The doors groaned open.

  The air changed. Not colder. Not heavier. Just... different.

  Darius and Ais stood at the threshold, staring into a space that should not exist.

  A vast, open chamber stretched beyond them. But it was not stone. Not earth. Not anything that belonged to this world. The walls flickered—shifting between solid and void, real and unreal. Like a dream that had been half-remembered.

  Like a thought that had almost been forgotten.

  And at the center— A figure stood.

  Darius knew him.

  Even before he saw the face. Even before the figure turned. His body recognized what his mind had been forced to forget. Alden. The knight who should not exist. The man who had been erased. And yet—he was standing there. Waiting.

  Darius inhaled sharply.

  Ais was pale.

  "This isn't real," she whispered. But it was. Because Alden was looking at them. And then— He spoke.

  "Darius."

  The voice hit like a hammer to the skull. Darius staggered, a sharp pain slicing through his mind. Because he had not heard that name spoken aloud since Solmaria fell. Because Alden should not know it. Because Alden should not be here. And yet—he remembered. Darius' breath was uneven. "How—?"

  Alden's gaze was distant. Hollow, yet full of something ancient.

  "You have to leave," he said quietly.

  Ais's voice was sharp. "What is this pce?"

  Alden shook his head. "This is what remains of me." Darius swallowed hard. "You're a memory." Alden turned his eyes to him. "I am what the Thanatarchy failed to remove."

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Ais stepped forward, her dagger still clutched tightly.

  "Why did they fail?" she demanded.

  Alden exhaled. His form flickered slightly, like a reflection in water.

  Then, in a voice that was not just his own, he whispered—

  "Because I resisted."

  The words sent a shudder through the chamber. The walls rippled. The air trembled. And suddenly—Darius understood. The Thanatarchy had not stopped because of some unknown fw. It had stopped because Alden had fought back. Because his existence was strong enough to linger. And if he could do that—Then so could Darius.

  Ais turned sharply. "Then that means we can—"

  She stopped. Because the world had begun to shift. The walls darkened. The floor cracked. And the air became heavy with something else. Something that had noticed. Alden tensed. His form flickered.

  "They know you're here."

  Darius whirled toward the door.

  And standing at the entrance— Was an Inquisitor. Not like before. Not hesitant. Not waiting.

  THIS TIME, IT HAD COME TO ERASE.