Gun followed the mysterious woman through the ruins, his boots crunching against loose gravel and broken tiles. The gray sky above churned with storm clouds, and the wind carried a faint chill, biting against his skin. He still didn't know her name, nor her true purpose, but the silver glow of the crystal she carried lingered in his mind.
The woman moved with quiet precision, her gray cloak billowing in the wind. Every now and then, she would glance back, her icy eyes scanning Gun as if assessing him.
"You've yet to tell me your name," Gun said, breaking the silence.
She stopped abruptly, turning to face him. "Lirien," she said, her tone as sharp as the air between them. "And before you ask, I'm not your ally, nor am I your enemy. My purpose lies in the balance."
"Balance," Gun scoffed, crossing his arms. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
"It should." Lirien's gaze hardened. "You may think your destiny is one of destruction, Gun, but even a blade forged in darkness can be wielded for light—if the wielder chooses it."
Gun's lips curled into a bitter smirk. "You speak as if you've seen the future."
"I've seen enough," she replied, her voice dropping to a near whisper. "Enough to know the weight of your choices will not fall on you alone. You carry the fate of more than yourself."
Gun frowned, her words stirring an unease within him. The idea that his actions could impact anyone else felt absurd—he had been alone for so long that he'd stopped believing his life could touch others.
"What is it you want from me, Lirien?" he asked, his tone laced with suspicion. "Why go through the trouble of finding me?"
Lirien hesitated, the faintest flicker of emotion crossing her face. "There is something coming, Gun. A war that will shake the foundations of this world. And at its heart, there will be you."
Gun narrowed his crimson eyes, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his blade. "A war? Don't mistake me for someone who cares about this world or its wars."
"You'll care when it comes for you," Lirien said coolly. "Do you think the curse that binds you will protect you forever? The more you resist, the more you will be hunted—by them, and by yourself."
Gun's grip on his blade tightened. "Who's 'them'?"
Lirien stepped closer, her voice dropping to a low murmur. "The Order of Ash. They seek to control what you are, to use the darkness within you for their own gain. If they find you, they'll tear you apart, piece by piece, until there's nothing left but a puppet to their will."
Gun's jaw clenched. The name stirred something deep within his fractured memories, a shadowed fragment he couldn't quite grasp. "And you think you can stop them?"
"No," she admitted. "But together, we might stand a chance."
Their journey led them to the edge of a crumbling cliff, overlooking a dense forest below. The treetops swayed in the wind like an endless sea of green, stretching far into the horizon. Lirien stopped, her gaze fixed on something unseen.
"This is where it begins," she said.
Gun raised an eyebrow. "A forest? Not exactly the battlefield I was expecting."
"It's not the forest," Lirien replied, pulling the glowing crystal from her cloak. "It's what lies beneath it."
As she held the crystal aloft, its light flared, casting long shadows across the ground. The air around them seemed to shift, heavy with an unseen energy. A faint rumble echoed from the earth, and Gun instinctively stepped back, his hand flying to his sword.
The ground beneath their feet trembled, and a circular seal etched with ancient runes appeared at their feet, glowing faintly. The forest below seemed to darken, the trees bending as if bowing to an unseen force.
"What is this?" Gun demanded, his voice sharp.
"A doorway," Lirien answered, her tone calm but strained. "To a place even the Order fears. A place where the answers you seek may be found—but only if you have the strength to face them."
Gun stared at the glowing seal, his heart pounding. Every instinct screamed at him to turn away, to leave the woman and her cryptic warnings behind. But something rooted him in place—a sense of inevitability, as though this moment had been written long before he'd taken his first breath.
"You're asking me to trust you," Gun said, his voice low. "And yet I have no reason to."
Lirien met his gaze, her eyes steady. "Then don't trust me. Trust the part of you that's still searching for a reason to live."
Gun's chest tightened at her words. He looked down at the glowing seal, then back at the forest below. The choice before him was as clear as the lines of the runes beneath his feet: stay and remain bound to the shadows of his past, or take a step forward into the unknown.
With a deep breath, Gun placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and stepped onto the seal.
The light flared brighter, enveloping them both in a blinding glow. For a moment, the world seemed to dissolve, replaced by an endless expanse of white.
And then, as quickly as it had begun, the light faded, and the air around them shifted once more.
Gun blinked, his crimson eyes adjusting to the dim glow of the cavern they now stood in. The walls were lined with ancient symbols, pulsating faintly like a heartbeat. At the center of the chamber stood a towering obelisk, its surface carved with jagged runes that seemed to hum with an ominous energy.
"What is this place?" Gun asked, his voice echoing in the vast chamber.
Lirien stepped forward, her gaze fixed on the obelisk. "The beginning of the end."
Gun frowned. "And what am I supposed to do here?"
Lirien turned to him, her expression grave. "Survive."