Chapter 70: Darkness

Darkness swallowed everything.

There was no sensation of falling anymore.

No wind brushed against Kael’s face. No sound reached his ears. Even the familiar weight of his own body seemed to have vanished, leaving him suspended in an endless void.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether his eyes were open.

Then—

"Pi!"

A faint cry answered him.

"Kael!"

His heart tightened.

"Pi! Where are you?"

Something moved in the darkness. A tiny golden light flickered several meters away, appearing and disappearing like a candle struggling against an invisible wind.

Pi.

Kael reached towards it.

But before his fingers could touch the light, a silver line stretched across the darkness.

It passed between them.

And suddenly, Pi was moving farther away.

"No!"

Kael tried to move, but invisible pressure held him in place. The silver line thickened, becoming a chain that stretched into the endless darkness.

On the other side, Pi struggled desperately.

Its tiny wings beat against the empty space, while its claws reached towards Kael.

"PI!"

A voice echoed from everywhere.

"THE WITNESS MUST BE RETURNED TO ITS POSITION."

Kael’s expression hardened.

"Who said you could take it?"

The voice didn’t answer.

Instead, countless silver chains emerged from the darkness, wrapping around Pi’s small body.

Kael felt something tug at his palm.

The silver mark beneath his skin began to glow.

He immediately recognized the sensation.

Return Authority.

But he didn’t activate it.

The stranger’s warning echoed through his mind.

Whatever happens, don’t let them separate you from the Witness.

There was a reason behind those words.

And if he simply rejected the chains, he might worsen whatever was happening to the boundary.

He needed another way.

"Pi! Listen to me!"

Pi turned its mismatched eyes towards him.

"Don’t fight the chains. Look at where they’re connected!"

Pi blinked.

Then its golden eye narrowed.

A moment later, a faint bell-like sound spread through the darkness.

Kael saw it.

The chains weren’t connected to Pi.

They were connected to something behind it.

A massive circular structure appeared in the distance, its surface covered in symbols. Seven empty spaces surrounded its centre, while a single silver thread extended from each space.

Six threads were connected to the chains.

The seventh stretched towards Kael.

His expression changed.

"So that’s what you’re after."

The voice returned.

"THE CARRIER HAS RETURNED."

"THE WITNESS MUST REMAIN."

"THE PROMISE MUST BE COMPLETED."

Kael clenched his teeth.

"You’re going to have to explain what completing it means before I agree to anything."

A faint laugh echoed through the darkness.

"AGREEMENT IS NO LONGER REQUIRED."

The silver chain tightened.

Pi cried out.

And the darkness shattered.

Leon landed on one knee.

His boots scraped against a pale stone floor, and he immediately raised his sword.

"Everyone!"

"Here!" Mira answered.

Elena emerged from a distortion in the air, stumbling slightly before regaining her balance.

First User stood several meters away, his black coat barely disturbed. The Observer appeared beside a broken pillar, its crimson eyes fixed on the ceiling.

The dark-haired woman was also present.

But the stranger with the completed silver circle was nowhere to be seen.

Leon looked around.

"Where’s Kael?"

Mira extended her hand, releasing several faint spatial ripples.

"He’s nearby. I can sense his presence, but..."

"But what?" Elena asked.

Mira’s expression became increasingly serious.

"He’s somewhere that shouldn’t exist."

First User opened his black book.

Its pages turned rapidly before stopping at a blank sheet.

He stared at it.

"Impossible."

Leon approached him.

"What is it?"

"The location we’re in isn’t a physical place. It’s a space created by the first decision."

Mira frowned.

"Then how did we enter it?"

"Because the decision is being repeated."

The Observer turned its masked face towards him.

"Not repeated. Reconstructed."

First User’s eyes narrowed.

"There’s a difference?"

"One is an attempt to make the same choice again. The other is an attempt to restore the circumstances that forced it."

The woman remained silent.

Elena looked towards her.

"Do you know what’s happening?"

The woman finally spoke.

"They’re trying to bring the promise back to its original form."

Leon tightened his grip on his sword.

"And what happens if they succeed?"

The woman looked towards the endless white corridor ahead.

"Then everything the first decision separated will attempt to return."

Mira’s face paled slightly.

"You mean the previous world?"

"Not just the world."

The woman lowered her gaze.

"Everything that was surrendered with it."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Leon asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Would that destroy this world?"

The Observer answered.

"Yes."

First User closed his book.

"And possibly more than this world."

A deep vibration travelled through the floor.

The white corridor stretched into the distance, and seven enormous doors appeared along its walls.

Six were already open.

