Kai lay sprawled across the bed in his Solarium, one arm draped over his eyes like a makeshift blindfold, as though darkness might dull the stabbing pain ripping through his skull. His teeth were clenched, breath uneven, despite the otherwise calm, temperate atmosphere of his suite. The migraine wasn't just a headache, it was like his entire mind was being pulled in two directions, stretched taut and threatening to rip apart. In his right hand, he clutched Umbra tightly.
The blade rested across his chest, inert but present.....yet he knew better. With each beat of his heart, he felt it thrumming faintly, like a tether to something deeper. He'd figured it out after the last battle. Unless he was inside his inner Nexora, the only way to clearly hear Umbra's voice was to keep the weapon drawn. Somehow, its presence anchored the bond. "Big Bro you shouldn't have performed the transfusion," Umbra's voice whispered directly into his mind. Soft, almost gentle, but edged with rebuke. "You had just learnt how to use the skill and your energy wasn't perfectly synchronized with Zyren's. That kind of recklessness will have negative effects.....and this migraine is one of the consequences."
"Ughhh...", Kai let out a low, guttural groan. "You think I wanted to?" he muttered through clenched teeth, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. "It felt like the most effective solution at the moment, and I wasn't exactly aware the whole 'brain-cracking agony afterward' part." He squeezed his eyes tighter shut, but the pressure only worsened. In spite of it, his thoughts began to wander, unbidden as they flowed back to the moment after the last battle. After the Leviathan had fallen. Zyren's final strike had ended it with brutal precision, the air still humming with residual temporal distortion. The portal had opened moments later.....but not before something strange happened.
Kai remembered the dizziness. It had hit him out of nowhere, sudden and sharp, like the world tilted on an unseen axis. It had only lasted a few seconds..... but in those seconds, he had seen something. He had seen himself. Slumped against one of Lorith's jagged crystalline constructs, his body torn and bloodied, every breath a struggle. His arms were limp, and his skin had taken on the pale, waxy tone of someone who'd lost far too much blood. His head lolled slightly as he tried to speak, but all that came out was a ragged choke, as a mouthful of blood dribbling down his chin.
Lorith had been crouched over him, his normally gruff expression twisted with raw concern. "C'mon, c'mon... KID, HANG IN THERE, THE PORTAL WILL OPEN UP ANY MOMENT," the crystalline behemoth barked, his voice straining to mask desperation. Behind him stood Zyren, his silver hair tousled and untouched, his body unscathed, but his scarlet eyes were burning with panic. His hands moved frantically over his Chronolink, cursing under his breath. "Damn it, Saphielle... hurry up already."
The vision flickered like a candle in the wind, lasting no longer than a heartbeat. Then it vanished. And yet, the weight of it remained. A chill ran down Kai's spine. Not just because of the blood or the helplessness he'd seen himself in. No, It was the chilling sensation familiarity. It felt as if he knew that moment. Not as a dream. Not as a hallucination. It was like a memory but a memory of something that had never occurred to begin with. Something deep and instinctive screamed that what he saw had happened. But if so... why couldn't he remember it? He gritted his teeth as he decided to bury the thought for the moment. "Umbra," he whispered, almost afraid of the answer, "Is there any way to relieve this headache? I feel like I might throw up."
"The sensation should pass soon enough," Umbra replied, her voice gentler now, though still laced with quiet disapproval. "But you need to be more careful next time, Big Bro. Just because you can push yourself doesn't mean you always should." Kai let out a deep, weary sigh, his shoulders slowly relaxing into the soft bedding. "Yeah, yeah... noted." Just as the dull throb behind his eyes began to ease ever so slightly, he felt a soft tug at his wrist. He glanced down to see the faint blue glow of his Chronolink pulsing steadily. Someone was trying to reach him.
