was still.
Then—
A sharp crack.
Sam lifted his hand.
A thin fracture had formed in the wood beneath his palm.
He stared at it.
"…I didn't do that."
The wind shifted.
The sound of the ocean faded.
At first he thought it was just the breeze changing direction.
Then the silence deepened.
The waves disappeared.
The sky dimmed.
Sam slowly looked up.
The horizon had vanished.
Darkness stretched around him in every direction.
He was no longer on the porch.
He was standing in the void.
A familiar presence stirred behind him.
"You feel it now, don't you?"
The voice was calm.
Ancient.
Sam turned slowly.
Ender stood several paces away, her form outlined faintly against the endless dark.
Her gaze rested on him quietly.
Sam exhaled slowly.
"…Feel what?"
Ender studied him for a moment.
Then she answered.
"The world preparing to break again."
The darkness around them shifted slightly.
Sam stood motionless.
For a moment he didn't realize something was wrong.
Then he looked down.
His hands trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
From confusion.
They looked normal.
The same hands he had trained with for years.
The same faint calluses along his palms.
The same thin scar across his knuckle.
Sam frowned.
"…Weird."
For a split second—
Something changed.
His fingers looked longer.
Older.
The skin rougher, the knuckles broader, the shape of the hand subtly different.
Not dramatically so.
Just enough that his mind immediately rejected it.
Then the image snapped back.
His hands were normal again.
Sam blinked.
"…Okay."
He turned his palms over slowly.
"That definitely wasn't my imagination."
A calm voice spoke behind him.
"No."
Sam turned.
Ender stood several paces away, her presence bending the darkness slightly around her.
Sam exhaled through his nose.
"…Good. Because that would've been the least concerning thing that's happened today."
Ender studied him quietly.
"You are unsettled."
Sam let out a short laugh.
"You think?"
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Maria might die."
"She asked me to promise I'd kill her if she loses control."
"And now I'm standing in an endless void talking to a cosmic entity."
He gestured vaguely around them.
"So yeah."
"I'm a little unsettled."
Ender stepped closer.
"You misunderstand the order of events."
Sam frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Maria is not the cause."
Sam's expression hardened.
"…Then what is?"
The void shifted.
Sam felt it before he saw it.
Another presence had entered the space.
Not violent.
Not loud.
Just heavy.
Ancient.
Sam slowly turned.
A figure stepped out from the darkness behind Ender.
For a moment Sam thought he was looking at a reflection.
The man standing there looked strikingly similar to him.
The same height.
The same posture.
The same quiet intensity in his eyes.
But there were differences.
His features were sharper.
More defined.
His presence carried a weight that felt older than the world itself.
Sam stared.
"…Alright."
"That's unsettling."
The man regarded him silently.
Ender spoke.
"Sam."
Her voice softened slightly.
"Meet the one who came before you."
The man stepped forward.
"Almos."
Sam felt something stir inside his chest.
Not memory.
Recognition.
He looked between them.
"…Why does he look like me?"
Almos answered calmly.
"You're asking the wrong question."
Sam crossed his arms.
"Oh, good. One of those answers."
"Then what's the right question?"
Almos' gaze didn't waver.
"Why do you look like me?"
Sam blinked.
"…I'm sorry, what?"
Silence stretched through the void.
Then Almos continued.
"The first Sin War began when someone like us awakened."
Sam's confusion slowly turned into irritation.
"Okay."
"That sentence has way too many problems in it."
Almos ignored the remark.
"History rarely repeats itself cleanly."
Sam's voice sharpened.
"Then stop talking like a prophecy and tell me what's happening!"
The void trembled slightly.
Not from power.
From intention.
Almos noticed.
"There it is," he murmured.
Sam glared.
"What?"
"The reason the world fears you."
Sam's fists clenched.
"I didn't ask for any of this!"
"I know," Almos replied calmly.
"That is what makes it dangerous."
The words lingered in the endless dark.
