The Eternal Garden was left behind, as if it belonged to another world, gradually fading from memory. Now, they stood in the Boundary—a place with no beginning, no end, no time, and no space. Here, everything was fragments of former worlds, tangled into a chaotic web of reality that was constantly being born and erased.
Luminous fractures flickered in the air, like cracks in a mirror reflecting endless variations of events that could have happened but never would.
Emiren could feel that their presence here was changing the very nature of this place. It reacted to them, like a living organism sensing a new threat—or a new opportunity.
The Shadow Behind Them
Flamen turned first.
— It’s moving, — he whispered.
Emiren had felt it earlier. Something vast, invisible to the eye, had stirred in the depths of the Boundary. It wasn’t merely observing—it had awakened.
The Hollow stood still, his dark form trembling slightly as if his very being was becoming unstable.
— These… are not fractures of time, — he said quietly. — This is something more.
Flamen clenched his fists, his black flames dancing around his hands.
— If it attacks us, we’ll destroy it.
Emiren shook his head.
— You can’t just “destroy” something here. The Boundary isn’t a place where things die. Here, everything can be reborn in another form. And I don’t think we want to find out what that form would be.
His words were confirmed a moment later.
The Awakening of the Void
The space trembled.
The fractures of light, which had been glowing softly before, suddenly erupted into flashes, casting reflections of long-lost worlds in all directions.
From one of the fractures, SOMETHING emerged.
It was not merely a shadow. It was the embodiment of nothingness.
Its eyes—or what could be perceived as eyes—burned with a cold white light, detached and unfeeling. It had no fixed form, but its outline constantly shifted, taking the shapes of countless figures that appeared and vanished in an unending cycle.
— It’s not supposed to be here… — The Hollow’s voice carried something akin to fear.
Emiren realized that they were facing something that did not obey the laws of time.
A Battle Without Time
The entity took a step forward, and that was enough.
Flamen lunged into attack. His black fire burst forth like a raging river, capable of consuming everything in its path. The flames engulfed the figure, dissolving it…
But a moment later, it reappeared.
— That won’t work! — Emiren shouted.
The Hollow stepped forward. His hands dissolved into darkness, stretching toward the entity—his own shadows unfolding, merging with the surrounding void.
The space began to distort.
The entity froze. It recognized the Hollow, and the recognition was mutual.
— It is not just chaos… — the Hollow whispered. — It was once one of those who shaped reality. But now it has lost its form…
Emiren understood.
This being was not an enemy in the usual sense. It was a remnant of something ancient, forgotten even by Eternity itself.
— We must force it to take a form, — he said.
The Choice of Form
The entity wavered. Its silhouettes shifted faster.
Flamen looked at Emiren.
— And how do we do that?
Emiren had no answer.
But the Hollow did.
He stepped closer.
— It is seeking… emptiness, — he said. — It wants to find what it should be.
Flamen didn’t understand, but Emiren had a suspicion.
The Hollow extended his hand toward the entity.
— Take form. Define your place.
And then, the space erupted with light.
The entity dissolved, then reassembled.
And when the light faded, a figure stood before them.
Human.
But still undefined.
— It has chosen, — the Hollow said quietly.
— Chosen what? — Flamen asked.
Emiren stared at the figure, and in his eyes, understanding flared.
— Us.