The elevator continued its ascent in a smooth, silent glide, but Aidem felt the tension rising with each passing floor. The trampling weight of truth—truth he could almost reach but still couldn't grasp—pressed against his chest. Xana stood beside him, her arms crossed, her eyes coldly analytical yet simmering with something like concern.
The holographic floor counter blinked:
87… 88… 89…
"Xana," Aidem said quietly, "you knew there were factions in EraNova. But did you know they were watching me?"
Xana scoffed lightly. "Aidem, they even watch the cafeteria dishwasher's dreams. You? A reincarnated anomaly hosting forbidden magic? You're basically a walking emergency siren."
He stared at her, half-expecting her to smirk. She didn't.
90… 91…
The elevator slowed.
Xana's voice lowered.
"For what it's worth… I think you're more than a mistake or a threat. Something is converging around you. Something big."
Aidem forced a small breath. "I feel that too. Ever since the Sigil reacted."
Xana nodded. "The Spiral Sigil isn't reacting to EraNova's systems. It's reacting to EraNova itself."
"What does that even mean?"
"We'll find out."
The elevator chimed.
Floor 92 — Director's Domain.
The doors slid open.
---
THE DIRECTOR'S DOMAIN
The hallway was vastly different from any other floor—wide, spacious, dimly lit with floating data orbs drifting like slow planets. The air hummed with a low resonance, as if the entire floor were alive and thinking.
Xana walked first.
"This is where the most classified information in the city is kept," she whispered. "And the Director—"
"—isn't someone I should annoy?" Aidem finished.
"Correct. Annoy her and she'll erase you from existence. And not metaphorically."
Aidem swallowed.
They approached a grand door—a circular iris made from interlocking metal petals, each engraved with a flowing script that resembled liquid starlight.
Xana tapped her wristband.
Nothing happened.
"…Uh," she murmured.
The iris door glowed with a soft red pulse.
ACCESS DENIED.
A deeper, synthetic voice followed:
"Unauthorized foreign signature detected. Purging begins in 30 seconds."
Aidem's heartbeat quickened. "Purging?!"
Xana cursed under her breath. "They updated the security protocols since my demotion—dammit!"
A second warning pulsed.
"Purging begins in 20 seconds."
Spheres of red energy lit up along the ceiling.
Aidem stepped forward instinctively. "Let me try."
Xana grabbed his arm. "Aidem, do not—"
But the Spiral Sigil in his chest pulsed.
Softly. Warmly. Deliberately.
A bright ribbon of energy unfurled from his palm, invisible yet undeniable. It touched the iris door like a whisper.
The engravings flashed white.
Then—
ACCESS ACCEPTED.
WELCOME, LOST KING.
Xana's jaw dropped.
"…What the hell did you just do?"
Aidem stared at his hand. "I don't know."
The massive metal iris petals unfurled, opening like a blooming flower.
And beyond it—
---
THE CHAMBER OF FORGOTTEN RECORDS
Cold air rushed out, carrying the metallic scent of ancient archives. The chamber was circular, with floating crystalline tablets orbiting a massive central structure—a towering monolith of solid memory crystal, crackling with captured timelines.
A woman stood before it.
Tall. Composed. Dressed in a sleek uniform of black and silver.
Her hair, white as polished ice, flowed past her shoulders.
Her eyes—glowing teal—were unreadable.
Xana stiffened instantly. "Director Kaelis…"
Kaelis turned slowly.
"Aide—no."
Her voice sharpened.
"Aiden. Or as the system has now confirmed… The Lost King of Erased Worlds."
Aidem froze. His lungs stalled.
Xana whispered, "Lost King…?"
Kaelis approached Aidem with quiet steps. Each footfall felt like judgment.
"You carry a Sigil that predates this civilization," she said.
"You wield magic that should not exist."
"And worse… you survived erasure."
Aidem's voice trembled slightly. "What am I really?"
Kaelis raised a hand.
Light gathered—forming a holographic tapestry around him.
Worlds.
Hundreds of them.
All cracked. Fading. Broken like shattered glass.
"This," Kaelis said softly, "is your past."
Aidem's eyes widened as the hologram zoomed into one world dominated by floating continents and vast crystalline forests.
A realm full of magic.
His breath caught.
"I… remember none of this."
"And you were never meant to," Kaelis replied. "You were erased along with the worlds you once ruled."
Xana stared at Aidem in shock. "You were a king?!"
Kaelis nodded.
"One feared. One loved. One hunted."
The hologram split, showing three versions of Aidem:
A warrior-king wearing armor forged from starlight.