The seventh remained closed.

A black inscription slowly appeared above it.

THE CARRIER AND THE WITNESS MUST BE REUNITED.

Mira stared at the words.

"That’s where Kael is."

First User nodded.

"More accurately, that’s where the promise expects him to be."

Leon started walking.

"Then let’s get him."

"Wait."

The Observer’s voice stopped him.

Leon turned.

"What now?"

"That door is not asking us to enter."

The Observer raised one hand.

"It’s asking us to choose which side of the promise we belong to."

Kael felt the pressure increasing.

Pi was now barely visible.

The silver chains had pulled it towards the enormous circular structure, where a dark opening had appeared.

Something waited beyond it.

He couldn’t see its shape, but he could feel its attention.

"Pi!"

The creature struggled.

"Kael!"

That single word made his expression change.

Pi had spoken before, but hearing it now, while being pulled away from him, made something uncomfortable tighten in his chest.

He had no intention of losing it.

Not after everything they had experienced together.

Kael looked at the silver thread extending from the seventh space.

Unlike the others, it wasn’t attached to the circular structure.

It was attached to his palm.

And the silver mark was responding.

He remembered the stranger’s explanation.

Every time he rejected an outcome, he weakened the boundary between what remained and what had been surrendered.

Perhaps the structure wasn’t trying to separate him from Pi because it needed the Witness.

Perhaps it needed him to repeat the first decision.

And Pi was the condition required to make it happen.

Kael slowly closed his hand.

"You’re not taking Pi."

The darkness trembled.

"THE WITNESS WAS LEFT BEHIND."

"Then it can decide whether it wants to leave."

"THE WITNESS HAS ALREADY CHOSEN."

Kael’s gaze sharpened.

"That’s not your decision to make."

The silver mark burned.

A thin crack spread beneath his wrist.

But before he could do anything, a familiar voice came from behind him.

"You’re still making the same mistake."

Kael turned.

The stranger stood several meters away.

His complete silver circle glowed faintly, and the eye in its centre seemed to follow every movement.

Kael exhaled.

"You’re late."

The stranger glanced at the chains.

"I was delayed."

"By what?"

"Something that shouldn’t have been able to find me."

His expression grew serious.

"Listen carefully. That structure isn’t trying to take Pi away."

Kael looked at him.

"Then what is it doing?"

"It’s trying to restore the position you occupied when the promise was made."

The stranger raised his hand.

The eye in his palm opened.

For a brief moment, the darkness revealed another scene.

A circular room.

Seven chairs.

Six figures standing around them.

And a young man with Kael’s face standing before a small creature.

Pi.

The young man was holding something in his hand.

A silver quill.

Kael’s breathing slowed.

"What is that?"

"A memory."

"Whose?"

The stranger lowered his hand.

"Yours."

Kael stared at him.

The stranger continued.

"You were not standing there to make the first decision. You were standing there because you had to carry it out. But before that happened, you made a promise."

Kael looked towards Pi.

"What did I promise?"

"That the next beginning wouldn’t demand another sacrifice."

A bitter expression crossed the stranger’s face.

"You wanted a world where the people who remained wouldn’t have to lose you, and the people who were surrendered wouldn’t have to disappear forever."

"Then why can’t we have that?"

"Because the promise was changed."

The stranger glanced towards the silver chains.

"And whoever changed it is trying to make sure you never discover the difference."

A sudden impact shook the darkness.

The circular structure began rotating.

The stranger’s expression changed.

"We’re running out of time."

He extended his hand towards Kael.

"Don’t use Return Authority. Not here."

Kael didn’t take his hand immediately.

"Then how do we get Pi back?"

The stranger looked at the creature.

"Let the Witness remember."

Pi’s golden eye brightened.

The chains trembled.

A sound emerged from its tiny body.

Not a cry.

Not a roar.

A bell.

The same sound that had once shaken the masked entity beneath Aetheris.

The darkness rippled.

Images began appearing around them.

A ruined city.

A white room.

A house with rain falling against its windows.

A young man sitting beside a desk.

And a woman standing behind him.

Pi’s eyes widened.

"Home..."

The silver chains loosened.

The circular structure shuddered.

Kael felt something pass through his mind.

Not a complete memory.

A feeling.

Warmth.

Regret.

And the unmistakable sensation of having waited for someone for a very long time.

Pi’s voice came again.

"Not... alone."

The stranger looked towards it.

For the first time, his expression softened.

"No. You weren’t."

The creature’s wings spread.

A second bell rang.

This time, the silver chains began breaking.

But the structure reacted immediately.

"THE WITNESS HAS REMEMBERED."

