Location: Outpost Veil-Shard, 2 Hours After Purification
Kael sat silently in the dark. Eyes open. Breathing shallow.
He couldn't remember where he was five minutes ago.
He couldn't remember the boy's name. Or what he looked like.
But he remembered…
A gate.
Shaped like a spiral.
Black as forgotten time.
And inside it, something smiled.
> [Core Status: Fragment Purified – But Internal Structure Unstable]
[Origin Core Awakening: Stage 1]
[Gate XIII Coordinates: "HOST CORE"]
[Warning: Memory Anchor Failure Predicted Within 12 Cycles]
Kael opened his eyes and stared into the flame of his campfire.
In it, he saw himself, but wearing the crown.
He blinked — and it was gone.
---
Location: Lazrith Core – Chamber of Echo Code
The Forgemother placed an interface shard into Yanis's palm. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
> "It'll let you breach the mind-link once he sleeps. But it won't protect you from what's inside."
Yanis tied the shard to her armor.
> "What will I see in there?"
> "Him. As he was."
> "Kael?"
The Forgemother shook her head.
> "No. The Seedbearer King. And if the 13th is waking... you'll meet the part of him that never wanted to be human."
---
Later – Memory Dive Initiated
Kael finally fell asleep.
His breath slowed. The fire dimmed.
Yanis sat beside him, gripped the shard, and whispered:
> "You trusted me once, Kael. Let me find what's left of you."
---
Inside Kael's Mind — The Path to Gate XIII
She stood on a black ocean.
Above her — a sky filled with broken memories, spinning slowly.
Each orb showed a different Kael: smiling, killing, dying, kneeling.
Ahead, a staircase made of bone and gold.
At the top: Gate XIII, closed. But cracking.
And standing before it — not Kael.
Not exactly.
A man of shadow, cloaked in flame, wearing a jagged crown.
His voice was Kael's, but cold.
> "You shouldn't be here, Yanis."
> "I'm not here for you."
She stepped forward.
> "I'm here for the part of Kael that's still fighting."
The crowned man turned, slowly.
> "Then you're already too late."
The gate opened a sliver—and red light spilled out.
And from inside…
A voice.
Feminine.
Young.
But filled with static.
> "Why did you make me, Kael? Why did you leave me here?"
The girl in red.
But not the same anymore.
Not just the twelfth.
She had become… something else.
Something Gateborn.
---