The candlelight flickered as Kai stepped into the vast chamber. The air was thick with the scent of old parchment and something else something ancient and electric. Shadows stretched across the walls, their forms shifting like silent observers of a long-forgotten truth.
The Keeper of the Veil stood in the center, her hooded cloak making her appear like a statue carved from time itself. Her silver eyes met Kai's, filled with the weight of centuries.
"You have come," she murmured, her voice echoing in the chamber as if the walls themselves acknowledged his arrival.
Kai clenched his fists. He had come all this way for answers, and he wasn't leaving without them. "You said I was bound by fate. That this" he gestured to the Celestial Echo slung over his back " was the key to my past. So tell me. Who am I? Who was she?"
The Keeper tilted her head slightly, as if considering his request. Then, with a slow motion of her hand, the torches around the room flared brighter. The shadows trembled, and then they moved no, shifted as images formed within them.
A grand ballroom bathed in golden light.
A woman in silver, her laughter like a melody.
A masked figure in the distance, watching. Waiting.
Kai's breath hitched. He knew this scene. He had seen it in his visions. But this time, he could feel it the warmth of the room, the soft fabric of his sleeve as he reached out for her.
"You were once a prince," the Keeper said, her voice as smooth as flowing water. "Not of this world, but of a kingdom that exists between time. And she was your queen."
Kai swallowed hard. A prince? A queen? It sounded like a storybook tale, yet every part of him screamed that it was real. He could see her clearer now her eyes, like galaxies, locked onto his. And then
Betrayal.
A sharp pain bloomed in his chest. He gasped as the vision twisted fire, screams, the echo of a name that refused to form on his lips.
"No!" Kai staggered back, gripping the Celestial Echo. His heartbeat roared in his ears. He could feel the agony of losing her, of being too late
The vision shattered. The room returned to silence, except for Kai's ragged breathing.
He turned to the Keeper, anger and desperation colliding inside him. "What happened? Who did this?"
She watched him with an unreadable expression. "You were betrayed, Kai. By someone close to you."
His blood ran cold. "Who?"
The Keeper stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You will remember when the time is right. But beware history has a way of repeating itself."
Kai clenched his jaw. He refused to let the past control him. If he had lost her once, he wouldn't lose her again.
He straightened, determination hardening in his chest. "Then tell me how to stop it."
The Keeper gave a small smile, as if she had been waiting for him to ask. "The answers lie within the Celestial Echo. But to unlock them, you must be willing to face the truth even if it destroys you."
A cold shiver ran down Kai's spine. He didn't care what it took. He would find her. He would save her.
Even if it meant unraveling everything he thought he knew about himself.