The chamber was not silent.
It should have been.
Everything erased by the Thanatarchy vanished without a trace.
No echoes.No remnants.No resistance.
And yet—this pce spoke.
A presence lingered in the air, pressing against Darius’ skin like the weight of a dream half-remembered.
"You are not the first to come here."
The voice was neither deep nor soft.Neither human nor inhuman.
It simply was.
Darius and Ais stood at the edge of the vast chamber, their breath slow, controlled.
The presence was not attacking.
Not moving.
It was watching.
And for the first time—Darius had the distinct feeling that the Thanatarchy was not the only force at py.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ais shifted slightly, her hand near her dagger.
Her voice was calm. "Who are you?"
The presence did not answer immediately.
Instead—it stirred.
The air itself shimmered.
Not light.Not shadow.
Something in between.
A shape began to take form in the center of the chamber.
A mass of swirling bck and white, shifting in patterns that Darius did not understand.
Like it could not decide whether it should exist.
Like it had been erased—but refused to disappear.
Finally, it spoke again.
"I am what remains of what should not be."
Darius exhaled slowly.
His mind was already racing.
This thing—**this presence—**was not Thanatarchy.
But it was also not like him.
Ais frowned. "What does that mean?"
The shifting figure tilted slightly.
"It means I was removed."
A pause.
"And yet—I am still here."
Darius' breath hitched.
This was different from Elya.
Different from Alden.
This was something erased long ago—but still clinging to existence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darius took a slow step forward.
"You remember what was lost?"
The presence shifted again.
"No."
Ais's eyes narrowed. "Then what do you remember?"
The voice was soft now.
"As long as I have existed… I have known only one thing."
It turned toward Darius.
"That something is missing."
The words hit like a knife.
Darius' pulse quickened.
This thing was like Elya.
Not remembering what had been erased.
But remembering the space it left behind.
Darius clenched his fists.
"Then that means…"
His voice trailed off.
Because the realization was sinking in.
The Thanatarchy had rewritten history again and again.
Yet somewhere—deep in the yers of existence—The memory of what had been erased still lingered.
Not in names. Not in pces.
But in absence.
Ais exhaled sharply. "How long have you been here?"
The presence was still.
Then it answered.
"Longer than this world."
Darius' breath froze.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The weight of the words settled over them.
Longer than this world?
Did that mean before Celestara?
Before the first rewrite?
Darius' mind raced.
What if the Thanatarchy had not just rewritten a kingdom, or a civilization—
But an entire existence?
Ais shook her head. "That’s impossible."
The presence shifted slightly.
"Is it?"
A silence stretched between them.
And then—for the first time—Darius felt something else in the air.
Something that made his skin crawl.
Something that did not belong.
The Thanatarchy was coming.
Ais tensed. "They found us."
Darius turned toward the entrance.
The air was thinning.
The rewrite was closing in.
The presence did not move.
It simply watched.
Ais cursed under her breath. "We can’t stay here."
Darius’ mind was spinning.
But there was one thing he had to know before they left.
He turned back to the presence.
"What did the Thanatarchy erase from you?"
A pause.
Then—the answer came.
"I do not know."
The air shuddered.
And as the rewrite descended—
Darius and Ais ran.
