In veins where stardust used to sleep,
Awakened truth begins to creep.
A name once sealed now breaks the chain—
What's lost in blood, returns through pain.
As the glowing light of the pendant dimmed and the echoes of his shadow-self faded into silence, the Sanctum began to change. The cracked mirror slowly receded into the ground, revealing a hidden stone platform beneath it—inscribed with the same markings that covered Jake's wrist.
Elira stepped beside him, her eyes wide—not with fear, but with realization.
"You activated the first seal," she murmured. "This place… it's older than I thought. It's yours."
From deep within the chamber, a low grinding sound began—like something ancient awakening. A staircase, previously hidden, uncoiled downward into a red-lit tunnel.
Elira glanced at Jake, uncertain for the first time. "What's down there wasn't meant to be disturbed until your bloodline returned."
Jake swallowed, then nodded. "Then I guess it's time we find out what my blood's been hiding."
This can be THE moment, the moment of truth, the moment he has been waiting for, the moment that would define what his parents know, the moment that would explain what his parents would not explain to him. He took a long deep breath, he could feel the marking on his wrist pulse with so much energy that he was almost overwhelmed by it, it was almost as if the both markings were magnetic because they kept on pulling - wanting to be together
Jake slowly stepped onto the revealed platform, and as his boots touched the ancient stone, the markings on his wrist ignited with a blinding gold light—burning through the cloth that had concealed them for years.
Elira instinctively backed away, shielding her eyes. "Jake… something's responding to you down there."
He didn't answer.
He couldn't.
The energy was coursing through his veins like wildfire, not harming—but awakening. For the first time, the pain was not agony… it was clarity. His heartbeat synced with the pulsing symbols. His breath slowed, focused.
The platform responded to his presence.
It began to descend.
As the stone disc lowered into the glowing tunnel beneath the Sanctum, the air thickened—not with dust, but with presence. The space below was a dome, circular, lined with relics, etched scripts, and floating memory-crystals that hummed softly like a forgotten lullaby.
But at the center… stood a monument.
It was a statue. A tall, regal figure in robes, head bowed, hand stretched outward—as if waiting to give something… or take something back.
Jake stepped off the platform. As he neared it, the statue's eyes flared to life—lit with the exact same glow as his markings.
A voice filled the chamber. Not spoken. Embedded in his mind.
> "Ashix. The last bearer. Blood of the Sealed Flame. If you have found this chamber, then the final cycle has begun. The truth is yours now. But truth demands sacrifice."
Jake froze.
The statue's outstretched hand began to open—and in its palm rested a crimson shard, warm and pulsing like a heartbeat.
He didn't know how, but deep down, he recognized it. This was more than a relic. This was the missing half of him.
Elira had followed him quietly, watching with wide eyes. "Jake… do you know what that is?"
He nodded slowly, hand trembling as he reached out.
"It's my inheritance."
His fingers touched the shard.
And then—
Memories not his own crashed into him.
Flashes of his parents battling robed figures in the stars.
A gate tearing open above the Earth.
The name "Ashix" shouted like a war cry… and whispered like a prayer.
And finally—a promise made by his father:
> "Hide him from the Flame until it calls him. When it does… he'll have to choose."
Jake collapsed to his knees, tears in his eyes, clutching the shard to his chest as it fused into the markings on his wrist.
The chamber fell silent.
But Jake was no longer the same.
He stood slowly, eyes glowing with newfound fire.
"Elira," he said, voice calm but changed. "I remember now. Everything."