Kairos stood frozen, a statue of disbelief in the heart of the unsettling citadel. Panic clawed at him, a desperate need to escape the oppressive weight of the unseen walls. He began to circle, his eyes scanning for an exit, a crack in the suffocating reality around him. Then, the voice, a whisper that resonated directly within his mind, cut through his frantic search.
"You may ask five questions. Until then, you remain here. I am aware of all within the Veil."
The voice, disembodied yet somehow intimately present, sent a shiver down his spine. Trapped. The word echoed in his mind, a cold, hard truth.
"So, I'm trapped," Kairos conceded, his voice a strained whisper as he continued his desperate search for an escape route. "Fine. Tell me about yourself, Mr. Veil. What are you?"
"I am a cluster of souls," the Veil replied, the words echoing with a resonance that spoke of ages.
"A cluster… of souls?" Kairos repeated, the words barely forming on his lips. The sheer strangeness of the statement hung in the air, thick and unsettling.
"The Veil was created through countless sacrifices," the voice explained, the tone devoid of emotion yet heavy with the weight of untold suffering. "Unwilling sacrifices, offered by a man known as the Crimson Hands. Intended to protect, it now imprisons."
A jolt, sharp and unexpected, ripped through Kairos. "Crimson Hands? My father?"
A silence followed, heavy and pregnant with unspoken implications. Then, the Veil's voice, cool and detached, answered, "Your father is an anomaly. One born outside this world."
The revelation hit Kairos with the force of a physical blow. His father, the man he knew only through fragmented memories and stern pronouncements, a being from another realm? It was incomprehensible, shattering everything he thought he knew.
"You know my father?" Kairos asked, the question choked with disbelief and a growing sense of dread.
"All within the Veil," the voice confirmed, its tone unwavering. "Your father was once softhearted, too kind for his own good." The words felt like a betrayal, a harsh judgment on the man he'd barely known. Kairos frowned, finding the description jarringly at odds with the cold, distant figure he remembered.
His next question burst forth, fueled by a desperate need for understanding, for context to this bizarre reality. "Protect us from what, exactly? The abominations? What's imprisoned?"
"The people beyond the Veil feared your kind, because of your differences. They sacrificed your people to imprison you people within this barrier. It is a curse, not a blessing," the Veil revealed, its words dripping with a bitterness that echoed the centuries of suffering it held within.
Kairos felt a surge of bitter anger, a searing resentment for the ancestors who had condemned him and his people to this existence. He pushed through that anger, fueling his next question with a desperate thirst for answers.
"How can the curse be broken? Why did my father betray his people to such an extent? Who is my father?"
The Veil's response was immediate, sharp, and chillingly definitive. "The curse can be broken by destroying the five crowns, the keys to this prison. Only those of royal bloodline can pass through the Veil. Others attempting escape will be cursed. And only twins may enter this citadel. Your five questions are answered."
"Wait," Kairos protested, his mind reeling from the torrent of information. "How can I trust you? I have more questions!"
"I am a cluster of souls. I hold their memories. I see all within the Veil," the voice echoed, its finality unwavering.
Five orbs of brilliant white light materialized above Kairos's head, hovering like ethereal moons. Slowly, they descended, dissolving into his mind, a torrent of memories flooding his consciousness. The experiences, the emotions, the history of countless souls washed over him, a tidal wave of alien thoughts and feelings. It was agonizing, overwhelming, yet undeniably real.
"These memories… sharable with five only," the Veil whispered, the words barely audible above the storm raging in Kairos's mind. The agony was so intense, the final words were nearly lost to the chaos.
When Kairos regained consciousness, he was outside the forbidden zone, sprawled on the ground. His siblings, Lysander, Zephyrus, and Illumi, knelt beside him, their faces etched with worry.
Lysander embraced him, her touch gentle, reassuring. "You had us worried," she murmured.
"What happened?" Kairos asked, his voice still thick with the echoes of his ordeal.
