Chapter 103 – The Voice That Was Afraid
The ancient city was collapsing.
Stone towers cracked apart and fell into the darkness.
The streets split open.
Silver light rushed through the cracks like rivers.
Evetyl stood frozen.
She was still staring at the First Door.
At the voice that had come from behind it.
Her own voice.
"Don't let me come back."
Kai grabbed her arm.
"Evetyl!"
She finally turned.
"What?"
"We have to move!"
A massive piece of stone fell between them.
CRASH!
Cr-Hook pulled Kai backward.
"Move!"
Evetyl ran.
Behind them, the ancient city continued breaking apart.
The original Cr-Hook looked upward.
The three eyes were still watching them.
They weren't attacking.
They were simply watching.
That somehow made everything worse.
Cr-Hook shouted,
"Why aren't they attacking?"
The original Cr-Hook answered,
"Because they're waiting."
"For what?"
The boy looked at Kai.
"For the key."
Kai's face went pale.
"Me?"
The boy nodded.
"They don't want this world."
He pointed toward the First Door.
"They want what is behind it."
Evetyl stopped.
"What is behind that door?"
The boy looked at her.
"You."
Silence.
Evetyl stared at him.
"Me?"
The boy nodded.
"The version of you that existed before you became Evetyl."
Cr-Hook immediately stepped between them.
"No."
The boy looked at him.
"You know it's true."
"I don't."
"You do."
Cr-Hook's hand tightened into a fist.
The First Lock symbol on his chest began glowing.
"I remember protecting the door."
"Yes."
"I remember saving Kai."
"Yes."
"I remember Elara."
"Yes."
Cr-Hook looked at the First Door.
"But I don't remember her."
He pointed toward Evetyl.
"I don't remember protecting her."
The boy's expression became sad.
"You weren't supposed to."
Cr-Hook froze.
"What does that mean?"
The boy stepped closer.
"Because you weren't protecting Evetyl."
Cr-Hook's eyes narrowed.
"Then who?"
The boy looked toward the door.
"Aeterna."
Evetyl's face changed.
The name struck her like a memory she wasn't ready to see.
"Aeterna…"
Kai looked at her.
"You remember?"
Evetyl shook her head.
"No."
Then she whispered,
"Not completely."
The ground suddenly shook.
BOOM!
The First Door opened another inch.
Black light spilled across the city.
The Shadow's voice echoed from inside.
"She's waking up."
Evetyl looked toward the door.
"Who?"
The Shadow laughed.
"You."
Evetyl stepped backward.
"I am Evetyl."
"You are what remained."
Cr-Hook raised his hand.
"Enough."
The Shadow laughed again.
"You don't understand either, First Lock."
Cr-Hook's symbol flashed.
"I understand enough."
"No."
The Shadow's voice became quiet.
"You only remember the part that was allowed to survive."
Cr-Hook froze.
Kai looked at him.
"Cr-Hook…"
Cr-Hook didn't answer.
The original Cr-Hook suddenly walked toward him.
"Listen to me."
Current Cr-Hook looked at him.
"What?"
"You have to close the door."
"I know."
"No."
The original Cr-Hook grabbed his shoulders.
"You have to close it from the inside."
Cr-Hook stared at him.
"What?"
"If you close it from here, it will only hold for a few seconds."
"And if I close it from inside?"
The original Cr-Hook looked toward the door.
"You become the First Lock again."
Cr-Hook was silent.
Evetyl immediately shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"You're not going inside."
Cr-Hook looked at her.
"Evetyl—"
"No."
Her voice was firm.
"You already sacrificed yourself once."
Cr-Hook gave a small smile.
"You remember that?"
"I remember enough."
Kai stepped forward.
"There has to be another way."
The boy looked at him.
"There is."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What?" Kai asked.
The boy pointed at the silver symbol on Kai's chest.
"The key can close the door."
Evetyl frowned.
"Then why didn't you say that before?"
The boy smiled slightly.
"Because the key doesn't belong to this world."
Kai looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
"You were created outside the rules of this world."
He touched Kai's chest.
"You were never supposed to exist here."
Kai stepped backward.
"Then why am I here?"
The boy looked toward Evetyl.
