Darkness.
It stretched on endlessly.
There was no sky above Cassian's head and neither was there ground beneath his feet.
There was no sound at all.
And Cassian couldn't even tell whether his eyes were open or closed. His body felt impossibly light, as though he had become nothing more than a drifting, weightless thought floating through an absolute silence.
"...Is this death?"
he whispered.
His own voice echoed strangely through the vast emptiness around him.
He waited.
But nothing answered him.
"...I suppose I deserve at least this much,"
he said.
He let out a tired, hollow laugh that sounded more like a broken sigh.
He had left behind an entire empire.
An Emperor who was his father.
An Empress who was his mother.
His royal siblings who relied on him.
Sora...
The unborn child...
His own pregnancy that he had carried...
And...
Lucien...
Suddenly–
His faint smile slowly disappeared.
"Fucking bastard..."
Cassian muttered, his brows pulling down into a sharp frown.
"...I hate even thinking about you!"
Cassian frowned deeper, and just then, the endless darkness around him began to crack bit by bit spilling light.
Thin violet lines spread in every single direction like shattered glass.
Then the light became even brighter.
Brighter.
Brighter—
"Gasp!"
Cassian shot upright so violently that his lungs burned with sharp pain. He clutched at his chest, coughing hard against his desk.
Cold air rushed rapidly into his lungs.
His vision spun wildly in circles.
A white ceiling appeared above him.
Fluorescent lights hummed overhead.
The faint, steady hum of an air conditioner blew cold breeze across his neck.
Rows of dark wooden desks filled the room. And a white projector screen hung on the front wall.
Dozens of young students sat all around him.
"...Huh?"
he gasped out.
His crimson eyes—
No.
Brown.
His eyes were brown again.
He blinked repeatedly, trying to clear his blurry vision.
The heavy, silk royal robes were completely gone.
Instead, he was wearing a familiar black cotton hoodie pulled over a plain white university shirt.
His heavy canvas backpack rested against the leg of his chair.
A half-finished spiral notebook lay open right on the desk in front of him.
The rich smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted through the warm classroom air.
The professor stopped writing on the whiteboard, turning around slowly.
Every single student turned their head to look directly at him.
"Mr. Walker?"
the professor asked, raising an eyebrow behind his round glasses.
"Is everything alright?"
Cassian stared blankly back at the professor.
"...Walker..." He repeated under his breath.
His surname.
His real surname.
Not Prince Valemont.
But Walker...
His heartbeat became dangerously uneven, pounding against his ribs.
He slowly lowered his gaze to look down at his own hands resting on the desk.
There were no sword calluses on his palms.
There were no gold royal rings on his fingers.
There were no battle scars along his arms.
Even the sharp wound he had made in his own palm with the ritual blade...
It was completely gone.
His breathing quickened into ragged gasps.
"This..."
he whispered, his fingers trembling against the smooth wood.
"...I'm back. It worke, it all worked just fine.""
Someone sitting right behind him chuckled softly.
"Dude..."
a guy whispered.
"You okay?"
Cassian slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder.
His college classmates were staring at him.
These were people he hadn't seen in what felt like decades.
One of them tossed a small plastic bottle of water onto his desk.
"You looked like you saw a ghost,"
the guy said with a light chuckle and Cassian caught the bottle without even thinking.
The cold, hard plastic pressing against his skin felt unbelievably real.
This was not magic.
This was not enchanted crystal.
This was simple plastic.
His throat tightened painfully.
"...Thank you,"
Cassian said.
His voice shook violently.
The professor adjusted his glasses on his nose.
"If you're feeling unwell, Kagen, you're free to visit the campus clinic,"
the professor said gently.
Cassian nodded automatically.
"...I'm sorry, Professor,"
Cassian replied quietly.
"It won't happen again."
The lecture continued as the professor turned back to the whiteboard.
But Cassian heard absolutely nothing.
His eyes drifted toward the large glass classroom windows on his left.
Beyond the clear glass...
Modern concrete buildings stretched far across the green campus grounds.
Cars rolled smoothly along the busy city streets down below.
Students laughed together while carrying black laptop bags.
A big blue city bus stopped right outside the main university gates.
Everything looked exactly the way he remembered it in his mind.
Exactly.
It was as if the last several years of his life had never happened.
As if Edrath...
Had never existed at all.
*****
The long lecture finally ended.
Students packed up their notebooks and poured into the hallway in small groups.
Cassian remained completely seated in his chair.
His hands simply refused to stop shaking.
"...It was real,"
he whispered to the empty room.
"It wasn't a dream."
He remembered every single thing that had happened.
He remembered every bloody battlefield.
He remembered every exhausting political council meeting.
He remembered every single sleepless night in the palace.
He remembered every soft smile.
He remembered every quiet kiss.
He remembered Lucien's warm embrace when they held each other.
He remembered Sora's pure love and his soft, sweet smile.
He remembered Elias's endless nagging, fussing over whether he had eaten his meals properly.
He remembered little Leo following right behind him like a younger brother desperate for praise.
He remembered his mother gently fixing his ceremonial hair before court.
He remembered his father's quiet, stoic pride in him.
He remembered everything.
Hot tears suddenly spilled over his lower lashes, rolling down his pale cheeks.
Several late students walking past the doorway slowed down to look inside.
"Hey..."
one of them murmured.
"Is he crying?"
"Did something happen to him?"
another whispered.
Cassian quickly raised his sleeve, wiping his wet eyes.
"...No,"
he muttered softly.
"I'm fine."
He stood up far too quickly, his legs wobbling as he almost stumbled before catching his balance on the desk corner.
"I'm..."
he panted out, gripping his backpack strap,
"...fine."
He swung his backpack over one shoulder and hurried out of the classroom.
The bustling campus swallowed him up immediately.
Hundreds of students crossed the paved pathways around him.
Cyclists rang their metal bells as they rode past.
Someone was playing pop music on a portable speaker near the student center.
It was so loud.
It was so busy.
It was so full of modern life.
It was completely different from the quiet, regal dignity of the Imperial Palace.
Cassian wandered aimlessly across the sprawling campus grounds.
Everything felt strangely unfamiliar and alien to his mind.
He eventually walked over to a small, quiet pond hidden near the main library building.
The still water reflected his face perfectly.
He slowly dropped to his knees on the soft grass.
There he was.
Twenty-three years old.
Soft, dark brown eyes.
Short black hair.
No golden crown on his head.
No royal clothing on his shoulders.
Just...
Him.
He reached down with a shaking hand, touching his own reflection on the water's surface.
"...Cassian Valemont,"
he whispered quietly.
Then he slowly shook his head, a painful breath leaving his chest.
"...No,"
he corrected himself.
"...Kagen Walker."
The old name felt so foreign to his ears now.
Painfully foreign.
He stared down into the rippling water for a long, quiet time before offering a faint, weary smile to himself.
"...Looks like I really came home,"
he murmured.
But somehow...
It didn't feel like home anymore.
Not after leaving his whole heart behind in another world.
He slowly lowered his head, closing his eyes tight.
"...Lucien..."
he whispered into the quiet air.
A heavy tear slipped down his nose, splashing right into the clear pond water.
"I wonder..."
he choked out,
"...if you will ever miss me."
Far away...
Beyond countless hidden dimensions and stars...
Neither of them knew it yet.
But the tragic story that had bound their souls together...
Had only just entered its next chapter.
*****