The light of the black flame shifted and flickered, like a pulsating heart beating in sync with the very fabric of time. Flamen could feel it seeping into his consciousness, intertwining with memories hidden even from himself.
His body trembled under the weight of this power. It felt as though he had plunged into an ocean, where the waves carried not water but the pure essence of forgotten histories.
— What is this place? — His own voice sounded foreign to him.
The darkness surrounding him was not just emptiness. It was alive. It whispered to him in thousands of voices, some familiar, some completely unknown.
— You are beyond time, — the voice of the woman who had given him the black fire echoed directly in his thoughts. — This is where what has been forgotten is kept. Here, you will find answers to the questions you never thought to ask.
Flamen turned. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and now he could see…
Trees.
They resembled those that grew in the Eternal Garden, but their trunks were not made of bark—they shimmered with shifting images. These were the shadows of events that could have happened but never became reality.
He took a step forward, and one of these memories unfolded before him.
…The glow of the silver flame… He sees himself… But it is not him. It is the person he could have been if he had made a different choice.
Flamen watched as this version of himself raised a hand, and instead of silver fire, another flame burned in his palm—pure gold, radiating not only light but absolute power.
— What is this?
— You. But not as you are now. This is who you could have been if you had once rejected the silver flame and accepted the power of the Source.
Flamen felt the realization awaken within him: this place held every possible version of reality.
And here, he could see every choice he had made.
Every loss he had suffered.
Every path he could have taken.
The Empty One and Emiren
Somewhere far beyond this space, the Empty One and Emiren stood at the border between light and darkness.
— He’s been in there too long, — the Empty One clenched his fists.
— He needs to go through this, — Emiren’s voice was calm, but deep inside, he too felt uneasy.
The darkness around them shifted like a living entity. It sensed their presence, reached out toward them, trying to pull them in.
— If he doesn’t return…
Emiren looked at the Empty One.
— He will return. But he won’t be the same as before.
Awakening the Truth
Flamen stood among the trees of memory, and the black fire in his palm began to change.
It was no longer just a shadow.
It had become part of him.
Now he understood that this fire was not a force of destruction but a truth that had been hidden from him.
His silver flame had once been part of something greater, and now he was reclaiming what had been lost.
He lifted his head.
Before him, a new path stretched into the unknown.
And he was ready to take the first step.