The silence in the cave stretched on. Ji Ao still held the fragment of Chi'ia, now warmer in his palm—like a beating heart.
He sat on the damp ground, his back against the cold wall. He looked at Ruby, who remained standing, arms crossed, face expressionless beneath the perfect mask… yet her eyes—too large to be human—glimmered with a faint light.
Ji Ao sighed, lowered his shoulders, and then spoke.
"You want to know why I shouted 'stop!' and helped you that night?
It wasn't just because those guys were jerks.
It was because… you looked lost.
The same way I feel every day."
He gave a short, awkward laugh.
"At school? It's worse than it looks.
They call me 'Ji Nobody,' you know?
Because I don't have money, or a famous family…
My mom barely manages to pay the rent…
My sister tries to help with odd jobs…"
He paused.
"And me? I just study like crazy… hoping someday it'll matter.
But matter to whom?"
🌀 Cronos (inner voice):
"Fate hides in the smallest details: he studies ancient stories without realizing he's writing his own."
🌷 Flora:
"I can feel it… there's pain in him… but also hope buried deep."
🔥 Florium:
"The strength is there. Only dormant."
Ji Ao continued.
"I read about fallen kingdoms… forgotten heroes… betrayed loves…
And I used to think: 'What kind of stupid world invented this?'
But now I look at you…
I look at this glowing piece in my hand…
And I start to doubt my own real world."
(Silence.)
"Is everything you told me really true? All of it?
Or is this just a place where no one values anyone?
Or no one values you… and everything else is just an excuse to convince me—like everyone does—that I'm just some fool, easy to trick with stories of fantasy worlds… Ha."
Ruby listened without saying anything for a while.
Then she knelt before him—lowering her physical pride to his level.
Her voice was sharp as cut ice.
"You talk about being 'nobody'…
But did you know kings are sometimes born with their blood dimmed, spending years pretending to be dust?"
A heavy pause.
"You're not insignificant because you live in poverty in this filthy city…
You're misunderstood because your true name was stolen before you were even born."
She pointed to the fragment in his hand.
"That?
It's not just some glowing stone.
It's Chi'ia—the essence of the White Forest!
A part of the cracked throne! The broken crown! The silent scream of buried kingdoms!"
Her eyes shimmered under the mask.
"Yes… you saved me that night.
Not through strength of muscle—but by instinct, at the exact right moment.
You stopped something terrible from happening—something far greater than you imagine."
🌀 Cronos (whispering between lines):
"He prevented a forced rupture… avoided catastrophic anticipation…"
🌷 Flora (trembling):
"He doesn't even know how much of the White Forest world he protected just by saying 'stop!'"
🔥 Florium:
"Was it luck? Or destiny already unfolding?"
Ruby spoke more softly now.
"For a long time I've searched for that temporal rift to return… to warn them…
But it seems sealed from within the White Forest."
She looked deep into his eyes.
"If it opens again… everything will change.
And when you open your true eyes,
you'll see this petty life as nothing but a shadow
of the lost reign,
the imminent fall,
and the eternal war between dark light and memory."
"Until then,
you'll be the one
who brought the beginning of ruin."
A dramatic pause.
"And perhaps…
the one destined to restore it all."
Silence again.
Cronos absorbed the explosion of information with an impassive face, but his thoughts were quick as lightning.
"He has no idea of his potential. Of his role in the destiny of the White Forest. Of the importance of that Chi'ia fragment."
Flora was astonished, feeling the truth in Ruby's words… but also something stronger growing inside Ji Ao.
The silence thickened, as if the very air had given up moving. Ruby was still kneeling before Ji Ao, and the fragment of Chi'ia kept pulsing in his hand, now glowing brighter—alive, almost restless. He felt the vibration spreading through his bones, as if an ancient force were probing his soul.
Suddenly, the air shifted. A deep, resonant sound echoed through the cave, from no visible source. Ji Ao looked around, confused, as the light from the fragment expanded until it swallowed everything.
🌀 Cronos (distant voice):
"Time folds; the cycle restarts. What was memory becomes warning…"
🌷 Flora:
"I feel it… his heart fights against forgetting. He wants to believe this is a dream."
🔥 Florium:
"And perhaps he must believe. Sometimes forgetting is the only way to cross without breaking."
