Alec barely made it back to his apartment before the weight of exhaustion overcame him. Every step felt heavier than the last, as though the temple's oppressive energy had followed him into the streets. Sigrid's hurried words about the Shattered Fragment and the Gate buzzed in his ears, but they felt distant, like echoes in a canyon. He collapsed onto the worn sofa, his head in his hands, trying to block out the world.
The artifact's presence was undeniable. Even now, tucked away in Sigrid's satchel across the room, it seemed to hum faintly, its energy brushing against the edges of Alec's consciousness. He shut his eyes tightly, willing it to stop, but the sensation only grew stronger, like a drumbeat he couldn't ignore.
Sleep came unwillingly, dragging him down into its depths. But it was not restful.
---
The vision began with darkness—thick, impenetrable, and absolute. Alec floated within it, weightless and disoriented, until a faint light flickered in the distance. It grew steadily, illuminating an alien landscape that defied reason. The ground beneath him was a shifting mosaic of colors and textures, as though reality itself was struggling to maintain form. Towering spires of jagged stone reached toward a sky that bled hues of red and gold, swirling like liquid fire.
And at the center of it all stood the Gate.
It was massive, far larger than Alec had imagined, and yet its dimensions seemed to shift whenever he tried to focus on them. The Gate was formed of an unearthly metal, black and glossy, etched with the same pulsating symbols that had covered the temple. It vibrated with power, emitting a low, resonant hum that Alec could feel in his bones.
A voice—or perhaps many voices—whispered around him, a cacophony of fragmented words and phrases. Some he recognized as fragments of languages he had studied in old Bureau files, others were incomprehensible. But one message stood out clearly:
*The Convergence is near.*
Alec took a step forward, drawn to the Gate despite the overwhelming dread that gripped him. Each step felt like wading through quicksand, the weight of the air growing heavier with every movement. The hum of the Gate grew louder, the symbols on its surface glowing brighter as he approached.
Then the whispers turned to screams.
Visions assailed him from every direction, too fast and too vivid to process. He saw cities crumbling beneath massive, otherworldly forms; skies filled with writhing, serpentine shapes that blotted out the sun; and oceans boiling as the earth cracked open, spewing fire and ash. Among these apocalyptic scenes were flashes of faces—some human, some not—staring directly at him. Their eyes burned with knowledge and madness.
Alec fell to his knees, clutching his head as the images tore through his mind. The Gate loomed before him, its symbols now blindingly bright, and the hum had become a deafening roar. He felt the pull again, stronger than ever, as if the Gate itself was reaching out to him, calling him home.
A single figure emerged from the chaos, stepping out of the Gate's shadow. It was Caius, though he seemed different here. His form was shrouded in an ethereal light, and his eyes glowed with the same sickly green hue as the symbols. When he spoke, his voice reverberated through Alec's entire being.
"You have seen the truth now, Alec. You cannot turn away."
Alec tried to respond, but his voice wouldn't come. He could only watch as Caius extended a hand toward him.
"The Veil is thinning. The Gate will open. And when it does, you must decide which side you stand on."
The vision shattered.
---
Alec awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat echoing like a drum in the silence of his apartment. For a moment, he wasn't sure where he was, the lines between the vision and reality still blurring in his mind.
Sigrid was there, sitting in the chair across from him. Her face was pale, her eyes shadowed with worry. "You were thrashing in your sleep," she said softly. "I thought you were having a seizure."
Alec sat up slowly, his muscles protesting with every movement. "It wasn't a dream," he muttered. "It was the Gate. I saw it. I... I felt it."
Sigrid's expression hardened. "The visions are a side effect of the artifact. The more you're connected to it, the more it pulls you toward the Veil."
"Side effect?" Alec's voice rose, a sharp edge of panic creeping in. "I saw the end of the world, Sigrid. Cities falling, oceans boiling. And Caius... he was there. He said I had to choose a side."
Sigrid leaned forward, her hands clasped tightly together. "This isn't just about you anymore, Alec. The Convergence is bigger than any of us. And if Caius is involved, it means the Heralds are preparing for something catastrophic."
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Alec asked, his voice breaking. "I didn't ask for any of this. I just wanted to find Olivia Green."
"You're in it now," Sigrid said firmly. "And if we don't act, everything you saw in that vision will come to pass."
Alec buried his face in his hands, his mind racing. The weight of what he had seen—what he had felt—was almost too much to bear. He thought of the Gate, of the immense power it radiated, and of the faces in his vision, their burning eyes seared into his memory.
Finally, he looked up at Sigrid. "How do we stop it?"
---
The next few days passed in a blur. Sigrid poured over old Bureau files, searching for anything that might help them understand the artifact and the Gate. Alec tried to help, but his mind was clouded by the visions that haunted his every waking moment. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw fragments of the apocalyptic scenes, as though the Gate was imprinting itself onto his soul.
They worked in silence, the tension in the air palpable. Outside, the city seemed to reflect their unease. The fog had grown thicker, clinging to the streets like a shroud. People moved quickly and quietly, their eyes darting nervously as though they could sense something was wrong.
Late one night, as Alec was sifting through a particularly dense file, Sigrid spoke. "I found something."
He looked up, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. "What is it?"
Sigrid held up a faded document, its edges frayed with age. "It's a map. Or at least, part of one. It shows another temple, deeper in the tunnels beneath the city. If the Gate is going to open, this might be where it happens."
Alec stared at the map, his stomach sinking. "Another temple? Great. Because the first one wasn't terrifying enough."
Sigrid's expression was grim. "If we're going to stop this, we need to go there. The answers we need—they're at the heart of this."
Alec nodded reluctantly. He knew she was right, but the thought of descending back into the tunnels made his skin crawl. The visions had shown him what lay on the other side of the Gate, and now, he couldn't shake the feeling that every step he took was bringing him closer to it.
As they prepared to leave, Alec's thoughts drifted back to the vision. Caius's words echoed in his mind: *You must decide which side you stand on.*
The choice, it seemed, was no longer his to make. The Gate was calling, and Alec knew he wouldn't be able to resist its pull for much longer.