The world tore open, and the memory that had slumbered within its depths awakened.
Emiren, Flamen, and the one who had once been the Empty stood amidst a storm of light and shadow. The space around them wasn’t just shifting—it was unfolding, like a book whose pages were woven from events that had taken place long before their birth.
— What is this? — Flamen’s voice was muffled, as if the light itself was swallowing it.
— The world’s memories, — replied the one who knew his name. — The moment when everything changed.
Before them, a scene from beyond time began to take shape.
The Fall of the First Garden
They stood on the threshold of another reality, where the first Eternal Garden had once flourished. But it was not as they remembered it.
The luminous trees, which in their own time resembled shimmering spirals of time, were different here—more real, more powerful. Their branches stretched into infinity, intertwining to form an unbreakable web of existence.
And among them stood those who had once been called the Creators.
— They… are different from us, — Emiren whispered.
Flamen remained silent, his gaze fixed on the figures that were both familiar and impossibly distant. They radiated serenity, certainty—and something more.
They did not merely control time.
They were its essence.
— Were we meant to become like them? — Flamen finally spoke, his voice trembling.
— No, — the one who remembered replied. — They were the first. But even they could not contain the chaos.
And then they saw what had happened.
The Death of the First Creator
Among the Creators stood one who was different from the others. His form was unstable, as if he doubted his very nature.
Emiren felt his chest tighten.
— He… is like the Empty.
— Yes, — the other confirmed.
Flamen’s expression darkened.
— Did he become empty because he lost something important?
— He became empty because he doubted that his existence had meaning.
And then they saw it unfold.
That Creator made a choice—he severed the thread of his own being, releasing chaos into the world. The others tried to stop him, but it was too late.
The Garden trembled.
Time fractured.
And the Creator, who no longer believed in himself, dissolved into the void.
— This was the moment when the Emptiness was born, — the one who had been Empty whispered. — And with it, the balance was lost.
A Choice That Repeats
Light flared again, and they returned to their own reality.
But the weight of loss remained.
Emiren could feel something shifting in the very fabric of space. The echoes of the past still reverberated through their present.
Flamen looked at the one who had remembered his name.
— You’re afraid you’ll become empty again, aren’t you?
He didn’t answer immediately. His eyes, once endless voids, now reflected the light.
— I fear that this choice is inevitable.
— No, — Emiren said firmly. — We will not repeat their mistake.
Flamen glanced at him and slowly nodded.
— If the choice is inevitable, we will create a new one.
The world around them held its breath.
The final step awaited them.