Sam's anger faded slowly.
Something heavier replaced it.
"…What am I supposed to do?" he asked quietly.
Ender answered.
"Learn."
Sam looked at her.
"Learn what?"
Her eyes reflected distant starlight.
"How to exist without becoming the thing that ends the world."
The void fell silent again.
Sam stared at her.
For a moment he didn't move.
Then something inside him snapped.
A sharp laugh escaped him.
"…You know what?"
He stood up abruptly.
The movement echoed strangely across the endless dark.
"That's perfect."
Ender remained still.
Sam pointed directly at her, his hand shaking slightly.
"What have you made me?!"
The words tore out of him.
"I died and wanted nothing but release from pain!"
"But then you show up and tell me someone needed my help, MY HELP!"
"And I chose her. My decision to save Mizeria was mine, and mine alone!"
His voice rose louder.
"But why-why bring me back like this?!"
He gestured angrily toward the darkness around them.
"Why bring me into a world where everything I touch starts breaking?!"
The void trembled faintly.
Not violently.
But enough that Ender noticed.
Sam's breathing grew heavier.
"Maria is dying," he continued.
"Xavier is risking his life because of whatever is happening to me."
His voice cracked slightly.
"And you're standing here telling me the world might end because I exist?!"
He stepped closer.
"Why would you bring me back as a cursed monster?!"
The accusation hung heavily in the air.
Ender didn't flinch.
Her gaze softened slightly.
"You believe you are a curse."
Sam's jaw tightened.
"Look around!"
The void rippled again.
"Everything is falling apart!"
"Arrogant."
Sam turned to Almos.
Almos steps forward slowly.
"You think the world bends around you so easily?"
Sam glared.
"Who even are you?"
"The one who carried the burden before you."
Sam scoffed.
"Great."
"So you're the expert on world-ending disasters."
Almos didn't react to the sarcasm.
"You assume Maria suffers because of you."
Sam's fists tightened.
"Don't."
Almos continued calmly.
"You assume Xavier left because of you."
"I said don't."
"You assume the world is collapsing because you were reborn."
Sam stepped forward.
"I said—"
"Enough."
Ender's voice silenced both of them.
The void settled again.
She looked at Sam.
"You asked why I brought you back."
Sam's chest rose and fell rapidly.
"Yes."
Ender spoke quietly.
"Because the world needed someone who would choose others even when it destroyed them."
Sam froze.
"That's not an answer."
"That is the only answer."
Sam shook his head.
"No."
"You don't get to say that after everything that's happening."
Ender's eyes reflected faint starlight.
"You think you were reborn as a curse."
She stepped closer.
"But you were reborn as a possibility."
Sam didn't respond.
Almos watched silently from the side.
Ender continued.
"The first Sin War began because power awakened in those who desired it."
Her gaze returned to Sam.
"You are the first in centuries who awakened because you chose someone else."
The void grew quiet.
Sam's anger didn't disappear.
But something inside it shifted.
Confusion.
"…So what?" he asked bitterly.
"That makes this okay?"
Ender shook her head.
"No."
"It makes it necessary."
Almos finally spoke again.
"And dangerous."
Sam looked between them.
"So that's it?"
"You brought me back because you needed a weapon?"
Ender answered immediately.
"No."
Her eyes met his.
"I brought you back because the world needed someone who might refuse to become one."
The silence returned.
Sam looked down at his hands.
For a brief moment—
They flickered again.
Not quite the hands he recognized.
Then they were normal.
Sam clenched them slowly.
"…You picked the wrong person."
Almos spoke quietly.
"No."
A pause.
"We're still deciding that."
Sam glared at him.
Almos continued.
"The last time someone like you awakened…"
His voice lowered slightly.
"…the gods nearly destroyed the world trying to stop her."
Sam frowned.
"…And did they?"
Almos met his eyes.
"No."
Another pause.
"She destroyed it first."
