Countless fragnts of light scattered across infinite darkness. Reinhard felt himself falling away from conscious thought, dropping through layers of reality into sothing deeper.
The falling stopped abruptly.
Before him, space rippled, and Odin appeared.
Sleipnir manifested first, the eight-legged horse defying natural laws. Upon Sleipnir sat Odin, dark jagged armor covered in lines of glowing blue.
A horned helt hid their face with a small opening. Where eyes should be masked by shadows so deep. Even Reinhard's enhanced vision couldn't penetrate them.
Behind Odin was a tattered cloak trailing from shoulders. The fabric moved slightly despite ti being frozen, existing partially outside the effect's reach. Blue wisps similar to those trailing from Zenuken drifted from the cloak's edges.
In Odin's right hand rested a massive spear, black-blue and jagged, covered in streaks and engravings that pulsed with power.
As soon as he registered Odin's presence, Reinhard rushed forward without delay. He jumped into the air and blasted out with a fist, putting everything behind the strike.
Odin blocked with a single finger from his free hand.
Reinhard froze mid-air, completely immobilized. His fist pressed against that finger, unable to advance even a milliter.
Odin humd with amusent. "Good. You are no longer affected by my presence or an indecisive ant."
"Shut up," Reinhard growled.
"Are you sure?" Odin's voice carried a knowing quality. "The information I have is related to your brother and his curse."
Reinhard blinked before he furrowed his brows. "What information?"
"First, you should understand the Origin of the Dark Tide." Odin's finger remained casually pressed against Reinhard's frozen fist. "It isn't so random curse but caused by the death of Surtr or what you know from the dream as Tower Black Being."
Reinhard's eyes widened. "What!? How is the curse related to Surtr..." His mind raced. "Mimir said beings like you can't appear... Unless it's like how a fragnt of Angra Mainyu appeared in Eastern Hesod..."
Odin chuckled; the sound echoed through the darkness. "It's similar. Surtr had died once more, and his body itself fragnted into embers before the sparks scattered through fate, drifting until they rooted themselves in the world of Paradise. Those embers beca the Curse."
Reinhard trembled before he muttered. "Those embers are the curse... Then how did they appear to people?"
"Those embers sought hosts capable of hosting these fragnts into themselves." Odin's finger moved before they shifted and began to count down. "These were humans, as they were born with souls that were easy to fuse into, reconfigurable, and able to absorb foreign spiritual imprints."
Reinhard's eyes widened further.
Odin continued speaking. "Surtr needed beings who can dream for his embers to spark his intent of revival through them. Can suffer so the pain stabilizes the ember. It can change which humans are best at adapting. We are emotional beings, so rage and pain fuel his fire. And finally, there are nurous hosts to give the sparks more chances to work and gather."
Reinhard clenched his free fist, knuckles turning white. "Wait... But those with the curse can't dream-"
"They are dreaming but not in a normal way." Odin says bluntly. "You can think of it like an inverted type of dreaming. As they are suffering and screaming, that's when they are dreaming themselves, which is why you can't awaken or stop the process. Their minds are locked in the core of the Ember, and it's also why they can't recall what is causing them pain or recall the pain after the night."
Reinhard's fists turned completely white. "What exactly do they see?"
Odin humd thoughtfully. "They relive fragnts of Surtr's past. His endless battles, his burning of realms, all those whom he consud, mixed with their pain and agony. And finally, his death."
Reinhard's eyes dimd as his entire body went still as the words sank in.
Klein… Klein had experienced that?
Not for months but for years. He experienced what Surtr went through, the pain of all it consud, and its own death constantly. Unable to tell anyone because even he didn't recall the mories, and only just the pain.
And Reinhard was unable to do anything to help his brother at the ti.
"The reason why there is a ti period for the curse." Odin continued with a sigh. "It's because the host souls can't withstand the ember anymore. It's why they mutate into Phantasm Beasts, the ember is changing them to create a new form to help withstand for longer, but that form can't last much."
Reinhard trembled even more violently. "So it's impossible for anyone to survive this?"
Odin humd. "They were never ant to."
Reinhard froze completely, staring at Odin in a daze.
Odin peers down at Reinhard before saying. "The embers' goal is to revive Surtr, and you could say. Each scream is a mory returning to him, each marking is reconstructing his identity, and each death is fuel for another ember. And once the embers have devoured enough mories, pain, and patterns, then the fragnts will ignite simultaneously before linking with each other."
Reinhard asked slowly and in a quiet tone. "Does this an after every Dark Tide person dies, the ember takes the suffering from them and returns to where it ca from before starting again?"
Odin nodded. "Yes. It appears in the host, accumulates from them, returns to their origin, and then restarts until enough has been devoured before it finally begins the event known as Final Fla. At that mont, all the sparks will combine into one final host who has Surtr's Beast Spirit, and then their souls will be rewritten as fire, the hosts are consud, Surtr's consciousness reassembles, and Surtr is rebuilt."
Reinhard trembled even more violently. "So... Surtr will appear in Paradise like how Fenrir did?"
"No, he won't." Odin said with a shake of his head. "He will appear as a planetary-scale fla-mind, a consciousness forged through humanity itself that will burn the entire world down."
Reinhard stared blankly into the void. "Why..."
Odin laughed. "That's because Surtr's fragnts are stupidly following the concept that destruction must co first before a new order. The embers believe Surtr cannot return without burning everything down, and that it must burn sothing for him to return."
Reinhard fell silent as his mind raced through the absurdity of that requirent, and finally he bit his lip. "Okay... But why are you telling all of this now and not before?"
Odin humd. "You can think of it as your reward for accomplishing that goal you told and being open to wanting more. You did well, little ant."
Then Odin's presence grew, the pressure increasing until Reinhard felt it crushing against his frozen form. The voice that ca next carried weight that made the darkness tremble. "And for that, here is my warning. Klein isn't fully safe."
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