You should never have left me.
My eternal grief is the only way I remain close to you."
Even as centuries and millennia pass, I will begin searching for you across every universe.
It has always been you.
Only you.
Gretchen.
The first heartbeat and the first breath after these centuries remind me of the weight of losing you
and the fragile hope of finding you again.
For centuries, I have been chained in this frozen prison.
Time dissolved into silence, and I allowed that silence to touch my heart.
My heart lay still for ages beyond counting,
encased in ice and memory.
Yet now, it beats once more.
Its rhythm calls me back to you.
Another century has passed.
Another world awaits.
Gretchen…
it is time for you to come to me.
These were the only thoughts that escaped the ice prison for ages.
Lord Kalies sat enthroned in the frozen kingdom, all his surroundings filled with the memories of his lost realm and his dead soldiers.
He had lost everything and everyone.
His form was beautiful.
His face was stunning like the moon, yet fierce.
His hair flowed like the sacred Ganges, the color of snow.
Lord Kalies opened his eyes.
They resembled the most precious crystal found in the deepest oceans—a perfect blend of blue and green.
A single tear escaped his eyes and fell onto the frozen ground below.
The moment it touched the ice, it transformed—
into a luminous white flute, glowing like a fragment of the moon itself.
It sang.
Its melody spread through the stillness,
and the world began to weep.
Mountains bowed beneath its sorrow.
Winds trembled.
Every living and unliving entity felt the pain of loss—
if only for a moment.
Each offered a tear in sacrifice.
He remained seated in a lotus pose.
His celestial robe came alive—the fabric dark as celestial black holes, flowing from his shoulders.
His beauty felt capable of conquering any universe alone.
No god, no demon, no other entity could stand against such presence.
Slowly, he lowered his feet.
They did not touch the ground.
Instead, they rested gently upon the unseen palms of a being hidden from sight—
palms that had been waiting patiently for centuries.
A voice broke the silence.
"Master… you have awakened at last.
I have been waiting for you."
A small demon appeared before him.
His skin was pale, his eyes a vivid green.
When he spoke, sharp fangs glimmered between his lips,
yet his face held only devotion—
and love.
He knelt and carefully lowered Kalies' feet to the ground, then looked up at him with trembling reverence.
"Master… do you remember me?"
Lord Kalies met his gaze, confusion clouding his thoughts.
"I… I do not know who I am," he said quietly.
"My past is empty.
All I remember is one name."
"Gretchen."
The demon smiled—soft, proud, and sorrowful all at once.
"You are the Supreme Consciousness," he said.
"You are the Lord of Death.
You grant every soul its passage to salvation.
When you dance, realms fall silent.
I have witnessed kings and queens kneel before you.
All worlds once bowed to your name."
He pressed his forehead to the frozen ground.
"You are Lord Kalelis."
Kalies turned away as his chest began to burn.
"Where is Gretchen?"
The demon stiffened.
His eyes widened, and he hesitated.
"I'm sorry, my lord," he said at last.
"I promised him I would never tell you.
He said that if destiny wished to unite you again,
you would find him—
not through guidance,
but through longing."
"I can only walk beside you," the demon continued softly.
"I cannot lead you."
Rage ignited within Kalies.
"Foolish demon," he roared.
"I do not need fate's mercy!"
His voice tore through the silence.
"GRETCHEN—!"
The cry echoed across existence itself,
and all three realms trembled.
The demon disappeared from his sight.
"Lord, as my presence makes you uncomfortable, I will follow you as a voice, and only allow you to see me when you demand it."
Kalies looked confused, unsure of where to begin.
He started to walk.
He saw his doomed kingdom—dead soldiers, laughter echoing, creatures screaming in his ears.
He collapsed to the ground.
The demon appeared and gave him water to drink.
As he drank, it not only quenched his thirst—it flooded his mind with vivid memories:
Gretchen's laughter, his smile,
the glory of his kingdom,
his relatives,
his friends.
Kalies looked at the demon and asked,
"What did you give me?"
His eyebrows were raised, his eyes wide.
"That is water from the Divine Lake of the Ice Kingdom," the demon replied.
"It will awaken the ancestors to bless our journey.
The lake is time itself, and it will guide you, my lord."
Kalies struggled to stand and continued walking.
He turned back to look at his realm.
It looked like an abandoned ghost—no soul left behind.
The little demon and Lord Kalies gazed at the kingdom.
"Farewell, until the glory returns."
With a terrifying smile upon his lips and a smirk, Kalies said,
"If he is alive in any world, I will not stop until
he is in my arms, pressed against my chest.
You are mine—in any reality,
in any time,
in any universe.
I will claim all versions of you, Gretchen."
"I'm coming for you."
Before them, a void appeared.
The sound of thunder and storms echoed in the air.
Lord Kalies stepped into the void,
and his little demon—his shadow, with unwavering devotion—followed him.