Golden flames still curled around Lian, though thinner now—less like a storm, more like a mantle resting on his shoulders. His feet touched the ground with a soft crackle.
Raine forced herself upright, one hand pressed against her bleeding ribs.
"Lian…"
Her voice trembled.
"You're… not fully awake. But you're also not… you."
He turned toward her.
His eyes—
still glowing gold—
softened for a moment.
"Raine. I'm… alright."
But his voice still carried that double-tone, as if something spoke with him.
Raine wasn't convinced.
Behind them, Omega Arden pushed himself out of the shattered pillar.
His armor sparked and flickered, red lights glitching like a dying machine.
"HEIR.
YOU CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO—"
He staggered, clutching his helmet.
A second voice bled through:
"Stop… please—
Lian— run—"
Raine's breath caught.
"Arden… you're still fighting it."
His human voice replied, weak but present:
"I can't… hold it… long…"
Then the Omega system seized him back.
"PURGE PRIORITY: ABSOLUTE."
He lunged forward.
The Ember Core Acts Again
Before Arden's blade could strike, the Core pulsed—
a beam of white fire shot downward.
It didn't hit Arden.
It hit Lian.
Raine's eyes went wide.
"NO!"
But the beam didn't burn him.
It absorbed him.
Lian vanished in a flash of light.
"LIAN!" Raine screamed, sprinting toward the beam—
But she hit a barrier of force that threw her backwards.
Omega Arden froze mid-attack, armor shaking violently.
"THE HEIR HAS ENTERED THE MEMORY GATE."
Raine's heart pounded.
"The what?!"
The Core answered:
"A SPACE BETWEEN HIS MIND AND THE EMBER.
A PLACE WHERE HIS FATHER SEALED THE TRUTH."
Raine whispered,
"Lian's father… sealed something inside the ember?"
"THE KEY.
AND THE WARNING."
Omega Arden roared, slamming his fist against his own helmet as he tried to resist the system's control.
"Don't… let him… see…"
His voice cracked.
"It will break him…"
The Core ignored him.
"THE HEIR MUST REMEMBER."
Inside the Memory Gate
Lian opened his eyes—
but the world around him wasn't the chamber.
He stood in a field of ash-white grass beneath a pale sky.
Light drifted like falling embers, but they didn't burn.
"Where am I…" he whispered.
A voice answered behind him.
"Home."
Lian spun around.
A tall figure stood there—
not fully solid, flickering like an echo in time.
His father.
The breath left Lian's lungs.
"Dad…?"
The figure smiled faintly.
"You grew up."
Lian stumbled forward.
"This… this isn't real. You died— I saw—"
"I left a memory. A gate just for you."
Lian's chest tightened.
"Why? Why did you hide so many things from me?"
His father's expression darkened.
"Because the Ember was never meant for humans.
It chooses hosts to prepare a world for crossing—
a crossing that destroys whatever species is already there."
Lian froze.
"…you mean the Ember is trying to replace us?"
"Yes."
"But the Core said humans must survive or perish depending on me—why me?"
His father stepped closer, voice heavy with fear.
"Because you aren't a normal host."
"You were born with the last Ember Seed—something no world has ever seen."
Lian's eyes widened.
"The last…?"
"Yes. The Ember species is dying. You are their final chance."
The air trembled.
"But the Ember didn't expect your human half to be so strong.
It can't control you…
unless you let it."
Lian swallowed hard.
"So what am I supposed to do?"
His father placed a hand over Lian's heart.
"Decide what lives.
Decide what dies.
Or find a third path—one the Ember itself cannot imagine."
Lian's breath shook.
"A third path…?"
His father nodded.
"There's always another way.
You just have to be the first to see it."
The memory flickered—his father's image breaking apart.
"Dad—wait! I still need—"
"Lian…"
The memory collapsed into golden shards.
"Don't let the ember think for you."
Everything went white.
Back in Reality
Lian's body reappeared in a burst of swirling gold flame.
He fell to one knee, gasping.
Raine ran toward him—
but stopped when she saw his eyes.
No longer gold.
No longer normal.
They were half-human brown, half-ember gold, shifting like fire and earth fighting for space.
"Lian…?" she whispered.
He raised his head slowly.
"I know the truth now."
Omega Arden staggered backward, armor fluttering with glitching lights.
"HE KNOWS—HE KNOWS—PURGE MUST BE—"
But before Arden could move—
Lian lifted a hand.
A gentle wave of flame swept outward—
not destructive, but soft, warm, almost human.
It forced Arden to a knee, not by violence…
but by overwhelming presence.
Raine stared, breathless.
"Lian… what did you become…?"
He rose slowly, ember and human energies swirling around him, unresolved but coexisting.
"I'm not awakened," he said.
"And I'm not controlled."
His voice was steady, clear.
"I'm choosing my own path now."
The chamber trembled.
For the first time,
the Core sounded unsure.
"…UNDEFINED STATE DETECTED."