The void grew still.
Sam's brow furrowed.
"…Who was she?"
Ender answered.
"Persephone."
The name echoed softly through the darkness.
Almos' hand tightened slightly at his side.
For the first time since he appeared—
Almos looks away.
Not dramatically.
Just long enough for the silence to stretch.
Sam noticed.
"…You knew her," he said.
Almos didn't answer immediately.
When he finally spoke, his voice had gone colder than before.
"I knew who she used to be."
Ender watched him carefully.
Sam's chest tightened.
"What happened to her?"
Almos' gaze returned to him.
"What happens to anyone who awakens without restraint."
The void trembled faintly.
Sam felt the pressure in his chest respond again.
Not pain.
Recognition.
Almos noticed that too.
"…And now," he says quietly, "we get to see if history learned anything."
Ender watched him quietly.
"You asked why I brought you back."
Sam's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
She spoke without hesitation.
"Because I was allowed to."
That answer immediately irritated him.
"…That's not an explanation."
"No."
"It is the truth."
Sam folded his arms.
"So explain the rest."
Ender continued.
"To bring you back into this world… a condition had to be met."
Sam's stomach tightened.
"What kind of condition?"
Ender's eyes didn't waver.
"A curse."
The word settled heavily in the silence.
Sam blinked.
"…A what?"
Almos remained still.
Watching.
Ender continued calmly.
"It is older than this age."
"Older than the kingdoms you know."
"It began when the first gods committed a transgression they could not erase."
Sam's chest tightened.
"And that has what to do with me?"
Ender answered softly.
"Everything."
The void grew quiet.
"That curse marks certain bloodlines."
"Those descended from the first gods."
Sam frowned.
"…And?"
Ender met his eyes.
"And now it marks you."
Sam's breath caught.
"…You're joking."
"No."
Her voice remained calm.
"Your resurrection required it."
Sam took a slow step backward.
"So let me get this straight."
"You brought me back to life…"
"…and branded me with some ancient curse from the first gods?"
Ender didn't deny it.
Sam let out a hollow laugh.
"That's fantastic."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"What does it even do?"
Ender answered.
"It ensures you will never live quietly."
Sam stared at her.
"That's not very specific."
"Then I will be clearer."
Her voice lowered.
"You will be hunted."
"Gods will see you as a mistake."
"And the creatures abandoned by them…"
"…will see you as salvation."
The words chilled the void itself.
Sam's breath caught.
"…You're joking."
"No."
Her voice remained calm.
"Your resurrection required it."
Sam took a slow step back.
"So let me get this straight."
"You brought me back to life…"
"…and branded me with some ancient curse from the first gods?"
Ender did not deny it.
Sam let out a hollow laugh.
"That's fantastic."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"So what, you just decided that was acceptable collateral damage?"
Ender shook her head.
"I did not choose the curse, Sam."
The words were quiet.
"But I chose you despite it."
The void fell silent.
Sam frowned, confused.
"What does that even mean?"
"It means the curse was the cost," Ender replied.
"But you were the decision."
Sam stared at her.
"…That's not comforting."
"No," Ender said softly.
"It was never meant to be."
Almos finally spoke.
"And yet she paid it anyway."
Sam looked between them.
"So that's it?"
"You gambled with my life because you thought I might be different?"
Ender didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
Sam's hands trembled slightly.
"…I really am a monster."
Ender stepped closer.
"No."
Her voice remained steady.
"You are the test."
The darkness around them shifted slightly, as if the void itself was listening.
Almos' gaze hardened slightly.
"And tests have a habit of failing."
Sam's fists slowly unclenched.
His mind raced through everything Ender had said.
The curse.
The resurrection.
Persephone.
Gods hunting him.
Creatures abandoned by them.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Alright."
Both Ender and Almos watched him.
Sam rubbed his face, trying to steady his thoughts.
"Let me ask the obvious question."
His eyes lifted again.
"What exactly is hunting me?"
The void grew quiet.
Almos answered first.
"Many things."
Sam frowned.
"That's not helpful."
Almos continued calmly.
"The gods will fear what you might become."
"They may try to destroy you before that happens."
Sam grimaced.
"And the other ones?" he asked.
"The ones you called abandoned?"
Almos' expression hardened slightly.
"Malevolent's pets… failures cast aside when god first shaped the world."
Sam felt a faint chill crawl up his spine.
"And now?"
Almos' eyes met his.
"Now they hunt the blood of those responsible."
Sam froze.
The words triggered something in his memory.
A conversation.
A warning.
Pages of an old book.
The black cat's voice.
He spoke slowly.
"…Creatures abandoned by gods."
Ender watched him carefully.
Sam's eyes widened slightly.
"…You mean the Night Creatures."
Neither Ender nor Almos corrected him.
The silence was answer enough.
Sam stared into the darkness.
"Those things are real."
The moment he said the name, the void trembled faintly.
Almos answered.
"They always were."
Sam's thoughts returned to the Book of Von.
The descriptions of monstrous creatures.
The sketches of atrocities.
The warnings about what they crave.
"…They hunt descendants of the first gods."
Ender nodded once.
"And everything else that lives."
Almos watched Sam carefully.
For the first time since the conversation began, his expression softened slightly.
"…You look overwhelmed."
Sam didn't respond.
Almos continued.
"That's normal."
He stepped forward.
"You've just been told the world fears what you might become."
Sam glared at him.
"Get to the point."
Almos extended his hand.
"Then perhaps it's time we stop pretending we're different."
Sam didn't move.
"With our power," Almos said calmly, "we could rewrite the fate they've already decided for us."
Sam's eyes narrowed.
"Us?"
Almos nodded.
"You carry the same stain I once did."
"The same attention."
"The same inevitable conflict."
His hand remained extended.
"Work with me."
"Together we could decide how this story ends."
The void remained silent.
Sam looked at the offered hand.
Then at Almos.
Slowly, he stepped closer.
For a brief moment it looked like he might accept.
Instead he pushed Almos' hand away.
"I'm not you."
Almos' expression hardened slightly.
"No."
"You're worse."
Sam's voice sharpened.
"You had your chance."
"And from the sound of it…"
"…you lost."
The void trembled faintly.
For the first time, irritation flickered across Almos' face.
"You speak very confidently for someone who doesn't understand what he is."
Sam stepped forward.
"I understand enough."
"I'm not becoming the thing that destroyed the world."
Almos' eyes narrowed.
"And what makes you think you get that choice?"
Sam scoffed.
"Because I'm not you."
For a moment Almos said nothing.
Then a slow smile crept across his face.
"…You still don't see it."
Sam frowned.
"See what?"
Almos tilted his head slightly.
"Those nights you thought you were alone."
Sam froze.
"The moments you felt someone watching you."
"The times you felt something… moving inside your thoughts."
Sam's chest tightened.
Memories surfaced immediately.
Restless nights.
The feeling of a presence in the dark.
The strange awareness inside his own mind.
Almos' voice lowered.
"That wasn't your imagination."
Sam stared at him.
"…What are you talking about?"
Almos stepped closer.
"It was me."
The words echoed through the void.
"You and I share the same vessel."
Sam's breath caught.
"…No."
Almos continued calmly.
"One body."
"Two souls."
Sam shook his head.
"That's not possible."
Almos shrugged slightly.
"You're standing in a void speaking to beings older than most civilizations."
"And that's the part you find unbelievable?"
Sam's hands trembled.
"So all those nights…"
"Yes."
Almos' gaze remained steady.
"I was there."
Watching.
Learning.
Waiting.
Sam clenched his fists.
"You're lying."
Almos smiled faintly.
"Am I?"
The void flickered faintly.
For a brief moment—
Sam felt that familiar pressure in his chest again.
