Audel Emporio
As I fell from the sky, I clutched my locket—a memoir of my late wife. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember her face. The details slipped through my mind like grains of sand. Her smile, her gleaming eyes, the rose she once held—gone, lost to time. Was it guilt?
The Artifact… Choros… It pulsed with an unnatural light, as if it had been awakened. As if it were alive. As if it were me.
It fell alongside me, its petals unfurling like something eldritch, its singular eye glaring into my soul with something that almost felt like mockery.
The wind howled, drowning my voice, yet I forced my throat to utter a word.
"Void Table!"
The sky bled red. My breath caught. My body seized.
I knew this sight. I had dedicated my life to reaching this moment.
Time twisted, gravity shattered, and I was no longer falling. I was floating—no, trapped—above a vast mirror that stretched endlessly into the void. My own reflection stared back, wide-eyed, horrified, frozen.
And beyond it, an infinity of me. Countless versions, lifeless, locked in the same silent terror. Forever.
There was no time here. No motion. No escape. Minutes, hours, centuries—what did it matter? I no longer felt urgency. I no longer felt anything.
Yet one memory refused to fade. Her. My wife. Though her face was shrouded, the rose she held remained, a single ember in my crumbling mind. Had I truly remembered it? Or was this a desperate illusion, a fabricated fragment to keep me sane?
Then, a voice.
It did not echo. It did not resonate. It simply was.
"You persist. Even in ruin, you remain defiant."
I tried to speak, but I had no mouth. Yet my thoughts bled out. "Who…? The Architect? The Void Table itself?"
A deep, grinding chuckle. "You seek names? You wish to define me? How small. How insignificant."
The weight of the voice pressed against me, suffocating, as if existence itself bent beneath it.
"You amuse me, mortal. You should not exist, and yet you stand before me, unbroken. I will grant you this: A second chance. A fragmented one. You will return. But you will not be whole. Your mind, your essence, your power—scattered like dust upon the winds of time."
A cold certainty settled into my bones. "Then this is punishment."
"No. This is a lesson."
The presence seemed to draw closer without moving, as though the concept of space itself twisted at its whim.
"Struggle. Crawl. Piece yourself back together. And when the time comes, when your soul is whole again… you will stand before me once more. Then, and only then, will you understand what it means to gaze into eternity."
"And so that you may provide a good fight...Not against me or anyone. But yourself."
"Wait—!"
Before I could ask anything else, the glass beneath me shattered, and the world itself collapsed.
"Audel? Are you awake?"
I woke to those piercing glow of green eyes staring right into my soul. Maria was beside me, her hand pressed against my chest, radiating a golden light. A familiar sensation seeped into me—she was sealing my memories again, just as she had that night, trying to ease the pain.
"S-Stop," I muttered, my voice hoarse. "It won't help. These memories... they'll keep coming."
She exhaled softly, her fingers retreating as the golden glow faded. Without a word, she settled beside me, gaze fixed on the wooden table before us. A silence stretched between us, heavy with unspoken thoughts. Something gnawed at my mind. My surroundings felt unfamiliar. I turned to her. "Where are we?"
She blinked, then groaned. "Wait, did you forget—? Oh, right. My bad. Must've sealed those memories too."
A hesitant smile ghosted her lips before she continued, her tone shifting to something softer. "You came back to us with a severe headache. Then you collapsed. On—well… on my lap."
I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut in, waving a hand.
"I've been healing your mental scars since then."
A faint warmth settled in my chest, but it was quickly replaced by a cold realization as she went on.
"We've reached the northern outskirts. My father's men came to escort us. Right now, we're inside the main base of operations."
I forced myself upright, but my body failed me. A sharp pain surged through my skull, and I barely stifled a grunt. Maria's hands steadied me, her grip firm yet gentle.
"Where's Master? Where is Lord Vesti—"
A familiar presence entered the dimly lit tent. A hunched figure, cloaked in the scent of the forest, as if he had walked straight from the trails of old.
I recognized him instantly.
"O-Old man. So you really did something back there."
His lips curled into something unreadable. "I am Agrievious. Diviner of Light. An ally of Vestiron… for now."
His words carried an unsettling weight. I felt the air shift.
"Could you accompany this old man for a walk?"
Maria stiffened beside me. "He's in no conditi—"
I waved her off before she could finish. "It's fine. I'll manage."
Forcing myself up, I leaned against her shoulder. She struggled under my weight, but her expression remained steady. Strong.
Then, she pulled away, stepping toward the exit, "I'll fetch my father."
With that, she disappeared into the night.
I barely had a moment to breathe before Agrievious leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"The Diviners have taken notice of you."
The words sent a shiver down my spine. My hands clenched into fists as I met his gaze. But he wasn't finished.
"And they will use Eukaphrote to hunt you down. A single stone to kill two birds, as you mortals say."
He stepped back, watching as the realization settled in.
"A war against the peaceful nation… and to hunt you, all in one stroke."