A scholar-mage holding a staff wrapped in spirals of light.
A chained figure, eyes hollow, surrounded by shadows.
Aidem stepped backward. "No… this can't be."
Kaelis stepped closer.
"EraNova sees you as a statistical anomaly."
She paused.
"But I see you as a ticking prophecy."
He looked up sharply. "What prophecy?"
Kaelis extended a hand, and the monolith split open, revealing a sphere of swirling light.
"The prophecy of the Lost King," she said.
"The one who will either restore the erased worlds… or erase this one."
Aidem's heart thundered.
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
Kaelis smiled faintly.
"Intentions mean little to destiny."
Xana glared. "Director—he's just one person—"
"He is the reason EraNova exists," Kaelis cut sharply.
"Everything we built… is because of the threat he once posed."
Aidem stepped back again, his mind spinning.
"I'm a threat…?"
Kaelis answered with cold honesty:
"You were the greatest one the universe ever knew."
---
THE CHOICE
The monolith glowed brighter.
An inner chamber unlocked—revealing a pedestal with a shimmering crystalline crown.
Elegant. Alien. Familiar.
Aidem felt it calling to him.
Kaelis watched him carefully.
"You have three paths, Aiden."
A hologram formed:
Path 1 — Accept the Crown
Regain your memories.
Reclaim your former power.
Risk becoming the same king who once destroyed worlds.
Path 2 — Reject the Crown
Remain who you are now.
Lose the chance to restore your lost worlds.
Live as a fugitive hunted by the factions.
Path 3 — Forge a Third Path
A new choice. Unwritten.
Something only a reincarnated king could imagine.
Aidem didn't move.
Xana's voice trembled. "Aidem…?"
His pulse echoed in his ears.
You choose… the third path.
He inhaled sharply.
Kaelis raised a brow. "You haven't even heard the consequences."
Aidem stepped forward.
"I don't care. The path I write may not be perfect, but it will be mine. I won't surrender to destiny. And I won't repeat the past."
He touched his chest.
"I forge a third path."
The Spiral Sigil exploded in light.
The monolith trembled.
The crown cracked.
The holograms shattered.
Kaelis looked stunned. "You—what have you done?"
Xana shielded her face from the burst of energy. "Aidem!"
The floor shook violently.
The entire chamber's systems flared in red.
WARNING: UNDEFINED PATH RECOGNIZED.
REALITY PARAMETERS SHIFTING.
Aidem felt his body pulled forward—
through light—
through memory—
through something deeper—
And the world around him fractured.
---
THE PATHLESS REALM
He stood alone.
Void.
Dark.
Silent.
But not empty.
Threads of light floated around him—each thread a memory, a possibility, a fragment of a world erased.
A voice spoke—not Kaelis, not Xana.
Something older.
Something vast.
Something familiar.
"You attempt to create what never existed."
A shadowy shape formed—a silhouette wearing the cracked version of the crown.
Aiden's breath hitched.
"Who are you…?"
The figure stepped closer.
"I am the version of you who accepted fate.
I am the king you once were.
The one who chose destruction… believing it was salvation."
Aidem stiffened.
"Why show yourself now?"
The figure raised a hand—light swirling around its palm.
"Because your third path… threatens to erase all paths."
Aidem clenched his fists. "Then help me build it. You know what I was."
The figure's expression shifted.
"…And you know what you can become."
A spark of light formed between them.
The shadow king extended his hand slowly.
Aidem felt the weight of a thousand worlds in that gesture.
"This is the crossroads, Aiden," the shadow murmured.
"Will you learn from what I was… or become what I became?"
Aidem reached out—
And grabbed his past self's hand.
The light surged.
The void fractured.
Reality snapped back—
---
BACK IN THE CHAMBER
Aidem's eyes opened.
He was kneeling on the floor.
Xana was shaking him. "Aidem?! AIDEM!"
Kaelis stared in disbelief. "The monolith… it accepted your third path? Impossible…"
Aidem stood.
His eyes glowed faintly with spiraling light.
"I'm not the king I was.
I'm not the weapon you fear.
And I'm not the lost boy you found."
He raised his hand.
A new sigil appeared in the air—his own creation, neither Spiral nor Crown.
Something new.
Something alive.
"From now on… I decide how the story goes."
Kaelis whispered, "The Third Path… he really forged it…"
Xana smiled, relieved and proud. "That's Aidem."
And behind them—
The entire monolith rearranged itself, opening a new passage deeper into the city's hidden heart.
A path no one had ever walked.
Until now.