The darkness swallowed them.
Kael could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet.
There was no wind.
No sound.
No sense of direction.
Only the faint glow of the seven flowers on his Gardener's Key remained.
He reached forward.
His fingers touched nothing.
Yet he knew the others were still there.
Aren.
Lyra.
Selene.
Caelum.
Seraphine.
Mira.
And Rowan.
None of them spoke.
The darkness seemed to punish sound.
Every word disappeared before it could travel.
Then Kael heard footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
Someone was walking toward them.
Kael raised his Key.
The seven flowers brightened.
A figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
A child.
A boy around seven years old.
Barefoot.
Wearing a simple white shirt.
His hair was black.
His eyes were silver.
And in his hands...
He held a wooden flower.
Kael stopped breathing.
The boy looked at him.
Then smiled.
"You're late."
Kael stared.
"Who are you?"
The boy tilted his head.
"You really don't remember?"
"No."
"That's unfortunate."
The boy walked closer.
Rowan immediately stepped in front of Kael.
"Don't."
The boy looked at him.
"You're still here?"
Rowan's face changed.
"You know me?"
"I remember you."
"From when?"
The boy smiled.
"Before you became a Gardener."
Rowan froze.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
The boy ignored him.
He looked at the seven flowers on Kael's Key.
"One."
The first flower glowed gold.
"Two."
The second became silver.
"Three."
Blue.
"Four."
Emerald.
"Five."
Crimson.
"Six."
Black.
Then he touched the seventh.
White.
"Seven."
The boy smiled.
"All of them."
Kael tightened his grip.
"What are you?"
The boy answered simply.
"The Dreamer."
Silence.
Even Seraphine stopped calculating.
The child standing before them was the entity that had created the world.
The being whose awakening threatened to erase everything.
Yet...
He looked like an ordinary child.
Kael studied him.
"You're the one who knows me."
The Dreamer nodded.
"I know many versions of you."
"How many?"
The child smiled.
"Enough."
Kael stepped closer.
"Then tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"Who am I?"
The Dreamer's smile disappeared.
"You don't want that answer."
"Try me."
"You'll hate it."
"I've heard worse."
The Dreamer looked toward the darkness.
"Perhaps."
He raised his hand.
The darkness changed.
Suddenly, Kael stood in a forest.
Not the forest near the academy.
Not the First Garden.
Not anywhere he recognized.
Trees stretched endlessly toward the horizon.
The sky was dark.
Snow covered the ground.
A small boy sat beneath a tree.
Kael stared.
The boy looked exactly like him.
Seven years old.
Alone.
Holding a wooden flower.
Kael's heart tightened.
"That's me."
The Dreamer nodded.
"One of you."
The scene changed.
The boy grew older.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
He trained.
He fought.
He traveled.
He became a Gardener.
The scene changed again.
Another Kael.
Another world.
Another life.
Another ending.
Some died young.
Some became kings.
Some became monsters.
Some became gods.
Some never became Gardeners.
Some never even learned magic.
The visions continued.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Millions.
Kael watched himself live countless lives.
Then—
The images stopped.
One version remained.
An older Kael stood before the Dreamer.
He carried the same seven-flowered Key.
But his seventh flower was black.
The older Kael looked exhausted.
His clothes were torn.
Blood covered his hands.
Behind him stood seven World Trees.
All dead.
The older Kael looked at the Dreamer.
"You promised."
The Dreamer answered.
"I tried."
"You promised you would remember."
"I did."
"Then why did you forget me?"
The Dreamer said nothing.
The older Kael raised his Key.
"Again."
The world shattered.
Kael returned to the darkness.
He was breathing heavily.
Nobody spoke.
Then Rowan whispered,
"That was the first Gardener."
Kael looked at him.
"The first?"
Rowan nodded.
"The one before me."
Kael stared at the Dreamer.
"You said there were seven."
"There are."
"Then why did I see more than seven versions?"
The Dreamer smiled.
"Because Gardeners aren't people."
Kael frowned.
"What?"
"They're roles."
The Dreamer touched Kael's chest.
"You are not the first Kael."
"You won't be the last."
The heartbeat trembled.
"...That's why."
Kael looked toward it.
"Why what?"
The little light whispered,
"...I remember you."
Kael's expression softened.
"You've been with me before?"