Groaning softly, Kai sat up, unsummoning Umbra in a flicker of dark azure light. The sword dissipated from his grasp like smoke caught in a breeze. He tapped the Chronolink with a sluggish motion, and a gentle hum filled the air as a holographic projection shimmered into view before him. Saphielle. Kai blinked once, bleary-eyed and still a little dazed from the headache. ".....Saphielle?" He tried to keep his voice even, neutral but something about the sudden appearance tugged at the back of his mind, stirring a vague unease. A flicker of caution. He wasn't sure why. "Something wrong?" he asked.
Saphielle's expression remained unreadable, serene, yet sharp. Her wings were folded neatly behind her as she answered smoothly, "Not quite." She tilted her head slightly, then continued, "But I need you to come to the Apeiro Vivliothiki. Do you know how to use your Chronolink to find directions?"
Kai rubbed the back of his neck and resisted the urge to groan again. His body still ached from the strain of the last battle.....and the bed beneath him had finally started to feel comfortable. "Uh.....yeah, I do," he said slowly. "But..... why do you need me there right now?" Saphielle's expression didn't shift, but her arms came to cross in front of her, and the glow of her sapphire eyes intensified faintly. "It's time you started training in something besides combat," she said firmly. "Your understanding of this world is still....lacking."
Kai exhaled, his hand moving to the back of his head, ruffling his already-messy hair. "I mean, I guess that's not wrong, but-" "No excuses." The interruption cut clean through his words. Saphielle's tone hadn't risen, but the pressure behind her voice sharpened like a blade. Her gaze locked onto him with quiet intensity. "This is important, Kai. You cannot afford ignorance, especially as a Time-Keeper." Kai frowned slightly, his brows furrowing. He considered pushing back.....just a little, but the weight of her words lingered, and he could feel the truth behind them. After a beat of silence, he sighed, defeated. "....Fine," he muttered. "I'll be there soon."
The projection shimmered once before vanishing, leaving only the soft ambient hum of his suite behind. Kai pushed himself fully upright, stretching his limbs with a grunt. The headache still pulsed behind his eyes, but it had receded to a manageable throb. Whatever the Apeiro Vivliothiki held, it clearly mattered quite a lot. Still, as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, that strange sense of familiarity: the phantom memory of blood, and breath, and time....lingered like a shadow at the back of his mind. And it refused to let go.
Kai exhaled one more time and tapped the crystal on his Chronolink. "Guide me to the Apeiro Vivliothiki," he muttered. With a soft chime, the device flared to life. A holographic arrow projected upward from the Chronolink, floating midair and glowing with a cool blue pulse. It gently rotated until it pointed leftward toward the corridor that led deeper into the Time-Keepers' stronghold. Kai stared at the arrow for a moment, then ran a hand down his face. "I need a break from all this damn nonsense," he muttered under his breath, before pushing himself forward, feet padding softly against the polished floor of the hall.
The corridors were silent except for the faint hum of ambient energy embedded in the walls: living pulses of time itself. Despite the sleek and futuristic feel, the structure bore ancient weight, as if every corridor had been walked by countless others before him. As he rounded a corner, Kai's eyes caught on a mural stretched across the wall to his right. Slowing to a stop, he let his gaze wander over the detailed painting. It depicted a lone warrior standing tall atop a pile of defeated Leviathans. Her posture was firm, unshaken, her twin talwars: jet-black with violet veins and solid gold handles, crossed in a resting stance at her sides. The faint shimmer of temporal energy swirled around her feet, subtly animating the scene.
Her violet eyes blazed with unwavering confidence, but it was her smile that caught Kai's attention. It wasn't arrogant or cold.....it was soft. Tender, almost.... maternal....? Kai stared at the mural for a few long seconds, something inexplicable stirring inside him. There was no plaque, no name. Just the image, carved and painted with care. "Who ar-.....were you?" he murmured, almost unconsciously. But the arrow blinked insistently in the corner of his vision, reminding him of his destination. He tore his eyes away from the mural with a reluctant breath and kept walking, the image of the warrior lingering in his thoughts as he made his way to the Apeiro Vivliothiki.