The Codex Pathway wound like an infinite library across a void untouched by time. Every step Elara took led her deeper into a memory engine designed not by mortals but by reality itself—fragments of entire identities floated in capsules along the walls, coded in glowing filaments of language older than stars.
Beside her, Astra swept her hand across a glyph-stone that pulsed softly, reading memories aloud. "This one's from Kael's childhood. Earth-Prime. His first moment of drift-sight."
"It's working," Elara said. "We're close."
Further ahead, Korr called out. "I found a vault. Central chamber."
The team regrouped before an immense door suspended in air, its shape constantly changing, adapting to the consciousness approaching it. Lira stepped forward, eyes glowing. "Kael encoded this. I recognize the harmonic signature."
A glyph emerged from her wristpad, drawn from Kael's echo earlier. It interfaced with the door—singing to it, in a sense. Light spread across the surface, and the vault slowly opened.
Inside was darkness at first… then light.
A massive chamber bloomed open, revealing a single floating core—shimmering with layered energy. Within it, a ghostly figure took shape: Kael, not fully formed, but unmistakably him. His features were calm, but his eyes flickered with fear.
"Elara… Lira…" The voice echoed as though pulled through centuries.
"Kael!" Elara rushed forward, but the figure recoiled.
"No—listen. I don't have long. This is my root. What remains of the original me after I fractured myself to save the realms."
"You're still in the echoes," Lira said. "Alive, but fading."
Kael nodded. "The Architect's code is spreading. But worse—he is watching."
"The Firstbreaker," Elara said. "We've seen it."
"I cracked the multiverse," Kael said, voice shaking. "But he… broke the void. His hunger was never ended. He feeds on creation's collapse."
"You left us this for a reason," Lira pressed. "Why?"
"Because I knew I wouldn't survive. But if you could reach this chamber, you could use me to rebuild."
Elara stared. "Rebuild what?"
"The Keystone. The central node of the multiverse. But this time, woven not from equations... but from people. From us. My echoes must reunite. And I'll need your help to hold them together."
A violent tremor shook the chamber. The Codex darkened.
"He's here," Kael whispered. "He's breaching it."
Darkness poured from the edges of the chamber like ink bleeding into water. A form emerged, impossibly large, uncoiling with jagged limbs and a face of shifting void.
The Firstbreaker had arrived.
"GO!" Kael roared. "Take the core! I'll hold him!"
"But—" Elara reached out.
"No time!"
With a pulse, the root Kael sent his essence into a containment drive Lira had prepared. The Codex shattered around them as the Firstbreaker lunged forward.
And then the world turned black.