As Helios y there, barely scious, two hearts flew down and shone a bright light, enveloping and proteg him. He looked up and saw his mother and father kneeling at his side, their love for him radiating from their very beings. “Mom… Dad…” said Helios before losing sciousness.

  The hooded figure ughed as he observed the se before him. "Ah a parent's love for their child truly is one of the purest forms of light I have seen in all my travels," he said. "But you should know that if you stay in there, your hearts will be extinguished. You should let him go and save yourselves."

  Helios' mother and father looked at each other, then back at their son. "We would never abandon our son," his mother said firmly. "We will always keep him safe."

  The hooded figure snorted. "Foolish seality. Your love will be your undoing." He raised his on once more, preparing to strike.

  But as he swung the bde down towards Helios, the light around him grew even brighter, pushing back against the darkness. The hooded figure recoiled, his eyes widening in surprise.

  "This...this is impossible!" he excimed. "How is this light s?"

  Helios' parents smiled at each other, then turo face the hooded figure. "It is the power of love," they said in unison.

  The figure snarled and lunged forward, but the light grew even brighter, blinding him. With a cry of frustration, he vanished into a portal of darkness.

  Helios' parents remai his side, proteg him with their light. And as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, Helios smiled as the warm light radiated warmth and love.

  Helios remained unscious, protected by the light that his parents had created to shield him from the encroag darkness. But the darkness kept trying to break through, its malevolent energy crag and ing the light around him.

  Despite their best efforts, cracks started f on his parents' bodies, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer with time. They khey couldn't keep it up for long, so they made the difficult decision to sacrifice themselves.

  "We 't keep this up for long," Helios' mother said, her voice strained. "We o find a way to cut through the darkness a him out of here."

  Helios' father nodded, his eyes filled with determination. "We'll use everything we have in one go. It's the only way to save our son."

  The darkness intensified, and Helios' parents poured everything they had into their st attack. A blinding light filled the void, and the darkness ushed back. The light densed and pushed forward making a path. With the st of their strength, the two sent Helios hurtling down that path as cracks form all over their bodies. It seemed they had pushed their hearts to the brink and they had begun to fall apart.

  Before they disappeared, his parents held hands and looked into each other's eyes. "I love you," his mother whispered. "I love you too," his father replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

  They turo Helios, tears streaming down their faces. "We wish for you to be happy iure," his mother said, her voice barely audible over the roar of the darkness. "Even if it's hard and painful, keep going. We will always be with you in spirit. We love you, my beautiful boy."

  As Helios y there, still unscious, his heart feeling the loss of his parents, he shed two tears. When he finally woke up, he found himself lying on a beach of bck sand, with a dark and foreboding o stretg out before him. Oher side, a forest of structures like ed trees loomed, casting twisted shadows all around him. Over the o, a solitary light slowed, casting an eerie light that was her bright nor warm.

  Helios tried to sit up, but a wave of memories assaulted his mind, causing him great pain. He screamed, clutg his head as he writhed in agony, until he colpsed onto the ground once more.

  "Why do I feel like I've seen this pce before?" Helios muttered to himself as he clutched his head in fusion.

  "It seems you have," a voice replied from behind him.

  Helios turned around to see a figure standing behind him. The figure was humanoid in shape, but its body was posed of the same dark energy that had ed his parents.

  "Who... who are you?" Helios asked, his voice trembling with fear.

  "I am the one whht you here as you floated in the space between worlds," the figure replied, its voice eg ominously across the beach. "I am the one who will show you the truth buried in your heart."

  Helios struggled to his feet, gring at the figure. "What truth? What do you want from me?"

  The figure ughed. "I want nothing from you, dear boy. I simply want you to embrace the truth. The truth that you have been running from your whole life."

  "What truth?" Helios demanded, his fists ched at his sides.

  "The truth that your parents really meant nothing to you," the figure replied. "The truth is that they were never your real parents. You don’t belong here."

  Helios felt his heart skip a beat. "What... what do you mean? Of course, they were my parents!"

  The figure shook its head. "No, boy. They were simply vessels, chosen to raise you as their own. You are not of this world, Helios. You are not even of this universe."

  Helios felt his world crumble around him. "That's... that's not possible. I... I don't believe you!"

  The figure ughed. "Believe what you will, boy. The truth will always find a way to reveal itself. And when it does, you will uand everything. Including the fact that the love they had for you means nothing. Before I leave I shall give you a gift. I shall drag your hidden memories to the surfao o thank me."

  With those words, the voice disappeared, leaving Helios alone on the beace more.

  Helios colpsed to his knees, his mind reeling with the stant influx of memories that were flooding into his mind. He didn't know what to do or who he even was as he y on the ground head splitting in intense pain.