Ash and smoke clung to the ruins of the village. The battle had ended, but silence now rang louder than any clash of sword or arrow. Alex stood amid the rubble, gripping his blade, not from readiness—but from disbelief. The Guardians had won, but at a cost he hadn't prepared for.
Eira kneeled beside a collapsed Guardian—Ronan, his once blazing glaive now dimmed. She pressed her palm to his chest. No pulse. No glow.
"…Gone," she whispered.
Alex's stomach sank. "I thought we were supposed to protect this world, not destroy it."
"You still don't understand," said a voice from behind.
Alex turned to see Liora—the mysterious, silver-haired Guardian with eyes that never blinked. She stepped out from the smoke like a wraith, her face unreadable.
"This world protects itself… even from its Guardians."
Before Alex could question her cryptic words, a soft tremor shook the ground. A piece of the temple wall, long buried under ash, slid away—revealing a circular emblem pulsing with light. The same one from Alex's dream.
"You've seen it before," Liora said, watching his eyes widen.
"The Astral Seal," Alex murmured.
Eira shot up. "That's impossible. It was destroyed centuries ago."
"No," Liora corrected. "It was hidden… waiting."
Suddenly, the emblem cracked, glowing brighter. Alex's Mark—the glowing symbol on his forearm—reacted, burning with energy.
A blinding flash consumed them.
When their vision cleared, they stood in a vast, moonlit chamber beneath the temple. Crystalline pillars arched high above, and floating shards of memory flickered in the air—scenes of battles, fallen Guardians… and one unmistakable figure.
Alex saw himself—older, darker, eyes filled with fury—leading an army of shadows.
"What is this?" he gasped, stepping back.
"The truth," Liora said quietly. "A warning… or perhaps, a prophecy."
Eira stared, horrified. "No. That can't be him. Alex would never—"
"But he might," Liora interrupted. "If left unbalanced. That's why the Astral Seal chose him. To guide or to condemn. It all depends on what he becomes."
Alex stepped forward, watching his future self bring ruin to a city of light. He clutched his chest.
"I'm not that person…"
"But you could be," Liora whispered.
Silence fell again—until another voice echoed through the chamber. Low, familiar, and wrong.
"Well then, let's not keep fate waiting."
A second Alex emerged from the shadows—exactly like the vision, only real.
Eira drew her bow. "How?!"
"I was never gone," said the darker Alex. "I was sealed—deep within him. Two souls bound by a single fate."
Alex staggered. The air thickened. His Mark now burned on both of them.
The real twist wasn't what lay in the past... but what lived inside him all along.