"THE CARRIER MUST COMPLETE THE DECISION."

A massive black hand emerged from the opening.

Its fingers reached towards Pi.

The stranger stepped forward.

"Kael Now!"

Kael understood.

He didn’t need to reject the chains.

He needed to cut the connection.

He summoned the silver quill.

Its familiar shape appeared in his hand, though the moment it materialized, the entire space seemed to recognize it.

The black hand stopped.

A voice whispered.

"THE CUTTER HAS RETURNED."

Kael ignored it.

He examined the chains.

There were seven connections.

Six were attached to the circular structure.

The seventh was attached to his palm.

He couldn’t cut all of them at once.

But he didn’t need to.

He only needed to sever the connection that allowed the structure to command Pi.

Kael raised the quill.

"Pi! One more time!"

The creature understood.

Its golden eye flashed.

The chains vibrated, revealing their hidden connections.

Kael moved.

The quill swept through the darkness.

A thin silver line appeared.

Then another.

The seventh connection snapped.

The circular structure stopped rotating.

For an instant, everything became silent.

Then the black hand withdrew.

Pi flew towards Kael.

He caught the little creature against his chest, feeling its tiny claws grip his clothing.

"You’re okay?"

Pi nodded.

"Pi!"

Kael let out a breath.

"Good."

The stranger watched them.

But his relief didn’t last.

The circular structure began cracking.

A voice emerged from within it.

Not the earlier voice.

This one was deeper.

Older.

And strangely familiar.

"THE CARRIER HAS REUNITED WITH THE WITNESS."

"THE FIRST DECISION CANNOT BE COMPLETED."

The stranger’s expression turned grim.

"That’s not good."

Kael looked at him.

"What’s happening?"

"The structure was supposed to keep the promise intact. Now that you’ve severed its authority over Pi, something else will take control."

A crack spread across the circular structure.

A single silver eye appeared within it.

Then—

"THE ORIGINAL CLAIMANT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED."

The stranger immediately turned towards the darkness.

"No."

The eye opened wider.

"THE CLAIM MUST BE RETURNED TO ITS ORIGIN."

Kael’s grip tightened around Pi.

"Who are you talking about?"

The stranger didn’t answer.

Instead, he looked towards the darkness behind Kael.

A familiar figure stood there.

The dark-haired woman.

Her tired eyes were fixed on him.

For a moment, she looked almost relieved.

Then she spoke.

"Kael."

He turned fully towards her.

The stranger stepped between them.

"Don’t listen to her."

The woman frowned.

"You still haven’t changed."

"And you still believe you can decide what happens to him."

Her expression hardened.

"I never wanted him to suffer."

"Neither did I."

The two stared at each other.

Kael looked between them.

"Enough. Both of you."

Neither moved.

He took a step forward.

"Everyone keeps talking about my promise as if it’s something that belongs to them. One person changed it. Another wants to restore it. And now something wants me to complete a decision I barely remember."

His voice grew colder.

"I’m done being moved around like a piece on someone else’s board."

The woman looked at him.

"Then remember."

The stranger immediately shook his head.

"Don’t."

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

The stranger lowered his gaze.

"Because the moment you remember the entire promise, you’ll understand why you asked me to stop you."

Before Kael could respond, the floor beneath them cracked.

The seven doors appeared again.

But this time, something stood behind each one.

Six silhouettes.

And a seventh figure whose face was hidden behind a smooth white mask.

The stranger’s expression changed.

"That’s impossible."

The masked figure raised its head.

A familiar voice emerged.

"THE CARRIER HAS RETURNED."

"THE WITNESS HAS BEEN FOUND."

"THE PROMISE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED."

The dark-haired woman took a step backwards.

Even the stranger seemed unsettled.

Kael looked at the masked figure.

"Who are you?"

The figure slowly raised one hand.

On its palm was a silver circle.

But unlike the stranger’s, its circle was incomplete.

And at its centre was a broken chain.

"I AM THE ONE WHO REMAINED AFTER THE PROMISE."

The stranger’s face turned pale.

"That can’t be..."

The masked figure tilted its head.

"YOU HAVE RETURNED TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU LEFT ME."

A cold sensation travelled down Kael’s spine.

Pi buried its face against his chest.

Then, in a voice barely louder than a whisper, it spoke.

"Not... him."

Kael looked down.

"What?"

Pi raised its head.

Its golden eye was trembling.

"Not... supposed... to wake."

The masked figure extended its hand.

And every door opened at once.

"WELCOME BACK, CARRIER."

"NOW, LET US REMEMBER WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND."