THE CORE OF SEALED MEMORIES AND THE FLAMES THAT DO NOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD (Part 5 – Final)
The torchlight reflected off the onyx walls of the main corridor, projecting shadows that danced to the rhythm of held breaths. The entire group was still dazed after the discovery inside the Core: that shared vision, that flash of truth that Zyrion felt ripped from some ancient memory… or from a future that had yet to happen.
In the central chamber of the Darakthar bastion—one of the oldest structures left by the ancient bearers—Zyrion sat before a stone table, fingers interlocked, gaze fixed on an invisible point. His mask rested atop the marble, revealing a serious, tense, almost distant face.
Cilera, attentive, served a steaming infusion as the others began to gather.
"You look paler than an ice specter," Valric joked, trying to lighten the tension.
Karion let out a short laugh. "And I'm supposed to be the one who melts every time a new mystery appears. Tell me I'm not the only one who feels that Core is some kind of ancient trap. Something's wrong with it… I can feel it."
Zyrion lifted his gaze and locked eyes with Karion.
"So you felt it too," he said in a low voice. "It wasn't just power. It was… a planted memory. And someone manipulated it."
"Manipulated?" Maerisse questioned, crossing her arms. "What do you mean someone altered it?"
Ysmera sat beside her, speaking in a softer tone. "Zyrion… when you touched the Core, for a moment, your fragment shone in absolute white. That shouldn't be possible. Not unless…"
"Unless what?" Taliena interrupted, uneasy.
Zyrion inhaled deeply.
"Unless my fragment isn't just a fragment. Unless it contains part of the Crystal's original heart… or has been forced to bind with something older. Something that shouldn't awaken."
Silence thickened. Caelithra placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're not alone in this. No matter what it is. Not anymore."
Zyrion looked at her briefly, his eyes softening.
Then Velkran slammed his fist on the table's edge.
"We need to prepare. We all felt it, didn't we? That pressure… that energy. We're not alone here."
Quindarion nodded grimly. "No. Something is coming. Fast."
Minutes later, in one of the side chambers, Zyrion and Caelithra had separated from the others. The air there was colder, and the walls were decorated with ancient carvings of the Lost Kingdom of Kyrethron. Forgotten faces. Extinct wars.
She leaned against the wall, watching him silently at first.
"You're going to break if you keep carrying everything without sharing it, Zyrion."
"I can't give them more reasons to doubt. They've seen enough of me already."
"Don't be unfair to yourself. Velkran nearly died for you, Taliena hasn't slept since she saw you covered in blood, and Kyrahna barely leaves your side."
Zyrion lowered his gaze. Caelithra stepped closer, lifting his chin gently with her fingers.
"You have the right to be human. The right to fail… and to trust. And if the world collapses, it'll collapse with us fighting at your side."
He closed his eyes for a few seconds. His lips parted slightly.
"Caelithra… if I ever lose control…"
"I'll be there. Always."
Zyrion nodded. He leaned in slightly, their foreheads brushing.
Meanwhile, in the training chamber, Taliena sparred with Nivhira, Cilera, and Maerisse, while Ryvak and Valric joked around Kyrahna, who shot small bursts of wind-like energy.
"So you throw air blades? Think you can shave me with one?" Ryvak smirked.
Kyrahna grinned. "Sure. Or cut your head off if you don't stop with stupid jokes."
Laughter echoed—until a subtle tremor ran through the foundations.
Valric's face shifted. "You felt that?"
"Yeah. That wasn't normal," Maerisse said. "It came from the main entrance."
Another tremor hit, stronger. The air grew heavy.
In the central chamber, Zyrion stood abruptly. The carvings began to glow red. Ancient energy from Darakthar was responding to something awakening.
Then a roar echoed from the outer corridors.
"Zyrion!"
Everyone looked toward the booming voice.
From the entrance—surrounded by fire and lightning—appeared the last people they expected.
Xalorian with blazing eyes and an armor crackling with power, and beside him Loryan, his hair swirling in an invisible storm.
"The fragment is corrupting you, Zyrion!" Loryan shouted. "We won't let the Crystal's heart fall into your hands."
Behind them… five more figures.
The Saekrim Noxar.
The same silver-haired woman who had tried to steal the fragment before pointed directly at Zyrion.
"This time, you won't escape."
Before anyone could react, Xalorian raised a hand.
"Now!"
