Chapter 83 – Before the First World
Nobody moved.
The young man stood on the hill as if nothing unusual had happened.
The wind moved gently through the grass.
Birds flew above them.
The sun was warm.
Everything looked peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
Kai stared at the stranger.
"You know my name."
The young man smiled.
"I know everyone's name."
Cr-Hook immediately stepped behind the First Anomaly.
"That's not comforting."
The First Anomaly looked at him.
"You hid behind me."
"I made a tactical decision."
"You pushed me forward."
"Also tactical."
Even Noah laughed quietly.
For a brief moment, the tension eased.
Then the Curator stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The young man looked at him.
"The question isn't who I am."
"Then what is it?"
"Why am I still here?"
The Curator's expression became serious.
The First Thought opened its book.
The pages turned.
Then stopped.
Nothing was written.
It tried another book.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
The First Thought slowly closed all three.
"I cannot find you."
The young man smiled.
"Exactly."
The Eye floated closer.
"That is impossible."
"Only if I existed inside your records."
The Eye became still.
Evetyl looked at him carefully.
"You said you were here before the First World."
"Yes."
"Then what was here before it?"
The young man pointed toward the valley.
"Nothing."
Evetyl frowned.
"Then how were you here?"
He smiled.
"That's the problem."
The Forgotten One slowly stepped forward.
Unlike the others, it didn't look surprised.
It looked afraid.
The young man noticed.
"You remember."
The Forgotten One lowered its head.
"Fragments."
"What do you remember?"
"A voice."
"Whose?"
The Forgotten One looked at Evetyl.
"Yours."
Evetyl's expression changed.
"Mine?"
The Forgotten One nodded.
"Before the First World."
"Before the first timeline."
"Before Crosshaven."
"You were there."
Evetyl stared at the stranger.
"But I wasn't."
The Forgotten One shook its head.
"Not this Evetyl."
The young man smiled.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
Kai stepped forward.
"Then who was she?"
The stranger looked at him.
"The first person who made a choice."
Kai frowned.
"What choice?"
The young man pointed toward the sky.
"To create something from nothing."
The First Thing suddenly spoke.
"Creation."
The stranger looked at it.
"Yes."
The First Thing's expression became thoughtful.
"The First Creation."
"Correct."
"But creation requires thought."
"Correct."
"And thought requires existence."
The stranger smiled.
"Not always."
The First Thought suddenly went silent.
The stranger continued.
"Sometimes..."
"...existence begins because someone imagines it."
Evetyl looked around.
"The First World..."
"Was imagined."
"By who?"
The stranger looked at her.
"By you."
Silence.
Evetyl's heart skipped.
"No."
"Yes."
"I didn't create the First World."
"Not this version of you."
The young man walked closer.
"You were the beginning."
"But you were not the first."
The grass beneath Evetyl's feet suddenly turned white.
A memory appeared.
She saw darkness.
Complete darkness.
There was nothing.
No worlds.
No stars.
No time.
No space.
Then...
A thought.
A single thought.
What if something existed?
The darkness trembled.
A tiny point of light appeared.
Then another.
Then millions.
A universe began forming.
Evetyl watched in silence.
She could hear her own voice.
But it wasn't her current voice.
It was older.
Calmer.
Lonelier.
"If there is nothing..."
"then I will remember something."
The vision ended.
Evetyl opened her eyes.
She was back on the hill.
Kai was holding her shoulder.
"Evetyl?"
"I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"I saw the beginning."
The young man smiled.
"Not quite."
Evetyl looked at him.
"You were there."
"Yes."
"Who was I talking to?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he asked:
"Do you know why the First Promise was necessary?"
Evetyl shook her head.
"Because memories disappear?"
"That's part of it."
"Then what?"
The stranger looked toward the horizon.
"Because creation without memory eventually destroys itself."
The Curator stepped forward.
"Explain."
The young man pointed toward the sky.
"Every world creates something new."
"New people."
"New choices."
"New possibilities."
