“Father…”The voice came again.This time, the entire city heard it.Every person stopped.Every light went dark.Even the approaching fleets above the city became motionless.Kael looked at Aren.“What is beneath us?”Aren didn't answer.Kael grabbed his arm.“What is beneath us?”Aren finally spoke.“My first mistake.”The ground shook.Mira stepped closer.“You have a child beneath this city?”Aren looked at her.“Not a child.”The seventh child frowned.“Then what is it?”Aren's expression became grim.“A decision.”Kael stared at him.“You keep using that word.”“Because that is what it is.”Aren pointed toward the ground.“Long before the First Family, before the Gate, before the Witness, I tried to create something that could choose without fear.”Kael's face hardened.“You created a person.”“No.”Aren shook his head.“I created a possibility.”The floor cracked.A deep golden light appeared below.Elias immediately moved beside Kael.“I can hear a memory.”“What memory?”Elia

The ocean rose like a wall.Kael barely had time to react.“Everyone—move!”The wave crashed over the ancient city.Mira drove the First Blade into the ground.A white barrier erupted around them.Water struck it with the force of a mountain.The city trembled.Then the ocean withdrew.Silence followed.Kael looked toward the horizon.The tower remained.And the woman stood at its peak.Black robes.Black hair.A black blade.She looked exactly like Serah.But she wasn't Serah.Serah stood several steps behind her.Her face was pale.“Kael,” she whispered.Kael looked at her.“Who is she?”Serah didn't answer.The woman smiled.“I have waited a very long time for you to ask that.”Kael stepped forward.“Then answer.”The woman raised her blade.The entire sky darkened.“I am Veyla.”Aren's expression changed.“No.”Veyla looked at him.“You remember.”Aren's voice was almost a whisper.“I thought you were destroyed.”“I was.”“Then what are you?”Veyla smiled.“What remained.”Kael lo

Eon stopped breathing.Kael noticed immediately.“What did they say?”The boy didn't answer.“Eon.”“They're coming.”“Who?”Eon looked toward the horizon.“The people behind the Gate.”Mira tightened her grip on the First Blade.“But the Gate is closed.”Eon shook his head.“Not to them.”Aren's face hardened.“Then they found another way.”The first tremor struck.The ancient city shifted beneath their feet.Far away, a mountain split.Then another.Then another.Across Eryndor, old structures that had been buried for centuries began rising from the earth.Darian looked around.“They prepared this.”Kael turned.“Who?”Darian looked toward the eastern horizon.“The people who built the first Gate.”Serah's expression changed.“They weren't trying to escape.”Kael looked at her.“Then what were they doing?”Serah whispered:“They were preparing a road.”A deep sound rolled across the land.Not thunder.Footsteps.Thousands of them.Eon covered his ears.“They're closer.”Kael crouche

Eon stared at Kael.“You sacrificed me.”The words hung in the chamber.Kael didn't move.“No.”The figure wearing his face smiled.“You remember now.”Kael shook his head.“I remember choosing.”“That is enough.”“No.”Kael looked at Eon.“I remember you.”Eon's eyes trembled.“You don't.”“I remember you standing beside me.”“That wasn't me.”“It was.”Eon stepped backward.“I was alone.”Kael moved toward him.Eon raised a hand.“Don't.”Kael stopped.The figure laughed softly.“You see?”It turned toward Eon.“He doesn't even understand what he did.”Eon looked at Kael.“Tell me.”Kael's jaw tightened.“I don't know.”“Then remember.”The figure raised its hand.The chamber disappeared.Kael was six again.He stood inside the First Gate.Seven children were behind him.Mira was crying.Aran was shouting.Another child was unconscious.And Eon—Eon was nowhere.Aren stood before the Gate.“Kael, come back!”Kael couldn't move.Something enormous was approaching from the darkness.S

The earth answered.Not with an explosion.With a heartbeat.Once.BOOM.The ancient city shook.Again.BOOM.Cracks spread across the stone beneath Kael's feet.The third heartbeat was louder.BOOM.Vael remained on one knee.For the first time since his arrival, he looked completely helpless.Kael stared at him.“You know what that is.”Vael didn't answer.“Vael.”The silver-haired man finally looked up.“I know what it means.”“What?”Vael swallowed.“The first Voss is awake.”Aren stepped forward.“You said the first Voss was created by a choice.”“He was.”“And you said the First Family was created after him.”“Yes.”Aren's eyes narrowed.“Then why are you afraid?”Vael looked toward the ground.“Because we never created him.”Silence.Kael's eyes hardened.“Then who did?”Vael whispered:“He created himself.”The earth split.A massive staircase appeared beneath the city.It descended into darkness.The seven awakened members of the First Family moved toward it.The child holdin