The world outside turned in silence.
The stars blinked above as if holding their breath, the multiverse temporarily at peace after the storm. But here, in the endless sanctuary below the Earth's crust — beneath mountains older than memory, in a garden forged of ash and starlight — time flowed differently.
And for the first time in countless battles, **Belenus**, the Ashen King, chose rest.
---
### **Narration – Belenus**
I had wielded fire enough to scorch reality.
I had survived the Pale Serpent.
Fused with Lunadora to slay the Unraveler.
Fought in the Tournament of Power.
Challenged gods and torn through timelines.
But I had not lived.
Not *truly.*
So I asked **Andarta** — my system, my guide, my reflection — to create a sanctuary where I could retreat into the deepest part of Hollow Earth. A timeless bastion where I would not be hunted or worshipped. Where I could understand *who I was becoming*.
And she answered.
---
### **Time Dilation Core – Garden of Embers**
Constructed from dimensional rootstones and burning crystalline branches, the Garden of Embers existed at the very heart of Hollow Earth. It defied logic and physics: a space enclosed by golden clouds and lunar winds, where gravity bent and stars bloomed like flowers in the sky.
**Time Dilation Ratio: 1 to 100,000**
Every minute outside equaled nearly **69 days** inside.
Two Earth years = **140,000 years** of time within.
This was not exile.
This was a crucible of peace.
---
### **Lunadora – Voice of the Storm**
She arrived wrapped in moonfire and wings of nebulae, no longer simply the female Ghidorah, but my counterpart — my storm of silver to match my blaze of crimson.
Her voice had once shaken worlds.
Now it soothed the soul.
> "So much fire, my king," she whispered, tracing a clawed hand down my chest. "Do you finally rest… or is this merely the eye of the next storm?"
> "It's both," I said. "I want to find something more than war."
---
### **A Place of Becoming**
Together, we built the Garden:
* **Fields of Astral Flame**: wildflowers that shimmered with aurora colors, each singing softly when touched.
* **Obsidian Pools**: reflecting not only our faces, but our memories — past, future, and moments unlived.
* **Floating Peaks**: platforms for combat training, perfecting our synchronized fusion forms.
* **Shrines to Fallen Titans**: memories honored, engraved in myth-metal and ashstone.
And in the center, a temple.
A place *not* of worship… but of **balance.**
---
### **Human Forms**
Over the centuries inside the Garden, Lunadora and I mastered the art of *total form convergence*. We manifested human bodies — still divine, but capable of walking among mortals.
Her eyes glowed with swirling galaxies.
My skin shimmered with embers and voidlight.
We laughed for the first time in ages.
We shared stories, dreams… and even crafted dreams we'd never dared imagine:
A **family**.
A **future**.
A **legacy.**
---
### **Children of Fire and Storm (Foreshadowing)**
> "What would they look like?" she asked one twilight, watching energy wisp through her fingers like fireflies.
> "Parts of us," I said. "But entirely their own. Titans born not of destruction… but purpose."
> "They would be watched," she said. "Feared. Loved. Hunted."
> "Then let them be **stronger** than fear."
We didn't speak it aloud, but we both *knew*.
The time of our children would come.
And they would inherit a broken cosmos… unless we forged a better one.
---
### **A New Flame Forged**
As the centuries blurred, Andarta kept silent, watching and recording.
And when the time came — when two Earth years had finally passed — she spoke once more.
> **\[System Update: Time Dilation Complete. You have achieved a new internal state.]**
> **\[Title Acquired: The Eternal Sovereign]**
> **\[Fusion Trait Evolved: Ashen Storm Resonance – You and Lunadora now possess a joint soul core.]**
> **\[Seed of Inheritance Activated.]**
I stepped out from the Temple of Flame, wrapped in layers of living armor shaped by peace and power alike. Lunadora floated beside me, her form elegant, timeless.
We were no longer merely titans.
We were **the future's origin.**
---
### **Outside – Two Years Later**
The multiverse had shifted slightly. Rifts now shimmered faintly in distant skies. A new threat stirred. Something that remembered the Unraveler… something **older.**
But I was no longer alone.
And this time, I would burn the darkness *before* it touched the ones I loved.