Zephyrus answered, "We dealt with the abominations, then searched for the citadel's entrance… but found nothing. Not even the one you used to get in."
Lysander added, "The citadel vanished. Then we found you here." She paused, her gaze searching his face. "What happened in there?"
Kairos explained everything, instinct guiding him to share the memories he'd received from the Veil. He instinctively knew it was right, that his siblings needed to know this. There was no question; these memories were true.
"What do we do now?" Illumi asked, her voice laced with apprehension.
"We research, and then we ask Father," Lysander proposed, her tone resolute.
"Let's go," Zephyrus added. "We've spent enough time here."
They returned to the kingdom, the weight of their revelation hanging heavy in the silence between them. Their father, King Owen, was in his meeting chamber, conferring with advisors and foreign dignitaries. The guards allowed them passage, and Lysander dutifully reported their success, carefully omitting the details of Kairos's strange encounter.
"That's the report," she concluded.
"Good work," one of the advisors commented, his tone laced with polite formality.
King Owen, sitting at the head of the long table, observed his children with a complex expression. He remained silent throughout the report, finally issuing a curt command.
"Everyone, leave us," he ordered.
Reluctantly, the advisors and guards obeyed, leaving the four siblings alone with their father. The king's gaze was intense, searching, leaving them unsure of his intentions.
"So, anything else I need to know? Concerning the forbidden zone, I mean," King Owen repeated, his gaze sharp, scrutinizing each of his children. His voice, though calm, held an undercurrent of tension.
Lysander, ever the voice of reason, stepped forward. "Father, we… we discovered something unusual during our encounter with the level three abomination." She carefully explained Kairos's experience in the citadel, leaving out only the Veil's revelations about their father and the origin of the curse. She detailed the citadel's disappearance and the deeply unsettling memories that had flooded Kairos's mind.
Zephyrus corroborated her account. Illumi confirmed the truth of the shared memories.
King Owen remained silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and gravelly. "The forbidden zone… it has always held mysteries. But a disappearing citadel… shared memories… This is… unprecedented. The Veil… it is weakening. But this suggests something far more significant. Something… darker."
He rose from his throne, pacing before his children, his movements deliberate. "Kairos, your experience… it confirms certain long-held suspicions," Owen stated, his voice gaining strength. "The Veil… it was not created to protect you. It was created to imprison you."
He revealed a hidden compartment in his throne, opening a small, obsidian box containing five intricately crafted crowns. They pulsed with an inner light, casting an eerie glow.
"These," he said, his voice hoarse, "are the keys, the five crowns that hold the curse. Destroy them, and the Veil will fall. But be warned… their power is immense, and the consequences unpredictable. The abominations are the least of your worries."
He revealed the truth, the truth he had kept hidden for generations. The ancient war between their people and those beyond the Veil, the sacrifices made to create the barrier, and his role as the Crimson Hands, the inheritor of a dark legacy. The forbidden zone was not a place of danger, but a prison, a testament to a history of betrayal and sacrifice. Their father was a direct descendant, bound by blood and the legacy of the crimson hands. This was his burden to carry.
"Your mother… she knew," he whispered, his voice breaking. "She sought a way to ensure the safety of both our kinds. Her plan ultimately failed due to the curse's overwhelming power."
"What do we do now?" Lysander asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"You find the crowns," Owen said, his voice heavy with the weight of his revelation. "And you decide what to do with them. This is your burden now, my children. The fate of our kingdoms, perhaps both worlds, rests on your shoulders."
The four siblings, burdened by the weight of their new knowledge and the heavy responsibility placed upon them, looked at each other.
But something about their father's kind behavior didn't sit well with the siblings, especially Kairos. The about this encounter was strange but he couldn't put his fingers in it.
The journey to find the five crowns had begun, a quest that would test their courage, their loyalty, and their very souls. The fate of two worlds hung in the balance, and they were the only ones who could save them. But at what cost?