The same unsettling awareness he had felt before.
Almos watched him carefully.
"…You feel it now."
Before Sam could respond—
The darkness around them shifted.
Almos vanished.
Sam spun around.
"Where did he—"
Ender walked past him calmly.
"I removed him."
Sam looked at her.
His voice was quieter now.
"…He said we share the same body."
Ender didn't deny it.
"For the moment."
Sam stared at her.
"That's not reassuring."
Ender's gaze lingered briefly on the empty space where Almos had stood.
"Despite what you may think," she says quietly, "Almos is not your enemy."
Ender continued, her voice calm.
"He is one of the few who has tried to prevent what is coming and sacrificed a lot to get us here."
A pause.
"He is simply…very stubborn about how it must be done." she says softly, "Almos believes the world must be forced to survive. I believe it must choose to."
Ender's gaze drifted past Sam, toward something far beyond the endless dark.
"…There is something else you should see."
The void shifted.
Darkness folded inward, forming a thin window of light.
Sam saw the ocean.
Endless water rolling beneath a pale sky.
The drifting rock came into view — the one that held the cottage.
A small boat floated nearby, gently knocking against the stone.
But the vision did not show it arriving.
It skipped.
The image shifted suddenly.
The boat was empty.
And a woman already stood at the cottage door.
She moved with unsettling calm as she reached for the handle and pushed it open as if she belonged there.
Even through the vision, Sam felt something wrong about her presence.
Like the world itself was quietly recoiling around her.
"Who is that?" Sam asked.
Ender answered.
"Someone the world once tried to bury."
The woman paused in the doorway.
For a moment she tilted her head upward, as if sensing something beyond the island… beyond the sky.
Ender spoke softly.
"…An Agent of Chaos."
The vision shattered.
The void fell silent.
Ender looked back at Sam.
"And she has already arrived."
Sam stood silently for a moment, absorbing everything he had just learned.
The curse.
Persephone.
The war that once destroyed the world.
Then he looked back at Ender.
A faint smile formed on his face.
"…Then I'll find a way to do both."
Ender tilted her head slightly.
"To survive… and still save the world."
Ender smiles softly at Sam, watching him with quiet approval.
"As I expected of you, my chosen."
But the softness in her expression faded.
Her voice grew serious.
"Listen carefully, Sam."
"This is a battle for survival."
"If something happens to you tonight, I cannot intervene."
Her eyes met his.
"You will either live… or you will die."
"There is no middle ground."
Sam exhaled slowly.
"…So this is my trial."
Ender said nothing.
Sam lifted his head again.
His expression hardened with resolve.
"Then I'll prove something tonight."
"That I didn't come back to this world just to watch the people I care about die."
Ender studied him carefully.
"Resolve alone will not save you."
"Do not grow overconfident."
"Do not forget what you have learned."
And then she added quietly:
"And most importantly… do not fail."
Sam gave a small, determined smile.
"I won't."
The void flickered.
The darkness cracked like fractured glass.
Sam blinked—
And the next moment he was standing outside the cottage again.
The ocean wind hit his face.
He looked down at his hands.
"…She's gone."
A drop of black blood fell from his nose onto his palm.
Sam stared at it.
Another drop followed.
He wiped his nose slowly.
Then lifted his gaze toward the ocean.
His eyes sharpened.
"…She's here."
Inside Maria's room, she stared at Lee in stunned silence.
Lee sat comfortably on the edge of the bed, as if she belonged there.
A genuine smile rested on her face.
"Hello, Lotus. It's been a while."
Maria's eyes narrowed at the name.
Lee leaned back against the mattress, crossing one leg over the other as she looked lazily toward the ceiling.
"I've come to see our favorite sleeping god."
Maria walked to her dresser and picked up a red scarf hanging from the chair.
She wrapped it loosely around her neck as she began drifting toward the corner of the room.
Lee didn't even look at her.
