Nobody spoke.
The ancient city stood silent around them.
Veyrath was gone.
But his words remained.
Your bloodline.
The Heir of the Last Core.
Kael stared at Aetherion's glowing light.
Then at Orion.
Neither met his eyes.
That told him everything.
"You knew."
His voice was quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
Orion sighed.
Aetherion remained silent.
Kael clenched his fists.
"You both knew."
The blue light inside his chest flickered.
For the first time since they met—
He felt angry at Aetherion.
Not because of the danger.
Not because of the lies.
Because of the trust.
He had trusted them.
"Aetherion."
The Core finally answered.
"Yes."
The single word echoed heavily.
Kael swallowed.
"Tell me."
Silence.
Long.
Painful.
Then Orion stepped forward.
"I'll do it."
Aetherion didn't object.
The reaction alone terrified Kael.
Orion looked toward the ruined city.
His golden eyes seemed distant.
Lost in memories.
"Thousands of years ago..."
Blue light spread across the streets.
The city awakened around them.
Ancient images appeared in the air.
Like living memories.
Kael watched.
A civilization unlike anything he had ever seen filled the vision.
Cities among the stars.
Worlds connected by light.
Countless Core-bearers.
And at their center—
Aetherion.
Brighter than all the others.
"The First Age."
Orion's voice carried sadness.
"The age before the Devourers."
The vision shifted.
War erupted.
Stars burned.
Entire planets vanished.
Darkness consumed everything.
Kael felt his chest tighten.
"The Devourers were winning."
Orion's eyes lowered.
"So Aetherion made a choice."
The vision changed again.
A single family appeared.
Ordinary.
Human.
A man.
A woman.
A child.
Kael frowned.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Neither Core answered immediately.
The child in the vision glowed.
Blue starlight surrounded them.
Aetherion finally spoke.
Its voice was barely a whisper.
"Everything."
Kael froze.
The child looked familiar.
Too familiar.
The shape of the face.
The eyes.
The expression.
"No..."
Orion nodded slowly.
"That family became the Keepers."
The vision continued.
Generation after generation.
The starlight passed down.
Parents to children.
Again and again.
Across centuries.
Across civilizations.
Across worlds.
Hidden.
Protected.
Waiting.
Kael felt his heartbeat quicken.
Then Orion looked directly at him.
"Your family carried the final fragment of Aetherion's power."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Kael couldn't breathe.
"What?"
"The Last Core was never completely alone."
The ancient city glowed brighter.
"A part of it survived inside your bloodline."
The words hit harder than any attack.
Kael stepped backward.
"No."
Orion's expression softened.
"You weren't chosen by chance."
Aetherion answered quietly.
"I found you because I already knew you."
The world seemed to stop.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The compatibility.
The connection.
The synchronization.
The impossible survival.
It had never been luck.
It had never been coincidence.
Kael's hands trembled.
"You knew."
Aetherion remained silent.
Kael laughed.
A weak laugh.
A broken laugh.
"You knew from the beginning."
The Core's light dimmed.
"Yes."
The answer hurt.
More than he expected.
More than it should have.
Because part of him had hoped otherwise.
Then—
A new tremor shook the city.
The ground cracked.
The vision vanished instantly.
Orion's head snapped upward.
His expression hardened.
"That's not possible."
Kael looked toward him.
"What now?"
Orion's face turned pale.
"A second King."
Silence.
Then another roar echoed from somewhere far beyond the ruins.
And everyone realized something terrible.
Veyrath had never come alone.