"Eventually, those possibilities become too many."
"The worlds begin separating."
"Then they forget that they came from the same beginning."
The Curator's expression changed.
"And when they forget..."
"They fight."
"World against world."
"Timeline against timeline."
"Reality against reality."
"Until existence becomes unstable."
The Eye spoke quietly.
"That is why Crosshaven exists."
The stranger nodded.
"Crosshaven was created as a meeting point."
"Not by the Curator."
"Not by the Warden."
"Not by the Outer King."
"By you."
Evetyl stared.
"Me?"
The stranger nodded.
"The first version of you."
The Forgotten One suddenly stepped forward.
"Then the First Promise..."
"Was made by her."
The stranger nodded.
"And the promise was simple."
Everyone waited.
"What was it?" Noah asked.
The stranger looked at Evetyl.
"If everything forgets where it came from..."
"I will remember."
Evetyl felt a chill.
"So that's why I'm the First Memory."
"Yes."
"Then why did I forget?"
The stranger's smile disappeared.
"Because remembering everything became unbearable."
Evetyl looked down.
The older Evetyl's words returned to her.
Let the past die.
She understood now.
She hadn't forgotten because she was weak.
She had forgotten because she had carried too much.
Every world.
Every death.
Every ending.
Every person.
Everything.
And eventually...
She had needed to become someone capable of living.
Kai quietly asked,
"Then what am I?"
The stranger looked at him.
The smile returned.
"You're the answer."
Kai frowned.
"To what?"
"To her promise."
Kai's expression became confused.
The stranger continued.
"She promised to remember everything."
"But eventually, she learned something."
"One person cannot remember everything."
"So she created another possibility."
"A person who could remember her."
Kai slowly understood.
"I..."
"You became the Second Memory."
The First Thought dropped its book.
Everyone turned.
The ancient being stared at Kai.
"Impossible."
The stranger laughed softly.
"You've said that a lot today."
The First Thought ignored him.
"The Second Memory was only theoretical."
"It was never theoretical."
"Then why is it absent from every record?"
"Because records begin after him."
The First Thought's expression became pale.
Kai looked at his hands.
"That's why..."
He paused.
"That's why I've remembered Evetyl in different worlds."
The stranger nodded.
"You don't remember every world."
"You remember her."
Kai looked toward Evetyl.
"Even when everything else changes."
"Yes."
Evetyl's eyes became wet.
"So when you said you'd find me..."
Kai smiled.
"I meant it."
Suddenly...
A loud crack echoed across the valley.
Everyone turned.
The sky was splitting again.
But this time, there was no darkness.
Something enormous was pushing against reality.
The King of Oblivion.
The young man's expression changed.
"We don't have much time."
Evetyl looked upward.
"Why is it following us?"
"It isn't following you."
The stranger's eyes narrowed.
"It is following me."
Everyone became silent.
The young man stepped backward.
The First Thing immediately noticed.
"You're afraid."
The stranger smiled faintly.
"Yes."
That answer shocked everyone.
Even the Warden looked surprised.
Kai asked,
"If you're so powerful, why are you afraid?"
The young man shook his head.
"Power has nothing to do with it."
"Then what is it?"
He looked toward the growing crack.
"History."
The King of Oblivion's golden eye appeared.
The entire valley trembled.
The young man looked at Evetyl.
"There is something you need to know."
"What?"
"I didn't come here to guide you."
Evetyl frowned.
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I was waiting."
"For what?"
The stranger looked at Kai.
"For him."
Kai stepped forward.
"Why?"
The young man reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small black object.
It looked like an ordinary stone.
But the moment Kai saw it...
He stopped.
His expression changed completely.
"I know that."
Evetyl looked at him.
"You do?"
Kai slowly nodded.
"I've held it before."
The stranger handed it to him.
Kai touched it.
The world disappeared.
Kai was standing alone.
The sky was red.
The ground was covered in ash.
A younger Evetyl stood before him.
She looked exhausted.
Blood covered her clothes.
Kai ran toward her.