Reaching the corner, Maria let her gaze linger—just for a moment—on the sheathed blade resting at her side.
Long enough for Lee to notice.
"She's acting calm… unreadable. But there's something else in her eyes." Maria says in thought. "Mischief. If she's here for Sam… I can't let my guard down."
Lee tilted her head slightly.
She smiles deeply slightly.
But Maria could tell it wasn't real.
Maria stepped closer, her expression hardening.
Lee inspected her fingernails.
"Maria, don't even think about it."
Maria stopped.
Lee continued casually.
"Entry was easier than I expected. It seems the Spartan fell for the bait."
Maria's hand tightened into a fist.
Anger and dread twisted together in her chest.
"Come to ruin my life again, Lee?"
Lee rolled onto her side, now facing her.
"You ruined your own life when you chose to defy the Black Queen."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"And you know better than anyone," Lee continues, "Defiance against the Black Queen always ends the same way."
Maria's expression darkened.
"I didn't have a choice."
Lee clicked her tongue.
"We always have a choice."
She smiled faintly.
"Yours was to do nothing."
Lee sat up slowly.
"The grimoire, Maria."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Where is it?"
Maria took a slow breath.
"I lost it in the chaos of our last encounter."
Her voice was steady.
Lee studied her carefully.
"Is that so?"
Her smile returned.
"Perhaps the kid will give me a better answer."
Lee's eyes flicked briefly toward the door.
Maria moved instantly.
Maria's gaze lingered on the sheathed sword at her side.
Just long enough for Lee to notice.
Lee's smile deepened slightly.
Maria moved.
Not for the sword.
Her hand snapped forward.
For a brief instant, nothing was there—
Then white light bloomed in her palm.
Petals of radiant energy spiraled outward, unfolding like a flower opening beneath the sun.
A blade formed at the heart of it.
The petals unfurled with a faint chime of light.
Pure white.
Elegant.
Deadly.
TheWhite Lotus Blade.
Maria lunged.
The blade cut through the air like falling moonlight, aimed straight for Lee's throat.
Lee didn't even flinch.
Bandaged wrappings burst from every direction.
They snapped tight around Maria's arms and torso.
The lotus blade stopped inches from Lee's neck.
The glowing petals still drifted around the blade like fragments of light.
Lee tilted her head, studying the weapon with mild curiosity.
"…Still using that trick, Lotus?"
A cruel smile spread across her face.
"How predictable."
Maria strained against the bindings.
"You always let your emotions control you."
Lee stood and stepped closer.
"Strange," she said quietly.
"Protecting the one responsible for your suffering."
"You won't go anywhere near him!" Maria snapped.
"His fate says otherwise."
Maria forced the blade forward, muscles shaking against the wrappings that tightened around her.
"I won't let you hurt them."
Her eyes burned with determination.
"He may be my curse…"
Her voice shook slightly.
"…but he's also my strength."
Lee watched her silently.
"He can end it," Maria continued.
"The sins we committed. The lives we destroyed."
"Everything."
"Sam can fix it… if you just give him a chance."
Lee held her gaze for a long moment.
Then she looked away.
She exhaled slowly and stepped back.
"It's too late."
Her voice was calm.
"I can't trust him."
The hallway twisted ahead of Sam as he ran through the cottage.
Where are they?
Where are they?
Where are they?!
The light dimmed unnaturally as he sprinted forward, shadows stretching along the walls like living things.
Black blood dripped from his nose again, splattering against the wooden floor.
Sam wiped it away with the back of his hand.
My head is killing me…
The air grew heavier with every step.
The darkness thickened around him, swallowing the corners of the hallway.
Something moved in the darkness ahead.
Then he heard it.
Childish laughter.
High-pitched.
Malicious.
It echoed through the darkness ahead.
Sam skidded to a halt.
"Show yourself!"
The laughter grew louder.
Then footsteps erupted from the shadows.
Small shapes lunged out of the darkness.
Wrapped dolls.