"Because she chose you."
Evetyl's eyes widened.
"She found me…"
"No."
The boy shook his head.
"She found what was left of you."
Kai stared at him.
"What was left?"
The boy nodded.
"You were already dying when she found you."
Evetyl's memories suddenly flashed.
A ruined world.
A small boy.
Snow falling.
Her hands trembling as she carried him.
She whispered:
"I'll save you."
The memory disappeared.
Evetyl touched her head.
"I remember…"
Kai looked at her.
"What?"
"You were dying."
Kai froze.
"I was?"
"Yes."
Evetyl looked at the boy.
"You weren't just a possibility."
The boy smiled.
"You were the last possibility."
Kai's expression became serious.
"Then what am I?"
The boy looked directly into his eyes.
"The last thing that survived the world before the world."
Silence.
The three eyes above them suddenly moved.
All three focused on Kai.
The silver symbol over his heart became brighter.
Cr-Hook stepped forward.
"Don't look at him."
One of the eyes blinked.
The ancient city shook.
The Shadow screamed from behind the First Door.
"Run!"
Everyone froze.
Evetyl looked at the door.
The Shadow continued.
"They have found the key."
The original Cr-Hook looked upward.
"No…"
Cr-Hook asked,
"What?"
The original Cr-Hook's face went pale.
"They aren't here for Kai."
Kai looked at him.
"Then who?"
The original Cr-Hook slowly pointed toward Evetyl.
"They're here for her."
Evetyl's eyes widened.
"Why?"
The three eyes suddenly closed.
For one second, everything became silent.
Then all three opened again.
A voice echoed through the ancient city.
"Aeterna."
Evetyl stopped breathing.
The voice continued.
"Come home."
Cr-Hook immediately stepped in front of her.
"She isn't going anywhere."
The voice answered:
"She already came back."
The ground beneath Evetyl's feet began glowing.
A circle of ancient symbols appeared around her.
Kai grabbed her hand.
"Evetyl!"
The symbols began pulling her downward.
Cr-Hook grabbed her other arm.
"Hold on!"
Evetyl screamed.
"I can't!"
Cr-Hook pulled harder.
The original Cr-Hook joined him.
Kai held Evetyl's hand.
The three of them formed a chain.
But the ancient symbols were stronger.
Evetyl began disappearing into the light.
"Kai!"
"I have you!"
"Don't let go!"
"I won't!"
Cr-Hook shouted,
"Evetyl!"
She looked at him.
For a moment, she saw something behind him.
A memory.
Aeterna.
Standing beside Cr-Hook.
Smiling.
Then the memory changed.
Aeterna was crying.
Then screaming.
Then—
Evetyl saw herself standing before the First Door.
And someone was kneeling at her feet.
Kai.
Aeterna was holding his head.
She whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Evetyl suddenly understood.
The voice from behind the door wasn't warning them about Aeterna.
It was warning them about what Aeterna had done.
Evetyl looked at Kai.
"Kai…"
He looked back.
"What?"
"I think…"
Her voice trembled.
"I was the one who opened the First Door the first time."
Kai's eyes widened.
"No."
Cr-Hook looked at her.
"Evetyl…"
The ancient symbols grew brighter.
The voice above them returned.
"Remember."
Evetyl's eyes filled with tears.
And suddenly—
everything came back.
The first world.
The ending.
Cr-Hook.
Lyra.
Elara.
Kai.
The First Door.
And the choice that had started everything.
Evetyl screamed.
The entire ancient city went silent.
The three eyes disappeared.
The First Door slammed shut.
And Evetyl fell unconscious.
Kai caught her.
"Evetyl!"
Cr-Hook looked toward the darkness above.
"What just happened?"
The original Cr-Hook whispered:
"She remembered."
Cr-Hook looked at him.
"Remembered what?"
The original Cr-Hook stared at Evetyl.
"The reason the first world had to die."
Kai looked down at Evetyl.
"What was it?"
The original Cr-Hook slowly answered:
"Because Aeterna was trying to save something that should never have survived."
Kai's silver symbol suddenly appeared again.
But this time—
it was black.
And from somewhere inside Kai's chest came a whisper.
"I'm awake."
To be continued…