A DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM...
The war was over.
The gods were gone.
But then why did it feel like everything was falling apart?
Seraphina watched Elias from a distance, her arms wrapped around herself as the cold wind of the ruins brushed against her skin. The sky above them was empty, devoid of the celestial beings that once loomed over their world. It should have felt like victory. Instead, it felt like loss.
Elias stood at the edge of the ruins, his gaze locked onto the horizon as if searching for something beyond the sky. He hadn't spoken much since the final battle. He hadn't touched her since then either.
It was as if the moment the gods vanished—so did something inside him.
And she hated it.
Seraphina took a slow breath before stepping closer, her boots crunching against the scattered remains of what once was a temple.
"You're shutting me out again."
Elias didn't turn. "I don't mean to."
"But you are."
The silence between them stretched, thick and suffocating.
Then—he finally turned to look at her.
His eyes—those damn eyes that once burned with fire—now looked unreadable. Hollow.
Seraphina's throat tightened. "Elias… what's happening to you?"
THE FIRST WHISPER...
Before Elias could answer—
It spoke again.
The whisper.
A soundless voice, echoing in his mind, crawling into the spaces between his thoughts. It felt like something ancient, something insidious.
"You hear us now, don't you?"
Elias clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
Not again.
This had been happening since the gods fell.
At first, it had been nothing. Just faint murmurs at the edge of his awareness, like a distant wind.
But now?
It was getting clearer.
Stronger.
Seraphina noticed the change in his expression, the slight tremble in his fingers. "What is it?"
Elias exhaled sharply. "Nothing."
Her eyes narrowed. "Don't lie to me."
But Elias wasn't lying.
Because the truth was—
He didn't know what it was.
Only that it was getting louder.
SERAPHINA WON'T LET GO...
Seraphina stepped closer, placing a hand on his wrist, her touch grounding him for just a moment.
She felt it—the tension in his body, the way his muscles locked beneath her fingers. Like he was trying to hold something back.
Like he was trying to hold himself back.
And she hated that even more.
"Don't do this, Elias."
His gaze flickered to her, something warring in his expression.
She never begged. She never pleaded.
And yet, here she was—begging him to stay, to let her in.
Something inside Elias cracked.
He lifted a hand—almost touching her face.
Almost.
But then—
The whisper screamed.
THE OLD WORLD CALLS...
A sharp pulse of energy ripped through his mind.
His breath hitched.
The world tilted.
And suddenly—
He wasn't standing in ruins anymore.
He was standing somewhere else.
Somewhere ancient.
Somewhere wrong.
Golden halls stretched endlessly before him, their walls inscribed with symbols he had never seen—but somehow understood. The air was thick with the scent of something metallic, something old.
And at the end of it all—
A throne.
Empty.
Waiting.
The whisper returned, clearer than ever.
"Come back to us, King."
Elias's breathing grew ragged. His chest ached, the weight of unseen chains pressing against him.
"No," he rasped, but his voice wavered.
SERAPHINA SEES HIM SLIPPING...
"Elias!"
The voice dragged him back.
Seraphina was gripping his arm, her expression filled with something he had never seen before—
Fear.
He stumbled back, gasping for breath, his vision spinning. The golden halls vanished, leaving only the ruins and the woman in front of him.
Seraphina shook him. "What just happened?!"
Elias's hands trembled. He could still feel the whisper's presence, lurking, waiting.
How could he explain it?
How could he tell her that the world was speaking to him—that something was waiting for him?
So instead, he did what he always did.
He lied.
"It's nothing."
Seraphina's jaw clenched. "Damn it, Elias, stop doing that!"
Her voice cracked.
And that was what finally broke him.
THE CHOICE HE CAN'T MAKE...
She wasn't just angry.
She was hurt.
Elias had faced gods. He had faced war.
But this?
This was something far worse.
Because it was his fault.
He had let her get this close.
And now, she was paying for it.
Elias swallowed hard. "Seraphina, I—"
He stopped.
Because he couldn't give her what she wanted.
Because if he did—
If he let her in completely—
He wasn't sure if he could ever let her go.
And he had a feeling…
He might have to.
The whisper pressed against his mind once more, softer this time, more insistent.
"Choose, King. The world will not wait forever."
Elias closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, feeling the weight of the ruins around him and the unrelenting pull of something far beyond.
Seraphina watched him, her hands trembling at her sides, waiting for him to say something.
To choose her.
But Elias wasn't sure he had a choice at all.