Steven meditated within the Sanctuary of Echoes, a crystal chamber floating above the skies of the reborn world. Runes pulsed on the walls, and time itself flowed slower inside. Aetheron stood outside, keeping watch—but inside, Steven was alone with the Codex.
Or so he thought.
The Codex hummed like a living heart within his soul. Each beat revealed fragments of knowledge, lost languages, maps to forgotten stars. But then... something shifted.
A whisper.
A flicker.
A glitch.
"Accessing: Forbidden Memory // Origin Zero."
Steven's eyes widened. The Codex had never shown him this before. Energy surged through his spine, and his surroundings faded—replaced by a swirling field of black glass and frozen lightning.
Then, he saw it: a younger version of Pain—not a god, not a villain... but a man.
Human.
He stood beside another figure cloaked in radiant light. A woman. Her voice was soft, ageless.
"You are the first bearer, Jeradus," she said. "The first Starcaster. You must protect the Codex."
Steven gasped. "Jeradus...? That's Pain's original name..."
The memory continued. Jeradus reached for the Codex, reverent, afraid. "And if I fail?"
The woman smiled sadly. "Then eternity will collapse. And a new bearer will be born. One who remembers... everything."
The vision distorted, bleeding red. Flames tore through the scene. The woman screamed. Jeradus—Pain—held the Codex, but its light turned black. He had absorbed it—but not all of it.
The remainder had scattered across time.
One shard had found its way to Steven.
The truth hit like lightning.
Steven wasn't just the new bearer.
He was the last shard of the original Codex—
—the memory Pain couldn't consume.
The vision ended. The chamber pulsed once. Silence.
Steven collapsed to his knees, breath shaky. "I'm not just chosen... I am what he couldn't corrupt."
The Codex whispered again.
"If he consumes you... he becomes complete."
Aetheron rushed in. "Steven? What happened?"
Steven looked up, his eyes glowing with a new light. "Pain was the first. I'm the final piece."
Aetheron froze. "Then if he finds you..."
Steven stood slowly. "He ends everything. Truly."
---
Somewhere beyond the multiverse...
Pain stopped mid-step. His eyes flickered. A memory long buried trembled within him.
He smiled.
"So... that's where it went."
He raised his hand. "Ready the Choir. The final hunt begins."
---
To be continued