The instant Aiden touched the second memory sigil, reality folded around him like a collapsing star. There was no impact, no sound—only the sensation of being unraveled and reassembled, pulled through threads of time that didn't want to be touched.
Darkness shifted into form.
And then—
Light.
But not the gentle luminescence of the Astral Nexus.
This light was harsh, primordial, and unbearably loud.
Aiden blinked.
He stood in a barren expanse—an infinite desert of white sand that shimmered like powdered bone. Above him loomed a sky split between midnight and noon, divided cleanly down the middle. On one side, stars glittered like ice fractals. On the other, a sun burned with blue fire.
The horizon was empty.
The wind carried no scent.
Even time felt fragile here.
"This place…" Aiden whispered, throat dry. "This is older than the eras."
A voice echoed around him—deep, resonant, and layered with a thousand unspoken truths.
"Correct."
Aiden spun around.
A massive silhouette approached, stepping out of the twilight divide. As it neared, its shape resolved—wings like blackened galaxies, scales shimmering with cosmic filaments, eyes burning with molten gold.
A dragon.
But unlike any creature Aiden had ever imagined.
This was ASTRAXION, the Warden of Pre-Memory. The first being created before creation. The last being who remembered the First Era—the one even the Archivists feared.
Aiden's breath caught.
"You—… you're real."
"I am memory," the dragon rumbled.
"And memory is always real."
Astraxion lowered his colossal head until one golden eye aligned with Aiden's.
"Lost King. You have forgotten me more times than worlds have been born."
Aiden tensed.
"I don't remember ever meeting you."
"Because you erased the era we met in."
Aiden felt his stomach drop.
"I erased… an era?"
The dragon's gaze sharpened.
"The First Era. The one before all others. And you did not merely erase it, Aiden. You ended it."
Aiden staggered back.
"No. That's not possible."
Astraxion let out a low growl—not angry, but mournful.
"You were not called the King of Erased Worlds because they were stolen from you."
"You were called that because you erased them."
Aiden's throat tightened.
"But why would I do something like that?"
The dragon spread his star-forged wings, and the desert trembled beneath them.
"Because the First Era begged you to."
---
Memory Vision #1 — The Birth of the Void
The world changed again.
Aiden now stood in a city built of crystal arches and phoenix-fire towers. The air shimmered with creation energy that felt almost too pure to breathe.
This was the First Era of Light—a time before any timeline, before any story, before the Archivists, before the Astral Kingdom.
A time when nothing had died yet.
People passed him—beings of living starlight, laughing, luminous, radiant with innocence. Aiden felt his chest constrict.
This world was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
He turned to see a younger version of himself—taller, crowned in pure astral flame, walking at the center of a procession. The people shouted his name with adoration.
"AIDEN VALESTAR!"
"THE ETERNAL KING!"
"THE FIRST MEMORY!"
Younger Aiden smiled, proudly, warmly.
He believed he could protect this world forever.
Aiden felt the vision crack.
A shadow spread across the sky—slow, creeping, inevitable. Not an enemy. Not a force.
A concept.
Entropy.
The First Era wasn't dying because of war or betrayal.
It was dying because perfection cannot sustain itself.
Because a world without loss cannot grow.
Because starlight burns too brightly to last.
And the people knew it.
Their bodies flickered like unstable flames.
Their world trembled.
Their voices broke into desperate prayer.
"Please—save us."
"Let us live."
"We don't want to fade."
Young Aiden raised his glowing hands, trying to stabilize the collapsing world.
But it only accelerated the fall.
Astraxion's voice echoed over the memory.
"The First Era was never meant to exist. It was a mistake. An impossibility. The moment creation began… it was doomed."
The dragon materialized behind Aiden in the vision, wings folding around him.
"And you—King of the First Light—made the only choice you could."
Young Aiden stood atop the Celestial Spire, eyes filled with tears as he looked down at the collapsing world he loved.
He whispered one word:
"Erase."
Aiden felt the entire era vanish like a candle snuffed by the wind.
---
Back to the Memory Desert
Aiden collapsed to his knees, trembling.
"I destroyed them… because I loved them?"
The dragon lowered his head.
"You freed them from suffering. You gave them a peaceful end. The only one possible."
Aiden clenched his fists, tears stinging his eyes.
"Then why does it feel like I murdered them?"
Astraxion's voice softened—strange for a creature made of cosmic flame.
"Because you are remembering. And memory is pain."
Aiden wiped his eyes.
"So the First Era fell because… it had no future?"
"Yes."
"And I erased it to prevent more suffering?"
"Yes."
Aiden rose slowly.
"Then… why was I killed in the 12th Era? Why did Seraphine stab me? If the First Era was unavoidable—why did she kill me centuries later?"
Astraxion's golden eye flared.
"Because in the 12th Era… the destruction was your fault."
Aiden froze.
"My… fault?"
The dragon nodded gravely.
"You repeated your mistake. But this time, the world was not doomed. This time, the fall was caused by a choice you made. A choice that cannot be forgiven."
Aiden's blood ran cold.
"What did I do?"
Astraxion leaned closer.
"You tried to resurrect someone."
Aiden felt his heart stop.
"Who?"
The dragon's voice thundered with sorrow.
"Someone from the First Era."
"Someone who should have never existed again."
Aiden staggered back, breath shaking.
"I… resurrected someone? But I don't even remember their name—"
Astraxion's giant head bowed until his snout almost touched Aiden's chest.
"Of course you don't."
"Because that memory is locked inside the deepest part of your heart."
"Chapter by chapter… you are getting closer."
Aiden swallowed, voice barely a whisper.
"What is their name?"
The dragon's eyes flared like suns about to go nova.
"Say it, Lost King."
"Say the name you fear to remember."
Aiden's lips parted.
Something in his soul pulsed—a rhythm he hadn't realized had been there all along. A buried heartbeat. A hidden name.
A single syllable surfaced…
—
And then—
Everything collapsed.
The memory desert shattered like fragile glass.
Astraxion's roar split the void:
"NOT YET!"
Aiden was ripped backward, hurled through timelines, crashing back into—
---
Back to the Astral Nexus
Aiden hit the floor hard, coughing, gasping for breath like he'd drowned.
Yunaria knelt beside him instantly, holding his shoulders.
"Aiden! Aiden—look at me. What did you see?"
Aiden's vision steadied.
But his voice trembled.
"I saw the First Era. I saw… me. I saw what I did."
Yunaria's expression turned grave.
"And the name? Did you hear… their name?"
Aiden shook his head.
"No. But I felt it. It was… close."
Yunaria exhaled shakily.
"That's good," she whispered. "If you remembered it too early, you would've broken."
Aiden frowned.
"Why?"
Yunaria met his eyes, voice barely audible.
"Because the person you resurrected…
is someone you loved more than any world."
She lowered her gaze.
"Someone you loved more than Seraphine."
Aiden felt his heart twist painfully.
"Who… are they to me?"
Yunaria hesitated.
Then—
With a trembling voice:
"They were your First Love."
Aiden's stomach sank.
And Yunaria whispered:
"And the one whose return destroyed the 12th Era."