"I never had enemies. Just consequences… of letting people live too long."
— Rahul, classified entry from the Vault of Truth
Scene 1: Dominion Citadel – Infirmary Wing
Kaien lay in silence, the Voidflame around him flickering — unstable.
Valenya paced nearby.
Aeyra sat beside him, hand on his, whispering to herself: "Don't go dark. Please don't."
Olivia stood by the door, fists clenched.
Kaien had taken a direct hit meant for her.
He wasn't unconscious.
Just… quiet.
Too quiet.
Because the Voidflame was not healing him.
Scene 2: Flashback — Rahul's Mistake
In the Book of Echoes, a new page bled into view.
It wasn't handwritten.
It was screamed onto the page.
"I spared one. I shouldn't have."
"Not the Spire."
"Not the gods."
"Him."
A silhouette appeared beside the text.
Broad shoulders. Black eyes. Identical to Rahul… but smiling wrong.
Scene 3: The Man in the Shadows
Valenya confronted a Dominion informant who had seen the cloaked man at the tournament sabotage.
"He looked like Rahul," the spy said, voice shaking.
"But colder. More... wrong."
Valenya whispered the name.
"Vael Rahn."
Olivia gasped.
"That's impossible. He was erased from Dominion records centuries ago."
Valenya: "Because Rahul erased him personally."
Scene 4: Zephyr and Aeyra – A Strange Stillness
Night.
Aeyra sat outside Kaien's room, eyes glowing faint with foresight.
Zephyr joined her, casually chewing a snack.
"You saw something again, huh?"
"I think so. But I don't understand it."
"Try me."
She looked up at him. A little scared. A little older than before.
"I saw… someone who looked like Kaien. But his eyes weren't kind."
Zephyr froze. "What was he doing?"
"Smiling. While the sky burned behind him."
Scene 5: Kaien Wakes — And Something's Wrong
Kaien opened his eyes.
The world looked… dimmer.
Not weaker.
Sharper.
He could see Olivia's heartbeat.
He could feel Aeyra's fear from the hallway.
He could hear someone watching them from five buildings away.
"What is this?" he whispered.
The Voidflame answered back:
"Evolution."
Scene 6: Olivia's Confession
Later that night, Kaien and Olivia stood on the citadel's highest balcony.
The stars felt far. Quiet. Waiting.
Olivia: "There's something I never told you."
Kaien: "I figured."
Olivia: "I met Rahul once. When I was little."
Kaien turned to her, shocked.
"He looked me in the eyes," she said, "and said:
'Tell my heir… love is the only power I never mastered.'"
Kaien's breath hitched.
"And then?" he asked.
"He gave me a gift."
She held out her hand — and a crystal bloomed in her palm.
It pulsed with Voidflame and Celestial Bloom light.
"He said… only you could unlock it."
Scene 7: The Book of Echoes – Real-Time Rewrite
Aeyra, alone in the study, watched the book open on its own.
The words rearranged.
"The future has shifted."
"The fifth will break."
"The forgotten will return."
"And Kaien… must choose which legacy he belongs to."
A final word burned across the bottom of the page:
"Rahn."
Final Scene: The Threat Speaks
In a distant realm — inside a mirror-realm built from dead gods' memories —
Vael Rahn stood, hands behind his back, surrounded by echoes of Rahul's voice.
He sneered.
"You left your crown to a boy with a heart."
He summoned a spear forged in forbidden Voidflame.
"Let's see if he survives losing it."