Location:
A hidden fissure in the heart of Instam Belly Park, surrounded by ancient trees that seem to lean inward to protect the entrance.
The air is humid, smelling of wet earth and something else—metallic, almost electric. Sunlight barely filters through the interwoven leaves. Inside the cave, the silence is thick as mist.
The air felt too heavy to breathe. Ji Ao opened his eyes, but the world around him was a gray blur, shapes trembling as if submerged in slow-moving water. He tried to remember what had happened before—how he had come there—but nothing surfaced. Only a hollow echo remained, pulsing somewhere deep in his mind.
The ground beneath him throbbed faintly, almost alive, as though the stone itself held a heartbeat.
Then, from the unseen corners of that mist-shrouded space, whispers began to rise—three distinct voices, layered in impossible harmony. They didn't speak in words, but Ji Ao understood them all the same.
"Ji Ao…"
"Do not fear the forgetting…"
"The dream is the bridge…"
He lifted his hands, watching as fragments of blue and gold light drifted from his fingers, dissolving into the air like luminous dust. His body felt weightless, and yet his chest ached with something real.
Perhaps this was a dream.
Perhaps it was death.
Or maybe… something in between.
The voices drew closer, merging into a single, powerful tone that resonated through his entire being—gentle and commanding, ancient and familiar:
"You will witness. You will feel. And when the time is right… you will awaken."
Then, everything fell silent.
The glow faded.
And Ji Ao felt his breath catch in his throat.
He blinked once—twice—and the vision began to dissolve. The mist gave way to stone, the pulse beneath him grew cold, and he realized he was no longer in that formless void. The sound of dripping water echoed faintly around him.
He leaned forward, his hand brushing against something rough and wet.
Cold. Real.
He exhaled sharply, the fog of his breath curling in front of him.
And in that moment, the dream broke completely.
Ji Ao, breathless, leans against the cold stone wall.
"I don't understand... You said it would open, that we would cross!"
He looks at Ruby, suspicious.
"I'm here because of you... I risked everything to run away from school for this ridiculous disappearance... And now? Nothing? Just this rotten cave and its silence?"
Ruby stands before a cracked circle on the ground—made of gray stones streaked with faded blue-green veins.
She wears a perfect mask: a human female face, soft features… but the eyes—too large—tremble slightly beneath the organic illusion.
She doesn't answer right away. She only runs her fingers over the fragmented Chi'ia stone ring.
"It failed," she murmurs to herself. "The rift... is sealed."
Then she turns to Ji Ao.
"It isn't ridiculous. It's necessary.
You still don't know who you are...
But this cave does.
Do you feel it?
The ground trembling under your feet?"
Ji Ao laughs nervously, out of control—the lingering effect of the Chi'ia stones disturbing his mind.
"It's shaking because some drunk people are drumming up there since yesterday! There isn't even cell service here!"
He steps forward without noticing and trips over something small and sharp among the exposed roots of the tree above the entrance.
A dry crack.
A tiny blue spark jumps from the object as it touches his worn-out shoe.
Ji Ao looks down.He picks up the glowing fragment carefully—half the size of a broken coin, opaque crystal texture... yet pulsing slowly, as if breathing within itself.
And once again, deep within the confines of the White Forest—where the wind is absent and time seems to forget that it must pass—there lies a buried cave beneath millennial roots, with the most secret of entrances: The Cave of Restoration.
At its center—beyond human sight—three voices echo in ancient harmony.
An image formed by drops of condensed Chi'ia stones from the ceiling partially connects to the cave where Ji Ao and young Ruby stand.
The problem: an unstable connection, fragile and difficult to maintain, yet still serving the purpose of that pantheon of narrators.
A pantheon that once were the Primordials, retainers of power, even under the growing dominion of the Chi'ia stones that emerged within the world of the White Forest.
But then came corruption.
Demand.
The uncontrollable flow of Chi'ia stones.
Power rising in the wrong places.
Wars.
And the magnificent will of destruction caused, directly or indirectly, by a single man... Janckal.
And his fall bound to it as well.
For a time, the ancient ancestral voices were almost silenced, reduced to faint whispers of the world—able to do nothing but wait. They realized they had little left to offer and, as useless Watchers of Balance, could do nothing but witness.
Then Aranathus emerged, sliding among the Chi'ia droplets that formed the connection to Ji Ao's cave.
Each of her movements created ripples upon the liquid crystalline surface, as if weaving threads of light that carried the essence of the Cave of Restoration into Ji Ao's world.
She waited there, a living intermediary, receiving the orders of the pantheon and transmitting them with precision, balancing the instability of the link.
With her active presence, the Primordials felt their ancient strength return. It was as if each pulse of Aranathus reawakened the dormant energy within them, restoring their power as true Guardians of Essence.