"Evetyl!"
She looked up.
"Kai..."
He grabbed her hand.
"Where is everyone?"
She shook her head.
"Everyone is gone."
"No."
"I tried."
"You couldn't save them?"
"I couldn't."
Kai looked around.
"Then what do we do?"
Evetyl looked at him.
"Remember."
"Remember what?"
"Me."
Kai stared.
"Why?"
"Because I won't be able to."
A tear rolled down her face.
"I have to erase myself."
Kai's expression broke.
"No."
"I have to."
"No!"
She stepped closer.
"Kai..."
He shook his head.
"I won't let you."
"You can't stop me."
"Then I'll remember."
She froze.
"What?"
"I'll remember you."
"But if you remember me..."
"Then I'll find you."
"In every world."
"In every timeline."
"No matter what happens."
Evetyl stared at him.
Then she smiled through her tears.
"Promise?"
Kai nodded.
"Promise."
She touched his forehead.
The world exploded with light.
Kai opened his eyes.
He was back on the hill.
The black stone was still in his hand.
He was crying.
Evetyl stood in front of him.
She didn't ask what he had seen.
She already knew.
Kai reached for her hand.
"I remember."
Evetyl's tears finally fell.
"I remember too."
They stood quietly.
No grand speech.
No dramatic declaration.
Just two people finally remembering something they had lost.
The young man watched them.
Then he turned toward the King of Oblivion.
"Now."
The King spoke.
"You have returned."
The young man smiled.
"I never left."
The golden eye narrowed.
"You broke the law."
"I created the law."
"You abandoned the beginning."
"I protected it."
"You allowed the First Memory to forget."
"I gave her a chance to live."
The King became silent.
Then—
"Traitor."
The young man's smile disappeared.
"I was never your servant."
The sky exploded.
A wave of golden energy descended toward the valley.
The Warden immediately raised its chains.
The Curator opened his book.
The First Thing moved forward.
The First Anomaly prepared itself.
Everyone stood together.
But the young man didn't move.
Instead, he looked at Evetyl.
"There's one last thing."
Evetyl looked at him.
"What?"
"The person who created the King of Oblivion..."
He pointed toward the golden eye.
"...was you."
Evetyl's eyes widened.
"What?"
The young man continued.
"Not because you wanted to destroy memories."
"You created it because you were afraid of what would happen if everyone remembered everything."
The King roared.
The valley shook.
Evetyl stared upward.
"You created Oblivion..."
"...to protect existence from Memory."
The young man nodded.
"And now..."
"...both sides are fighting."
Evetyl slowly understood.
Memory and Oblivion.
Remembering everything.
Forgetting everything.
Neither could exist alone.
The balance had finally broken.
Kai stood beside her.
"So what happens now?"
Evetyl looked at the King.
Then at the young man.
Then at Kai.
She closed her hand around the white flower.
"We fix it."
The young man smiled.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
Suddenly, the black stone in Kai's hand cracked.
A tiny light escaped from inside.
Then another.
Then thousands.
The light formed words in the air.
Everyone stared.
It was a message.
Written by Evetyl.
But not the Evetyl standing there.
The words slowly appeared:
IF YOU HAVE REACHED THIS POINT...
THEN THE FIRST WORLD HAS RETURNED.
DO NOT TRUST THE ONE WHO BROUGHT YOU HERE.
Evetyl froze.
The next sentence appeared.
HE IS NOT THE ONE WHO REMEMBERS THE BEGINNING.
The young man's smile disappeared.
Another sentence appeared.
HE IS THE ONE WHO ERASED IT.
Kai looked at the stranger.
The stranger didn't move.
Then the final words appeared.
AND IF HE IS STANDING BESIDE YOU...
THEN THE FIRST WORLD HAS ALREADY FALLEN.
The message vanished.
Silence.
Evetyl slowly turned toward the young man.
"Who are you?"
For the first time...
He didn't smile.
He simply looked at her.
And said:
"...You finally remembered."
To Be Continued...