Chapter 29: Dreamfracture
Kazuki stood under the newly mended sky, the silence deafening.
The others gathered slowly, eyes fixed upward. The stars seemed dimmer now, like they feared the Dreamless. Shadows stretched unnaturally, twitching at the edges of light.
"We bought time," Aria said, gently holding Kazuki's hand. "But it's not over."
Noir, leaning on her staff, nodded gravely. "The Dreamless sleep uneasily now. The seal you created is strong — but only for one. The others… they're stirring."
Caelus stepped forward. "What's our next move?"
Kazuki didn't answer immediately. He turned to Aetherion, now pulsing with a faint heartbeat — as if the blade itself was thinking.
"We go to the Archives," Kazuki said. "To the Temple of Origin. If there's anything that can teach us how to stop what's coming… it's there."
Myrr's eyes widened. "But that place is sealed. Only a soul touched by the First Flame can—"
Kazuki looked at her. A flicker of golden fire danced across his fingertips.
Everyone stared.
Noir let out a breath. "Then the path is open."
---
The Temple of Origin
They traveled south, past forgotten cities swallowed by sand and storms, into a crater where the world cracked in the War of Gods. The air shimmered with ancient energy.
The Temple of Origin rose like a spine from the earth — crystalline towers woven with vines of memory. Time didn't flow there; it drifted, repeating and warping.
Kazuki stepped forward alone. The entrance flared with golden light.
Inside, the walls whispered. Visions unfolded — the birth of Aetherion, forged in the fire of Will, tempered by sacrifice.
He saw the First Flame — a primordial source that whispered the shape of every possible future. A voice greeted him.
"Welcome, bearer of Infinite Ability."
Kazuki turned, and standing before him was a projection of the first Wielder — a woman of light and stone.
"You are not ready," she said.
"I must be," Kazuki replied.
"You have faced the Void. Now you face the consequence of existence itself — the price of unending potential."
"What do I need to do?"
The woman's gaze pierced him. "You must fracture your own dream."
---
Shattered Within
The temple faded.
Kazuki stood in a mirrored world — hundreds of versions of himself stared back. Some were monstrous. Some were kind. One was dead.
From each, he heard truths he had hidden.
"You fear losing her."
"You want power because you are afraid of being powerless again."
"You don't trust your friends — not fully."
Each truth struck like a blade.
One version stepped forward — a darker Kazuki, eyes glowing red, wielding a version of Aetherion twisted into a chain.
"You could become me," it said. "And no one could stop you."
"I don't want to be you," Kazuki said.
"But you already are."
The two clashed — light against shadow. Fire against void. Every strike shattered another dream.
At last, Kazuki stood over his darker self, chest heaving.
"I am not perfect," he said. "But I choose to be more."
He drove Aetherion into the ground.
The fractured dream imploded.
---
Awakening
He returned to the Temple floor. Aria caught him as he collapsed.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I broke the illusions. Now I know who I am."
Noir stepped forward. "Then you're ready for what comes next."
Above them, the sky cracked again — this time from the inside.
And one of the Dreamless spoke.
"I remember you, Kazuki. You are mine."
---
To be continued...