Cain's world broke apart.
The golden city that had surrounded him, the Titans standing in silent recognition, the voice speaking the name he had forgotten—all of it shattered in an instant.
He was falling.
Not through air, not through space, but through something deeper.
Something inside him was tearing open.
His Titan Core burned hotter than ever, not in resistance but in recognition. It was no longer fighting against what was happening—it was embracing it.
Cain gasped, his body twisting in freefall, his vision blurring between golden flames and the infinite void beneath him.
He had spent his whole life running from questions, from the parts of himself that didn't make sense. The unnatural instincts, the impossible strength, the power that had been inside him long before it should have awakened.
Now, those answers were forcing themselves upon him.
The name.
The name that had been stolen, buried beneath years of surviving, fighting, refusing to bow.
The name that should have never been spoken.
His name.
Cain's fall ended violently.
His body slammed into solid ground, but it wasn't stone, wasn't sand. It was something unreal, shifting beneath him like the space itself couldn't decide if it existed or not.
His lungs burned as he gasped for breath, his vision swimming, his Titan Core writhing inside him like something alive.
The silence that followed was deafening.
And then—footsteps.
Cain forced himself up, golden embers flickering weakly around his hands. His whole body ached, his limbs heavy, but he pushed through the exhaustion.
Because he was not alone.
A figure stood before him.
Not a Titan. Not a Forsaken.
Something else.
Something worse.
Cain's breath stalled.
The figure was tall, draped in deep, shifting shadows, its form flickering between solid and ethereal. Its face was hidden beneath a hood, but two burning golden eyes shone through the darkness.
Eyes that were identical to Cain's own.
Cain clenched his fists. "Who the hell are you?"
The figure tilted its head slightly, the motion eerily familiar.
Then, it spoke.
"You already know."
Cain's pulse spiked violently.
That voice.
That voice.
It wasn't just familiar.
It was his.
His own voice, deeper, layered, as if spoken from a place that had no beginning or end.
Cain staggered back, his Titan Core roaring in his chest, his golden flames surging outward instinctively—
But the figure did not flinch.
It raised a hand, fingers curling slightly.
Cain's flames extinguished instantly.
His body locked up, his breath freezing in his throat.
The figure stepped forward, closing the distance between them in a single, silent motion.
"You are not ready to remember."
Cain tried to move, to fight back, but his limbs wouldn't respond. His Titan Core, which had once burned defiantly against everything that sought to control him, was silent.
It was listening.
The figure's golden gaze burned into him.
"But the world will not wait for you."
Cain's heart hammered. "What… are you?"
The figure tilted its head again, its hood shifting just enough for Cain to catch a glimpse of something beneath it.
A face.
A face that looked exactly like his own.
"I am the part of you that was lost."
Cain's body froze.
The shadows around them began to shift, rising like mist, twisting into shapes—images, memories—that flickered in and out of existence.
He saw glimpses of a life that wasn't his.
Battles fought in a time before history.
Flames consuming entire worlds.
A throne, blackened and shattered, standing against the light of a dying sun.
And above it all—a name.
His real name.
Cain's Titan Core screamed.
His golden flames burst outward uncontrollably, the sheer force of the energy sending shockwaves rippling through the shifting space.
The figure staggered slightly, its hood falling back further—
And Cain saw his own face staring back at him.
Not a reflection.
Not a twin.
Something worse.
Something buried.
Something waiting to return.
The figure smiled, the same smirk Cain had given countless enemies before a fight.
"You are running out of time."
The shadows collapsed inward, pulling Cain with them—
And then—
Everything went black.