The snow bit hard as Kaito and Riven climbed the ice-crusted cliffs of Eryndor. Jagged peaks loomed around them, silent and sacred. This was a land untouched by time—a place where whispers rode the wind and prophecies slept beneath the ice.
"This mountain... it speaks," Kaito said.
"It listens," Riven replied. "This is where your fate was written. Before you were ever born."
They reached a plateau where an ancient temple stood—half-buried in snow, yet glowing faintly with blue glyphs. Riven knocked once on the frost-covered door, and it opened inward, revealing a figure swathed in white robes.
The Oracle.
She was blindfolded, but her gaze pierced them both.
"You carry the Blade Crystals," she said. "And echoes of a soul long gone. But your path is still shadowed."
Kaito bowed slightly. "I came for guidance."
The Oracle raised a hand. "Then step into the Pool of Memory."
At the center of the room was a pool of still water, so clear it looked like glass. Kaito stepped in.
Suddenly, he wasn't in the temple anymore.
He was in the Throne Hall of his past life.
Hundreds bowed before him. He sat upon the Emperor's seat—crowned, armored, alone.
His generals knelt. Tyras. Liora. Even Riven.
And beside the throne stood her—a woman with midnight hair and violet eyes.
He gasped.
"Elyria."
His Empress. The one he'd loved beyond war.
She turned. "You failed me," she said, sadness in her voice. "But you were only human."
"I died with your name in my heart," Kaito whispered.
"And now you live with the pain."
The illusion shattered. The Oracle was before him again, her voice softer now.
"She is reborn, like you. But not as you knew her."
Kaito stepped back, shaken. "Where?"
"She walks with the enemy. Her soul fractured. You must find her—but the final crystal lies in the hands of a god."
"A god?"
The Oracle nodded. "The Fallen Titan, locked in the Vale of Storms. Slay him, or submit."
Riven's voice cut through the silence. "We ride at dawn."
Outside, the sky cracked with distant thunder.
But inside Kaito's chest, his resolve burned brighter.
"Then the storm will have to face me."