Julius stood in the middle of the street, staring at the thousands of silver marks that had appeared across the city. They covered walls, rooftops, trees, roads and even the people themselves.Every mark pulsed slowly, then the first scream came, “Julius!”He turned. A silver line had wrapped itself around Gabriel's arm.Gabriel tried to tear it away, but the mark tightened around him and pulled him toward the eastern side of the city. Adrian was suddenly dragged in the opposite direction, Kael disappeared from sight for a second before Julius caught his shoulder while Dark Julius was already moving toward Noah, “Stay close to me”Noah nodded, then the city changed..The streets stretched, buildings moved farther apart,the distance between people became impossible and Julius could see everyone, but suddenly they were standing hundreds of miles away from one another. It was an illusion, he knew that immediately but it was an illusion designed to imitate reality so perfectly that even ordi

The ruins of the Forgotten City shook.Dust fell from the broken towers as cracks spread across the ground.Julius stood at the front of his family, staring into the darkness beneath the city.The Hollow King had stopped smiling and that alone was enough to make everyone serious.“What is down there?” Julius asked.Kael stared at the ruins, “I don't know”Julius looked at him as Kael had never said those words easily“You created the First World,” Julius said, “You knew about the Beginning, you knew about the First Consciousness and you knew about Cael and the others”“I knew what I was allowed to know” Kael defended himself.Another heartbeat shook the ground, Noah grabbed Julius's hand,“Father, something is coming.”“I know” Julius replied The crack beneath them suddenly widened..A black hand rose from the darkness, it wasn't enormous, wasn't covered in armor and looked human. It gripped the edge of the broken ground and slowly pulled a man upward. He emerged wearing simple black clo

A few weeks after,home had never looked so peaceful.Julius stood at the edge of the garden, watching the evening sun disappear behind the mountains. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, there were no cracks in the sky. No collapsing dimensions, ancient voices, armies waiting beyond reality, just the sound of the wind moving through the trees.Noah sat beneath the largest tree in the garden, laughing as Gabriel and Adrian argued over a game they had apparently been playing for nearly an hour. Dark Julius stood nearby, pretending not to care about the argument while secretly keeping score..Cael was helping Kael repair part of the house that had been damaged during the final battle. The Hollow King sat on the porch and he had been given a name, not because Julius had chosen one for him, but because he had finally chosen one for himself, Elias.He was still learning what it meant to be human. He was still terrible at understanding jokes and had asked Gabriel yesterday why hum

Julius woke up to the sound of laughter. For a few seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling. There was no alarm, no explosion shaking the walls or strange presence pressing against reality, voice calling his name from another dimension. Just laughter, the kind that came from people who had nothing to fear.A small smile appeared on Julius's face. He slowly got out of bed and opened the door."You're finally awake” .Julius turned.Lyra stood at the end of the hallway, her arms folded across her chest, she was smiling.Julius smiled back, "How long have you been waiting?""Long enough” she replied "That's not an answer” Julius argued "It wasn't supposed to be” she replied, then he walked toward her..Lyra looked at him for a moment before reaching up and touching his face, "You look different”Julius raised an eyebrow, "Different how?""Peaceful” she bluntly said.He covered her hand with his, "I think I finally am"Lyra's expression softened. For so long, she had known Julius through

The house had finally fallen silent. One by one, everyone had gone to bed after another long evening filled with laughter, arguments, stories, and far too much food.Julius stood by the bedroom window, looking at the moon.For once, he wasn't searching the sky, wasn't sensing distant worlds, wasn't checking for danger, instead he was simply watching the moonlight.Behind him, the door closed softly, Julius turned and saw Lyra standing there. She had changed into a simple nightdress, her hair falling loosely around her shoulders. There was something peaceful about the way she looked at him, something that made the enormous universe outside the window feel completely irrelevant."You disappeared," she saidJulius smiled, "I've been standing right here”"You know what I mean” She walked closer while Julius watched her approach"Thinking again?" She said again"Maybe” Julius replied "About the past?" She asked He shook his head, "No”"Then what?"Julius reached for her hand, "You”Lyra