Veyrion stepped forward, his coat still trailing stars in its folds, and folded his hands behind his back. He was calm. Too calm. Like the kind of calm that only ca from soone who'd lived through too many endings.
"Now that everything is sorted," he said, voice quiet but firm, "I believe the best course of action is to return ho—to the Origin Realm. There, you can begin restoring what was sealed, regain your power, and prepare to stop the Architect of Ruin. Only then can you reclaim what was always ant to be yours."
Joshua didn't answer at first.
His hands were in his pockets. His head tilted slightly to the side. His eyes were still on the floor, like he was trying to see if the cracks in the tiles could tell him what to do.
Then, finally, he exhaled. A short breath. Almost a laugh, but not quite.
"…Yeah, I don't think I'll be going back."
Silence.
Not the dramatic kind—just the weird, uncomfortable kind. Like everyone heard him, but they weren't sure if they were supposed to react yet.
Veyrion's gaze didn't flicker. He just blinked. Slowly.
"I wasn't offering a choice," he said simply.
Joshua looked up.
"I didn't ask for one."
Veyrion stepped closer, and the air shifted with him—gravity bending just a little, like the world was warning them that this guy was not just so old man in a cloak.
"You don't understand what's coming," he said, voice like distant thunder. "When the Architect of Ruin arrives, there won't be any running. Not to Earth. Not to so pocket realm. Not even to the God Plane."
"I didn't say I was running," Joshua replied, tone low. "I just said I'm not going back."
"And I'm telling you," Veyrion said, sharper now, "if you don't—you will die."
The words landed like stones.
Joshua blinked.
"Cool," he muttered. "Then I die."
Freya winced slightly. Raphael made a face like he just bit a lemon. Alice was biting her lip.
"You're not listening," Veyrion pressed, and for the first ti, there was sothing close to frustration in his voice. "The only way you stand a chance is if you return to the Origin Realm. That's where your roots are. That's where the seal was forged. That's where the power still sleeps. This version of you… this tired, confused shell—it isn't enough."
He paused, letting it hang.
"You've forgotten too much. Your body barely rembers how to bend space, let alone command it. And Ruin… he hasn't forgotten anything. He's evolving. Absorbing broken laws. Gathering shards of lost gods. If he finishes rebuilding himself before you do… then there will be no future."
Raphael rubbed the back of his head. "…Kinda feels like he's got a point."
"I'm tired," Joshua muttered again, more to himself. "I'm not ready to be whoever the hell you think I am."
"You don't have to be ready," another voice cut in.
It was Aurora. She'd been quiet the whole ti, standing off to the side, eyes closed. Now she opened them.
And they were glowing.
Not just with light—but with possibilities. She walked forward slowly, and as she did, tiny echoes of other futures shimred around her like glass reflections—so broken, so whole.
"I've seen what happens when you stay here," she said softly. "I've seen tilines where you pretend none of this is real. Where you try to stay human. Where you try to just exist."
She stopped in front of him. Looked up at him.
"They all end the sa way."
Joshua looked at her. She didn't flinch. Didn't blink.
"You die," she said. "We all do. And worse—the universe frays. The concept of balance itself begins to collapse. Ruin doesn't just kill you. He rewrites the aning of life around you."
Veyrion nodded slowly. "He becos the new constant."
Joshua clenched his jaw.
Aurora continued. "But if you return to the Origin Realm… if you start rembering what you are… I've seen outcos where you win. Not many. But enough. You may not beco the hero. You may not even fix everything. But you'll be able to fight. To resist."
Her voice trembled just slightly.
"And… I believe in those futures. Because they feel real."
A faint chi echoed through the chamber then. A soft, lodic hum.
And that's when the Oracle stepped forward.
She hadn't said anything since they arrived. She barely moved unless needed. But now, the ancient figure in silver and violet took one step and the air around her rippled like silk underwater.
"Confird," she said simply. "Probability density exceeds ninety-one percent. All survival-based projections depend on Subject Zaryel's return to the Origin Realm."
Her voice wasn't robotic, but it was strange. Too smooth. Too certain.
"Conditions are not favorable in this dinsional node," she continued. "Magic density insufficient. Divine tether unstable. Ti-thread elasticity compromised. Full restoration of core protocol is only possible within the Origin Matrix."
Everyone turned to look at Joshua.
Even he sighed at that one.
"Alright, alright. You guys have really rehearsed this speech."
He turned to Veyrion.
"You sure there's no other way?"
Veyrion gave him a look. One of those "I'm a cosmic being, not your therapist" kind of looks.
"There's always another way," he said. "But they're all worse."
Joshua rubbed his temples again. His fingers shook slightly. Not from fear—but from the exhaustion of knowing. Of rembering. Of that familiar weight pushing down on him again.
Being Zaryel was not fun.
It was not epic.
It was not cool.
It was everything all at once.
All the ti.
"You said the Origin Realm was locked," he muttered.
Veyrion nodded. "It was."
"But?"
"But… it's open now," the Oracle said. "Slightly. Weakly. The gateway exists."
Aurora added, "Enough to get in. Maybe not enough to co out. But enough to start."
Joshua looked at her. She held his gaze.
"It's your only real shot," she said.
Joshua finally looked back at the glass wall. The storm outside was slowly clearing. The tower humd quietly. Distant planes shimred.
"…And if I go?" he asked. "What happens then?"
Veyrion smiled faintly.
"Then the fun begins."
Joshua scowled.
"I hate your definition of fun."
Freya smirked. "You'll fit right in."
The tower's core humd louder now.
The air shimred.
The Oracle raised her hand, and a circle of silver glyphs spun open in the center of the room.
The portal to the Origin Realm had begun forming.
"…Damn it," Joshua muttered.
He stepped forward.
"…Guess we're going ho."
"What ho?"
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