An explosion of fire and lightning tore the entrance apart. Velkran dashed toward Xalorian with his energy spear, and Quindarion vanished and reappeared in front of Loryan.
"We won't let you touch Zyrion!" Taliena roared, summoning a radiant barrier.
But amid the chaos… one of the Noxar women slipped away.
Eyes fixed on Zyrion.
And on the Core burning behind his eyes.
The atmosphere around the Core trembled.
Fire danced in unnatural spirals around the group. The ground beneath Darakthar vibrated with ancient power. Crystal structures lit up as if responding to an unwanted presence. Echoing footsteps resounded.
And then… they saw it.
A figure emerged from the burning shadows of the main passage. Tall. Firm. Cloaked in a black mantle that swallowed light. Its face covered by a white mask—identical to Zyrion's—but with a diagonal crack running across it, as if it had survived a war centuries ago.
Its eyes…
"What… is that?" Taliena murmured, fists tightening.
"Zyrion?" Kyrahna whispered, glancing at him.
"No. I am not him," the figure said. Its voice was a dark reflection, heavy, forged from the same metal as divine bells.
Zyrion stepped forward. Flames near him seemed to bow.
"Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head slightly. The cracked mask gleamed faintly.
"I am the first echo of the Crystal. The reflection cast aside by time. Born when the Core was touched by mistake. I am what you would become… if you accepted your true destiny."
Caelithra drew her sword.
"Zyrion, what the hell is this lunatic talking about?"
But Zyrion didn't answer. Something inside him trembled—not from fear, but recognition. The aura radiating from that being… was pure. Unnaturally pure. Too similar to his own.
Ysmera stepped forward, lightning swirling in her hair.
"He's lying! He can't be part of the Core. You're the true bearer. You were chosen by the will!"
The masked figure didn't move.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps I was the chosen one… and was forgotten."
Then it attacked.
The world erupted in light and fire. A whirlwind of white energy exploded from its feet. Velkran and Quindarion rushed forward, their shields of speed and teleportation crashing into an invisible wall. The impact shook the entire underground complex.
Zyrion activated his fragment. His eyes flashed pure white for an instant, and he slid forward like a living shadow.
"Everyone, fall back!" Zyrion shouted.
"Don't you dare fight alone!" Caelithra roared, charging with her blade raised.
The masked figure turned to her, lifting a hand. A beam of white energy shot forward.
Zyrion appeared in front of Caelithra in an explosion of aura. He shielded her with his body, the impact throwing him against a nearby wall.
"Zyrion!" Maerisse screamed, as Kyrahna unleashed a storm of magical light to cover their retreat.
Ryvak and Valric flanked Taliena.
"Let's surround him!" Ryvak yelled.
"Don't touch him directly. That energy… it's unstable," Valric warned.
Then… a soft laugh cut through the chaos.
"You know what's most fascinating?" the figure said. "None of you have noticed… what's truly happening."
Two glowing symbols appeared behind it. One shaped like an inverted teardrop. The other… identical to the mark Zyrion saw engraved in the lake where he found the fragment.
Zyrion froze.
"That's impossible…"
"Oh, it is," the figure replied. "But reality rarely follows the rules of the possible."
In an instant, the masked being vanished.
A heartbeat later, it reappeared behind Zyrion and grabbed him by the neck.
"Do you want to know what I saw? What you should have become?"
Zyrion unleashed a shockwave of white energy, breaking free and launching the enemy back. But the figure twisted midair like a specter and landed effortlessly.
As everyone prepared to strike, a crack tore open in the Core's ceiling.
The eternal fire stirred… awakening.
Nivhira cried out:
"The fire… the Core is reacting to BOTH of them!"
Crystals around them changed colors—red, white, black, then the color of dawn.
An ethereal voice whispered, ancient and distant:
"One was created… the other born. The chosen fragment has yet to remember who dreamed it."
Silence fell.
Zyrion dropped to his knees—not from weakness, but from weight. From truth.
Caelithra knelt beside him.
"Zyrion, look at me. Look at me. I'm here, okay? I don't care who you are. I don't care what he says."
Zyrion didn't respond. But he tightened his grip on her hand.
The masked figure watched them all.
"I will return. When the Core decides. And when I do… only one of us will be allowed to exist."
With a flicker, he vanished.
The Core trembled… and silence fell like a heavy mantle.
Everyone stood there… knowing nothing would ever be the same again.
The final line can only be revealed through loss.