The heartbeat pulsed.
"Not this you."
The Dreamer corrected.
"But the same soul."
Kael went silent.
His entire journey suddenly felt different.
The strange connection to the Gardener's Key.
The heartbeat.
The World Tree.
The visions.
The instinctive understanding of things he had never learned.
It wasn't coincidence.
He had done this before.
Perhaps many times.
But something was wrong.
"If I've done this before..."
Kael looked at the dead trees in the vision.
"...why did I fail?"
The Dreamer looked at him.
"Because you tried to save everyone."
Kael frowned.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Everything."
The child walked past him.
"You cannot save everyone."
"You cannot protect every world."
"You cannot carry every memory."
"You cannot stop every death."
"Every previous version of you eventually learned that."
Kael looked toward the seven flowers.
"Then why am I still here?"
The Dreamer smiled.
"Because this time..."
"...you haven't tried."
Kael understood.
Asterion.
He could have forced it to remain.
He could have resurrected everyone.
Instead, he let them go.
He had chosen memory over possession.
The Dreamer looked pleased.
"You finally learned."
"Learned what?"
"That a Gardener doesn't own the garden."
The darkness trembled.
The Dreamer's expression suddenly changed.
He looked frightened.
Kael immediately noticed.
"What?"
The Dreamer stared upward.
"It's waking."
"Who?"
The child didn't answer.
The entire darkness shook.
A sound like distant thunder rolled through the void.
Rowan stepped closer.
"No."
"What?"
"It shouldn't be able to reach this place."
Seraphine looked around.
"Something is entering the dream."
Caelum's eyes turned silver.
"I see it."
Aren drew his sword.
"Where?"
Caelum pointed upward.
"There."
A crack appeared.
Not in the sky.
There was no sky.
The crack appeared in reality itself.
Something black pushed through.
A hand.
Then another.
Then a head.
A humanoid figure emerged from the fracture.
Its body was covered in black roots.
Its face had no eyes.
Only a vertical mouth.
It looked at Kael.
Then spoke.
"Seven."
The Dreamer moved behind Kael.
For the first time...
The entity looked genuinely afraid.
The creature continued.
"Seven Gardeners."
"Seven Seeds."
"Seven Dreams."
Its mouth opened wider.
"And one mistake."
Kael raised his Key.
"Who are you?"
The creature tilted its head.
Then answered.
"The one that comes after the Gardeners."
The seventh flower on Kael's Key went completely dark.
The heartbeat screamed.
"...Run!"
Kael had never heard it sound so terrified.
The creature smiled.
"We finally found you."
Then the darkness exploded.
Kael was thrown backward.
Aren crashed into him.
Lyra's barrier shattered instantly.
Selene's book flew away.
Mira's pages scattered.
Caelum drew his sword.
Seraphine's calculations filled the darkness.
Rowan raised his own Gardener's Key.
The Dreamer screamed.
"WAKE UP!"
The world shattered.
Kael opened his eyes.
He was standing in a city.
The city was burning.
The white World Tree had become black.
The moon was gone.
The people were running.
Aren stood beside him.
Lyra was breathing heavily.
Selene clutched her book.
Caelum and Seraphine were already fighting something in the distance.
Mira was gathering her pages.
Rowan stared at the sky.
Kael looked upward.
The Dreamer was gone.
The false world was collapsing.
But something remained.
The black creature stood at the center of the city.
And behind it...
Seven black roots pierced the sky.
Kael's Gardener's Key began cracking.
The Dreamer appeared beside him for only a moment.
His childlike face was filled with fear.
"Kael."
"What?"
"I lied."
Kael stared.
"About what?"
The Dreamer looked toward the seven black roots.
"This world wasn't my dream."
He looked at Kael.
"It was my prison."
Then the Dreamer disappeared.
Kael's expression changed.
The black creature raised one hand.
The entire city stopped.
Every citizen turned toward Kael.
One by one...
Their faces changed.
They became versions of him.
Children.
Adults.
Old men.
Warriors.
Kings.
Monsters.
Gardeners.
Millions of Kaels stared at him.
Then all of them spoke together.
"Come back."
Kael's blood ran cold.
"Come back to what?"
The millions of faces smiled.
"To the beginning."
The black roots exploded outward.
And the entire world...
began rewinding.