The aftermath hit harder than Kael expected.
Not physically—his body had endured worse. But mentally? Spiritually? It was like being hollowed out from the inside and barely stitched back together. He couldn't stop shaking, even as the gravity around him returned to normal.
"I shut it out," he told himself, "but that voice… that feeling… it's still inside me, like an itch I can't scratch."
The others gathered around, cautiously. Sera was the first to kneel beside him, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and something gentler—worry.
"You're back," she said softly.
"Was I gone?" Kael whispered.
"Almost."
Behind her, Aeris watched with arms folded, though her usual edge had dulled. Even Darius looked subdued, nursing a cracked rib but still on his feet.
"We should return to the academy," Aeris said. "Before anyone else decides to sing."
"He's not going anywhere," came a voice none of them recognized.
They all turned.
A tall figure in a dark blue cloak stepped out from the broken archway of the cathedral, face hidden beneath a mask shaped like a broken crescent moon.
Kael's body tensed. His staff snapped into his grip.
"You with the Choir?"
"No," the figure replied, pulling back the hood.
She was older than them—maybe in her early twenties—but her eyes were sharp, calculating, and far too knowing for someone that young.
"My name is Liora. I'm from the Division of Forgotten Archives. And I've been watching you, Kael."
"Creepy," Aeris muttered.
Liora ignored her. "You rejected the Choir. That's rare. Most don't even survive hearing the first verse."
Kael frowned. "You've heard it too."
Liora nodded. "And I didn't survive it… not really."
The Forgotten Archives
Back at the academy, they moved underground—far beneath the surface, deeper than Kael had ever been allowed. Past classrooms and training chambers, beyond rune-locked doors and whispers of forbidden research.
Here, in a library made of moving shelves and light-sensitive ink, was the Division Liora spoke of: a place where failed experiments, corrupted spells, and erased knowledge was stored—not destroyed, but contained.
"This place is off-limits to normal students," Darius muttered.
"Then it's a good thing Kael's not normal," Liora said. "Neither am I."
She led them to a sealed chamber where seven black stones floated above a rune circle. Each one hummed like a voice trapped inside.
"These are the Choir's echoes," she explained. "Fragments of their verses. Most people who touch them go insane or die. You… you might be able to understand them."
Kael stepped closer. "Why me?"
Liora gave him a long look.
"Because you're not fully human, Kael. You're something older. Something that was asleep inside the Void and now it's waking up."
Chorus of Truth
Kael didn't move. He just stared at the stones. Each seemed to tug at his soul in a different direction. One was warm. Another was sorrowful. One pulsed like a heartbeat.
"If I touch one… what happens?"
"You'll see a memory," Liora said. "Not yours. Theirs. You'll understand more about the Choir… and maybe about yourself."
"What's the catch?"
"It might not be real," she replied. "And if it is… you may wish it wasn't."
Kael took a breath. The others stayed back, silent.
Then he reached forward and touched the first stone.