The storm above the Skyhall Temple had not let up for three days.
Rizz stood barefoot on the sacred bridge of Seraph's Echo, a blade of glass-light suspended between the sky and the void. Thunder crashed around him—not loud, not violent, but heavy, as if the heavens themselves were grieving.
At the far end of the bridge stood a figure robed in white and gold, faceless but blinding with divine light. The figure said nothing, but Rizz knew why he had been summoned.
Behind him, Raze, Elena, and Safa watched with solemn eyes. Even they weren't allowed to step past the edge of the glass-light.
> "The Council didn't approve this," Safa whispered.
> "It's not their call anymore," Elena replied, her voice steady.
Raze simply watched, one hand clenching the hilt of his sheathed blade. His son was walking where few ever did—into the presence of the Echo Seat, a fragment of the divine Will itself.
As Rizz took each step, symbols blazed beneath his feet. His Soul Seal pulsed in waves—light and dark, heaven and shadow, no longer clashing… but circling each other.
When he finally stood before the figure, a voice entered his mind—not spoken, not heard, but felt.
> "Child of Balance… You are no longer only heir. You are Judge."
> "Judge?" Rizz asked aloud. "I don't understand."
> "Two souls have touched the Mirror. One is from your side. The other… from beyond."
> "Their resonance will rewrite the laws if left unchecked. You must find them. And you must decide."
> "Decide what?"
> "Which soul remains. And which must be sealed."
Rizz's eyes widened. "You want me to destroy one of them?"
The divine voice did not answer directly.
Instead, images flooded Rizz's mind—visions of Isaac, standing amid shattered stars, bleeding from a wound that could not be healed. Of Aethra, her eyes glowing with celestial tears as reality bent around her footsteps.
And then—the future.
A world split into two. One side in golden harmony. The other burning under mirrored chaos.
> "One soul will ascend."
> "One soul will unravel the world."
> "You must choose."
Rizz fell to one knee. His heart pounded. "Why me? I'm still learning. I haven't even mastered my seal!"
> "That is why you must act now. Before your purity is lost. Before bias clouds you. Your soul is still untainted by war. Still open to truth."
The figure extended its hand, and a mark appeared in Rizz's palm—a shimmering spiral of gold and black.
> "This is the Mandate. It will guide you to the two. But know this: the path of judgment is not a gift. It is a curse."
> "For to judge another soul… you must first confront your own."
The voice faded. The light withdrew.
Rizz opened his eyes, breathing hard. The symbol burned faintly on his palm, then vanished under his skin.
He turned back.
His parents and Safa approached silently.
"Rizz," Safa said gently, placing her hand on his shoulder. "What did they say?"
Rizz looked up, his young face etched with something older than his years.
> "They told me to find two souls."
> "And?"
> "And decide which one gets to live."
Silence.
The storm cracked once more. But this time, the clouds began to clear.
From the horizon, the faint pull of destiny whispered in two directions—one toward the containment chamber where Isaac sat, and the other…
Toward Aethra.
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