Xal'Zyren Valthor had always been certain.
He was the force that defined existence, the foundation upon which reality was built. Every movement he made, every action he took, was done with absolute precision—because to hesitate, even for a moment, would be to allow disorder to take hold.
But now, for the first time, he sensed uncertainty—not within himself, but within someone he had always trusted.
Astraea Velzaria.
The Shining Blade of the Cosmos.
The one who had stood beside him from the beginning, who had fought to uphold the very structure of reality itself.
And yet, as they prepared for the war ahead, he saw it in her eyes—
A flicker of hesitation.
It was not fear. Not doubt in his ability.
It was something deeper.
Something she had not yet voiced.
And Xal'Zyren could not ignore it.
They stood atop a vast structure of crystalline light, suspended within a realm that had no name. It was a place Xal'Zyren had created—a moment of stillness before the storm.
Astraea stood at the edge, staring out into the abyss.
She had always been strong. Unyielding.
But now, her posture was rigid, as if she was carrying a weight she had never borne before.
"You're not yourself," Xal'Zyren said, stepping beside her.
Astraea didn't turn to face him.
"Do you ever wonder," she said, "if we're doing the right thing?"
Xal'Zyren frowned. It was not the question he had expected.
"You believe in what we fight for," he replied. "You always have."
She let out a sharp breath, shaking her head. "I did. I do. But this time… I don't know."
Finally, she turned to face him, her silver eyes burning with an emotion that unsettled even him.
"This isn't like our past battles," she said. "Noctis was different. He was pure absence—something that should not have been. But X'theraion…"
She hesitated.
"He was never meant to exist. And yet, he does."
Xal'Zyren remained silent, allowing her to continue.
"We always assumed that reality has an order. That things happen because they're meant to. But X'theraion is proof that assumption might be wrong." She clenched her fists. "What if we're the ones forcing reality to be something it wasn't supposed to be?"
Xal'Zyren's gaze darkened. "You think we're the ones in the wrong?"
"No," Astraea said immediately. "I think we might not be completely right."
It was a distinction Xal'Zyren had never considered.
To him, there was right and wrong. Reality and nonexistence. The defined and the undefined.
But Astraea was seeing something else.
Something he had ignored.
For the first time, Xal'Zyren felt the weight of the choices he had made—not just as the Ruler of Reality, but as a leader.
As someone his closest allies had followed without question.
Until now.
Astraea had always been his blade, the force that cut down those who threatened reality. But she had also been his equal in ways he had never acknowledged.
She was not a follower.
She was a warrior who had chosen to stand by his side.
And now, she was questioning whether that choice was still the right one.
He could not afford to lose her.
Not just because of her strength.
But because she was the only one who had ever challenged him to see beyond himself.
Xal'Zyren took a slow breath, letting the silence settle between them.
Then he spoke.
"If you believe I am wrong," he said, "then tell me what you see."
Astraea studied him for a long moment.
Then, for the first time in their long history, she looked at him not as an ally—
But as someone she could no longer blindly follow.
"I see cracks forming in the reality we've always upheld," she said. "And I see a war that might not be as simple as we want it to be."
Her voice was steady. Strong.
And Xal'Zyren knew—
This war would test more than their power.
It would test the very foundation of their bond.
And if he was not careful—
He might lose her before the war even began.