Their bodies were bound in dirty bandages, cracked porcelain faces staring blankly with hollow eye sockets.
They clung to him instantly.
"Dolls?!"
The creatures latched onto his arms and shoulders, tiny teeth biting into his skin.
Sam threw punches, kicking them away, but more climbed onto him.
Crap!
"Hahahaha—hehehehe!" the dolls shrieked together.
Sam shoved through them and burst into a nearby room, slamming the door shut behind him.
The dolls clawed at the wood outside.
He locked the door and staggered back, breathing hard.
"I have to find the others…"
The door exploded inward.
A massive wrapped doll burst through the splintered wood and drove its fist into Sam's chest.
The impact sent him crashing across the room into another hallway.
Sam hit the ground with a gasp, coughing as the air left his lungs.
The large doll stepped through the broken doorway, approaching Sam.
The smaller dolls poured in behind it.
Their laughter filled the hall.
"This is madness…" Sam wheezed.
He forced himself to his feet and ran.
"Maria?!"
He sprinted down the hall.
"Kitty?!"
The dolls chased him, their laughter echoing through the cottage.
"Anyone?!"
Then a scream shattered the air.
Maria's scream.
"Maria?!" Sam shouted.
Without slowing down, he sprinted toward her room.
"Maria!"
Sam reached the door.
Something inside moved.
He kicks the door open.
Inside, Maria hung suspended in midair, bound tightly in Lee's wrappings.
Lee stood calmly in front of her.
Sam's eyes immediately locked onto Maria.
Maria's sheathed sword lay nearby on the floor.
Maria glanced toward it.
Sam didn't hesitate.
He rolled onto his side, grabbing the sheathed blade.
He lunged forward, ripping the blade free.
A low, resonant hum filled the room as the weapon awakened in his hand.
Sam turned toward Lee.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO CAME TO RUIN MY FAMILY!"
His voice shook with rage.
"THE AGENT OF CHAOS!"
Sam charged.
"You won't take her away from me!"
Lee raised an eyebrow.
"Agent of Chaos?" she said with amused curiosity. "Now I wonder who gave you that idea."
Wrappings surged toward him.
The blade flashed.
The wrappings split apart like paper.
The humming sword sliced through them cleanly, severing the bandages before they could restrain him.
As Sam pushed forward—
The wrappings holding Maria moved towards Lee without her having to say a word.
Lee pulled Maria's head close and softly whispered into her ear.
"Isn't it time we left them with a parting gift?"
Maria's eyes fluttered weakly.
Lee gently brushed her cheek.
"Come now," Lee murmured.
"Say the words."
Maria's voice barely escaped her lips.
"…Sacred Art… White Lotus Emergence…"
Her body went limp.
For a second Sam didn't understand what Maria had done.
Then the cottage began to tremble.
The floorboards rattled violently.
Furniture slid across the room.
Glass shattered.
Cracks raced along the ceiling as the entire structure groaned under immense pressure.
Sam ignored it.
He swung his blade straight for Lee's throat.
But a mirrorless portal opened behind her.
Lee stepped backward, pulling Maria with her.
"If you insist on chasing me… remember the name Lee Sato."
Her smile returned.
"The Whisperer."
She fell back into the portal.
It vanished instantly.
Sam stumbled forward, his blade cutting through empty air.
"…It's happening…"
His voice trembled.
"…What I was warned about…"
"NO!!!"
The floor beneath him split open.
A massive white lotus erupted from beneath the cottage, its glowing petals tearing through the structure as it burst upward from the rock below.
The entire cottage collapsed around him.
The floor gave way.
Sam plunged through the wreckage.
He crashed hard onto the stone below as debris and dust rained down onto him.
The dust slowly settled over the shattered rock.
The massive white lotus loomed above the ruins of the cottage, its glowing petals silent against the dark ocean sky.
Beneath the wreckage, Sam lay motionless.
Unconscious.
To Be Continued.