Eris's hand hovered over the crystal, trembling. The others watched, the silence so sharp that even their breaths sounded too loud.
"I don't know what this will do to me," he admitted, his voice cracking.
Mara's jaw tightened. "Then don't rush it. Think—"
But before she could finish, the Ark's voice filled the chamber again, vibrating through the walls.
"The Heart inside you has already begun unraveling your flesh. Delay too long, and there will be nothing left to save."
Eris shut his eyes. He could already feel it—the cracks spreading, the energy gnawing at his body like fire from within. He thought of the guardians, of the shadows, of the endless trial that seemed carved into his bones. He had run far enough.
His hand touched the crystal.
The chamber exploded in light.
Jonas shielded his eyes, cursing. Mara pulled her blade up, ready to cut him free if things went wrong. Liora cried out, sensing the surge rippling through her skin like static.
The Ark's voice thundered in Eris's mind.
"Open yourself. Do not resist. Become more than flesh."
Eris screamed as tendrils of light wrapped around his body, searing through his nerves. His feet lifted from the ground. He hung suspended above the crystal, his body glowing, every crack in his skin flaring with crimson light.
Selene gripped her staff tightly, her knuckles white. "He won't survive this…"
Liora's eyes streamed with tears. "He has to."
Visions tore through Eris's mind. Planets burning. Armies of shadows blotting out suns. The Heart itself—an endless, pulsing core of creation and ruin. And beneath it all, the Ark's memory: a civilization long dead, pouring their final breath into this vessel, praying that one day someone strong enough would come.
"Descendant…" the Ark's voice roared. "Do you accept my burden? My power? My curse?"
Eris's voice cracked, but it came out steady. "I accept."
The crystal pulsed, brighter than a star.
The tendrils of light slammed into him, not consuming but merging. The cracks across his body glowed white-hot, then sealed shut with streaks of radiant silver. His scream turned into a roar that shook the chamber.
Then—silence.
Eris fell. Mara dashed forward, catching him before he hit the ground. His body was heavier than before, denser, like he carried something more than flesh. His eyes fluttered open—no longer just human, but faintly glowing, as if starlight itself lived inside them.
The Ark's voice echoed again, calm and steady.
"The Binding is complete. You are no longer merely the Descendant. You are the Keeper. My pilot. My living core."
Jonas muttered, wide-eyed, "Great. Now he's half kid, half spaceship. That won't mess with my sleep at all."
Eris sat up slowly, his voice quiet but firm. "I feel it. The ship. Its systems. Its memories. It's all inside me now."
The chamber pulsed with light, as though acknowledging his words.
Selene bowed her head. "Then the Ark has chosen. And so has fate."