The power, still small at that moment, pulsed and grew with every command transmitted by Aranathus. The droplets reflected fragments of blue and golden light, as if each spark were a link between worlds, each flash a shard of lost glory.
Together with Destiny, the Guardians of Essence would weave a solid path, intertwining fragments of power and order, preparing to restore the ancient greatness of the world of the White Forest.
And while Aranathus maintained the connection, her figure became almost ethereal—a bridge between past and present, between fragility and strength, sustaining the link that could either save or condemn all.
🌀 CHRONOS (deep whisper):
First contact confirmed.
🌷 FLORA (breath among leaves):
He touches Chi'ia for the first time without fear...
🔥 FLORIUM (affirmative):
The spark has ignited.
🕷️ ARANATHUS (strategic voice):
The connection is unstable. If the fragment dissipates now, all access may be lost. We must guide the impulses without forcing the hand.
Inside the minds linked through the SuperVia:
• 📍 Chronos records every historical detail of this timeline.
• 💗 Flora feels the faint emotional tingling expanding on the edges of Ji Ao's soul.
• ⚔️ Florium prepares a thousand future scenarios based on this single gesture.
• 🕷️ Aranathus calculates probabilities, organizes risks, and suggests actions with tactical precision.
Back to the scene:
Ji Ao holds the fragment against the weak light coming through the cracked ceiling.
"What is this? It looks like weird plastic... It has a strange glow..."
Ruby moves too quickly. She grabs his wrist—firm, but without hurting him.
"Don't drop it! It's part... of the true world. Of what existed before the lies. Before this exile... Before this false life they live here..."
Ji Ao steps back.
"What?! Are you insane or what?! First, you show up in my life talking nonsense about 'destiny' and 'Chi'ia stones,' then drag me into this stinking hole..."
He stops for a moment.
Looks at the crystal again...
Then at her face—so serious now.
His voice lowers.
"You were being chased that morning... Behind the school... I drove those guys away when I found you on the ground... Is that why you came back? Out of some crazy gratitude?"
Ruby lowers her gaze. She doesn't understand why Ji Ao is acting this way. Maybe it's something about this cave. He had always been so calm, so compassionate—unlike her, always explosive and irritable with him.
But seeing him like this, so altered, was something she truly hadn't expected. And the rift's failure to appear in the cave was a deep disappointment. She could no longer stand this place; she wanted to return to her world, her origin. This foul-smelling land, where colors and flavors lacked the natural essence of her home.
She remembered that night in a blur: she hadn't been thrown against the wall, as Ji Ao's distorted memory suggested; she had already been on the ground when he appeared, and the four men surrounding her weren't ordinary drunks from the city—they were the ones who had followed her from her own world.
He had driven them away to save her, but the Chi'ia stones had tampered with his perception, and for a moment Ji Ao believed he'd seen something that never happened. The image of the impact remained in his mind as if it were real.
Ruby thought that when the rift finally opened, she could vanish so quickly that Ji Ao would never be sure she had existed at all. But then, strange, conflicting thoughts began to form: what if she did the opposite? What if, instead of leaving, she decided to stay? He wasn't exactly a man, not an alpha, not a natural protector; poor thing—he wouldn't last a day in the world of the White Forest. And she? She would be there to protect him. Or perhaps to hurt him, to make him learn. To force him to teach, to grow. To... who knows. Somehow, he would understand that he couldn't cross her without consequence.
The idea left her dizzy—maybe she was losing her mind—but something still held her back: his little sister. The girl knew her secret. And yet, she liked her. That boy was lucky. Very lucky.
Ruby lifted her chin, anger and care intertwined. For now, she would pretend patience. The rift would open eventually, and when it did, she would do whatever was necessary—whether to protect or to punish—but not here, not yet. Not while Ji Ao's sister knew too much.
🌀 Chronos: "The boy has a good heart... or is it just impulse? Does this gratitude cross boundaries...?"
🌷 Flora: "He cares for her but won't admit it... maybe it's fear... or shame?"
🔥 Florium: "Fear, yes... fear of caring again after being closed off for so long. Fear of trusting someone again..."
🕷️ Aranathus (strategic): "Observe his reaction time. Unexpected courage can open paths, but the risk of imbalance is high. His movement is natural, yet every hesitation can alter the fragment's flow. We must prioritize balance and stability over speed."
🌀 Chronos: "We'll see how this unfolds. We're watching the emotions beneath the words. Ji Ao opening up, revealing his vulnerability even unintentionally; Ruby keeping her arrogant façade but feeling something different..."
🌷 Flora: "He is vulnerable, but strong. And his heart... it vibrates strangely. Did the Chi'ia stone cause this?"
🔥 Florium: "I noticed it too. Something has changed... but I can't tell what yet..."
🕷️ Aranathus (final observation): "Intense emotional vibrations detected. They can be subtly manipulated to maintain alignment with the essence, but every step must be measured."