The echoes of the tribunal still clung to Kalo like dust he couldn't shake off. Even after returning to his quarters, the accusations replayed in his head—the whispers that he was the source of the fractures, that Nox was more than just a shadow, that he might be hiding far more than he admitted.
Tonight, the Astrarium felt colder.
Kalo sat on the floor, legs crossed, palms resting on his knees. He tried to meditate, to settle the storm inside him, but every attempt dissolved into the same intrusive thought:
What if they're right?What if Nox isn't separate from me at all?
A knock broke the silence.
"Enter," Kalo said, steady but tired.
Maelin stepped inside, her expression softer than usual. "You shouldn't be alone tonight."
"I'm fine."
"You're lying terribly."
Kalo opened his mouth to argue, but she sat beside him without waiting for permission. Her presence was grounding in a way he didn't understand. Maybe he didn't want to.
"Something happened while you were gone," Maelin said quietly. "You need to see it."
Before he could ask, she handed him a crystal shard—faintly pulsing, like a heartbeat. The moment his fingers closed around it, a surge of energy flashed across his vision. He sucked in a breath.
"That's… Astral memory," he whispered. "From the observatory?"
Maelin nodded. "We found it hidden inside one of the old pillars."
Kalo raised the shard. Light burst outward, swallowing the room.
He stood in a memory not his own.
The sky above was fractured into spiraling constellations. Astral Architects rushed around, stabilizing the rifts. And at the center of it all—was him.
No. Not him.
A man with the same face. Same posture. Same eyes burning with something ancient and heavy.
The figure raised his hand. Darkness poured from it like ink spreading across water.
A voice whispered beside Kalo:
"This was the birth of Nox."
Kalo spun. A hooded Archivist stood watching him, their form blurred and indistinct within the echo.
"Who is he?" Kalo demanded.
"A predecessor," the Archivist said simply. "A man who sought to rewrite the Astrarium. A man who believed light alone could never maintain balance."
"And I'm connected to him how?"
"Through lineage," the Archivist replied. "Through destiny. Through choices not yet completed."
Kalo's pulse thundered. "So I'm bound to repeat his mistakes?"
"No." The Archivist turned, their voice more solid now. "You are meant to either redeem them… or finish what he began."
The scene shifted violently—Kalo saw the predecessor clasp a device shaped like an hourglass, glowing with unstable light. He forced it open. A black wave surged out.
The memory shattered.
Kalo fell to his knees, gasping as the vision faded. Maelin steadied him.
"What did you see?" she asked.
Kalo wiped sweat from his brow. "A man who looks like me. Someone who created Nox… or became him."
Maelin's expression tightened. "So the council's suspicion wasn't baseless."
"No. But they're wrong about one thing." Kalo stood. "I'm not him. I won't be him."
Before Maelin could respond, alarms blared through the Astrarium.
A shimmering crack tore through the air near the archway. Darkness seeped from it like smoke. And then—
A figure stepped out.
Tall. Cloaked in shifting shadow. Eyes glowing faint violet.
Nox.
But different. Sharper. More defined. As if he'd grown stronger.
He tilted his head, studying Kalo with amusement.
"You finally saw it," Nox said, voice smooth and chilling. "Our origin."
Kalo stepped forward, fists clenched. "You and I are not the same."
Nox smiled faintly. "Not yet."
Maelin summoned her spear, glowing with celestial energy. "You're trespassing in the Astrarium. Leave or be destroyed."
Nox ignored her, gaze locked on Kalo.
"I offer you clarity," Nox said. "If you want the whole truth—the full memory—you'll follow me. If not… continue being their frightened weapon."
A second rift tore open behind him, swirling like a storm.
"Kalo, don't," Maelin warned. "It's a trap."
"Of course it's a trap," Nox said. "Everything worth discovering is."
Kalo hesitated for only a heartbeat.
The answers he'd been denied, the secrets woven into his bloodline, the fate he never asked for—they were all behind that rift. And he was done running.
He stepped toward it.
"Kalo!" Maelin grabbed his wrist.
He squeezed her hand once. A silent promise.
"I'll come back."
Then he stepped through the rift.
It sealed behind him with a boom that shook the Astrarium.
Maelin stood alone in the corridor, the echo of his last words hanging in the air.
He'll come back.He has to.