🕷️ Aranathus:
"The seal reacts to the fragment's touch. The rift isn't completely closed… only asleep. We must guide him into slumber."
Ruby heard the whisper—not with her ears, but as though the stone itself spoke inside her. Her eyes quivered, reflecting the silvery glow spreading around them both. She tried to speak, but her voice failed—the words dissolved into echoes.
Ji Ao tried to stand, but the ground gave way beneath his feet. The cave began to dissolve into luminous dust. The wall behind him turned into mist. For a brief moment, he saw Ruby's face split into hundreds of reflections, each one saying something different: "Wake up…", "Remember…", "Forget…"
Then, the world folded in on itself.
He fell to his knees. The sound of dripping water became the sound of rain against a window. The vibration of the ground turned into the distant hum of a fan. The white light of the Chi'ia fragment became the yellow glow of a living room lamp.
🌀 Cronos:
"The cycle is preserved. He will not remember… yet."
🌷 Flora:
"But the bond remains. Even if he calls it a dream, the seed has been planted."
🔥 Florium:
"When his heart is hurt enough, he will remember."
🕷️ Aranathus (final, distant voice):
"You will witness. You will feel. And at the right moment… you will awaken."
And then—silence.
Ji Ao's body sank slowly, as if falling asleep inside the very light. The Chi'ia stone, now dull, slipped from his hand and landed on the old carpet of the living room.
Surprise at Dawn
Ji Ao slept on the couch, curled up like a lazy cat.
The silence of the night rocked him gently, and his thoughts drifted into a strange dream—in it, he faced a huge opponent but, to his surprise, defeated it easily. He seemed to master every strike, every step. Deep down, perhaps something within him… something dormant… stirred.
But the dream was interrupted by a warm breath on his face.
He opened his eyes suddenly and reflexively pushed his hand forward. His fingers touched something soft. Too soft. Warm. He pulled his hand back as if he'd touched fire. Trembling, he looked ahead. The figure was there, standing, mask on her face, wearing his loose pajamas.
"Hey… I came to wake you up. Why did you touch me like that?" said the girl in a neutral tone, arms crossed.
Ji Ao turned red, stumbling over his words.
"I… I didn't mean to… it was a reflex… I'm sorry!"
She shook her head, impatient.
"It doesn't matter. Come on. Now."
"Now? But… where to?"
Without answering, she grabbed his hand. Surprisingly, her strength felt far greater than her frame suggested.
"Wait, wait! I'm barefoot! We're in pajamas!"
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters! I'm a man, you know? I can't go out like this!"
She stopped, slowly turned her face toward him, and replied,
"You're a noisy child. And fragile."
"Child?! I'm seventeen!"
"Then use your seventeen years to follow me without complaining."
"I don't even know your name!"
She paused for a moment. Her gaze, still hidden by the mask, fixed on Ji Ao. Then, without thinking, she whispered,
"Ribhia."
"...Rubia?" he repeated, confused.
"Ribhia."
"Alright, Ruby… whatever," he said, trying to match her quick pace.
She let out a small sound of disdain. She didn't like the tone, nor the shortening of her name. But she didn't stop. There was something greater at stake.
Ji Ao tried to resist, but she was pure determination and muscle. Each pull from her felt like the strength of a beast from the forest. She dragged him through the dark streets like someone dragging a reluctant wolf cub back to the den.
"Let go, let go, let go!" he repeated, almost whining.
"No," was her only response.
They reached the park, the old rock wall. The entrance to the hidden cave was there, discreet yet alive. Ribhia stopped. The wind seemed to whisper through the leaves. She closed her eyes and felt… something.
Then, as if obeying the forest's own breath, the portal opened. A beam of pulsating light emerged inside the cave, made of colors that looked liquid, dancing in spirals of raw energy. It wasn't technology. It was older than time. It was the Chi'ia Stone, vibrating, sensing the call.
"It's opening!" she shouted, eyes burning with fierce light.
Without hesitation, Ribhia pulled Ji Ao inside, as if he were part of her fate. He still screamed,
"No! Let me go! Let me goooo!"
But it was useless.
The light swallowed them both.
And on the other side…
There was a new world.
More cruel.
More savage.
More true.