"A thread tangled is not a thread cut. Even the lost can find their way back to the loom of destiny."
The forest was still dark when Ryuxian left.
The morning mist curled around his feet as he moved silently through the trees, his senses heightened. He didn't look back at the hut, nor at Zain and Grandpa. If he did, he might hesitate.
This is for the best.
He had left behind the venom—a part of himself—hoping it would help Grandpa. But whether it would work or not, he didn't know.
All he knew was that it was time to move forward.
---
The Weight of Fate
Ryuxian exhaled, shaking his head.
His Fate Weaver power had revealed something terrifying.
The red thread behind Grandpa had been weak—almost nonexistent. If it really meant his life was fading, then it was possible the venom could delay it.
But that wasn't what troubled him most.
The more he focused on his ability, the more he saw the threads.
Thin strands of fate, connecting people, places, and even objects. Some were vibrant, full of life. Others were tattered, close to breaking.
And some… were completely severed.
Ryuxian had tried not to let it get to him. After all, he was once just a snake. A predator. What did he care about fate?
But now, as a human, he could feel things differently.
Connections. Bonds. The weight of life itself.
And something is pulling me forward.
---
The Calling of the Cave
The cave was his next destination.
He could feel it. A faint pull at his core.
Was it because he had once lived there? Or was it something else?
Ryuxian moved swiftly, his steps light. The further he walked, the stronger the sensation grew—an invisible force guiding him deeper into the wilderness.
After an hour of walking, he reached the rocky entrance of the cave. The place where he had once curled up as a snake, hidden from the world.
But something felt… different.
The air was heavier. Charged.
As if fate itself was waiting for him.
He stepped inside.
---
"To awaken is to remember. But to remember is to face the truth that was buried."
The cave was silent, save for the faint dripping of water.
Ryuxian ran his fingers along the cold stone, memories flickering in his mind. He had once slithered through these tunnels, hunting in the dark, unaware of the power within him.
Now, standing here as a human, he felt… incomplete.
> What am I?
A serpent who became human? A human who once was a beast?
Or something in between?
His fingers curled into a fist.
Then—
A faint glow.
Ryuxian's breath hitched.
At the far end of the cave, embedded in the wall, was something he hadn't noticed before. A cluster of obsidian stones, pulsing faintly with an eerie blue light.
> What… is this?
He stepped closer, reaching out.
The moment his fingertips brushed the surface, something shifted inside him.
A memory. A vision.
And then—
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Darkness enveloped Ryuxian.
It wasn't the kind of darkness that came with nightfall—it was deeper. It felt ancient. Alive.
His body felt weightless, floating in a void that stretched infinitely in every direction.
Then, a voice echoed.
> "You have returned."
Ryuxian's breath hitched.
He turned, but there was nothing. Only shadows shifting like liquid. Then—suddenly—a shape emerged.
A massive serpent, its scales gleaming like obsidian, coiled in the endless void. Its golden eyes locked onto him, unblinking, as if peering into his very soul.
The Celestial Serpent…?
---
A Memory or a Warning?
The serpent's mouth didn't move, yet the voice rumbled in his mind.
"You do not remember… but you were once part of me."
Ryuxian's heart pounded.
> Part of… you?
Suddenly, images flashed before his eyes—fragments of a past he couldn't understand.
A temple high in the mountains.
A ritual bathed in moonlight.
A child—with golden eyes, just like the serpent's—standing before a circle of robed figures.
"Fate was rewritten that night."
The serpent's voice was neither kind nor cruel. It was absolute.
"You were cast down. Torn from divinity. Forced into a mortal shell."
Ryuxian staggered back.
> I was… what?!
The images kept coming.
The temple burned. The child screamed. And then—darkness.
When the vision cleared, Ryuxian found himself standing before the massive serpent again. His chest rose and fell rapidly.
"Why are you showing me this?"
The serpent's golden eyes narrowed.
"Because your thread of fate is not broken—it is merely tangled. You must decide what path to take."
---
The Choice
The void trembled.
The obsidian stones around Ryuxian pulsed, their glow intensifying. He felt something shift inside him—like an ancient power awakening.
Then, the serpent's voice came one last time.
> "Now you're the Weaver of Fate. But now, your destiny is your own."
Ryuxian gasped as the darkness shattered—
And suddenly, he was back in the cave, collapsed on the floor.
The glow of the obsidian stones had faded. His body felt heavy, his mind foggy. But one thing was clear.
He wasn't just a serpent that became human.
He was something more.
And now, he had a choice.
To remain as he was…
Or to reclaim the power that was once his.
"The past whispers not to chain you, but to remind you that some doors must be opened before they can be closed." The words echoed therew the cave. Ryuxian heart raced but he's very determined that he not going to care about anything as long it's serve him. He reminded himself no matter what the temptations, I'm not a child to look over or go around, I know what I want since it's true or not I don't care.
"You are neither who you were nor who they made you. You are who you choose to become."