The corridors of Leonidas's keep were quiet, lit only by the flicker of torches set into stone walls. Ava moved swiftly, her cloak brushing against the cold floor. Each step seemed heavier than the last, weighed down by the secret Megumi had finally confessed to her.
She found Leonidas in the training hall, sparring with a wooden dummy. His blade cut through the air in steady, disciplined arcs. Despite his age, his movements carried the precision of a warrior who had never lost his edge.
"Leonidas."
Her voice cracked in the silence. He froze mid-strike, turning toward her. The sight of her pale face and trembling hands stripped the sternness from his features.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sheathing his sword.
Ava hesitated. Speaking the words aloud made them real. But if anyone needed to know, it was Leonidas. He had fought alongside Megumi through countless trials. He was family now.
She drew a sharp breath. "He told me everything. About the whispers. About the First Fallen King."
Leonidas's eyes darkened. He said nothing, only gestured for her to sit on the bench along the wall. Ava did, clasping her hands tightly in her lap.
"He's been carrying it alone for so long," she continued, her voice shaking. "He thinks… he thinks this thing is using him, feeding on his pain, on his vengeance. That every step he's taken has brought it closer to awakening."
Leonidas sat beside her, his expression grim. "And he's not wrong. I've seen it—the cracks in his aura, the shadows behind his strength. I hoped it was only the burden of the Styx's magic, but…" He clenched his fist. "So the old stories were true after all."
Ava's eyes brimmed with tears. "I don't know what to do. He's terrified. He won't admit it, but I saw it in his eyes. He's afraid he'll become the end of everything." She turned toward him. "Leonidas, what if it's already too late?"
Leonidas reached over, resting a hand on hers. "Then we fight fate itself. You know Megumi. He doesn't give up, even when the odds are impossible. And neither will we."
Her lips quivered, but she nodded. "I can't lose him again. Not now. Not after Chloe."
"You won't." Leonidas's voice was steel. "I swear it. Whatever comes, we'll find a way to tear this monster out of him if we must. That's what family does."
⸻
Olympus – The Voice of the Sky
Far above, Zeus and Cronus stood at the edge of the void, where stars pulsed like veins of fire. The storm had not ceased since they called upon Uranus. The sky itself boiled with power, clouds twisting in endless vortices.
Then it came—the voice.
"So my sons crawl to me. After blood and betrayal, now you seek my hand."
The weight of Uranus's words pressed into their bones. Even Zeus, Lord of Olympus, bowed his head beneath the sheer immensity. Cronus dared to raise his eyes, guilt etched deep into his features.
"Father… we do not come as conquerors. We come as children who have seen their thrones tremble. The Fallen King is stirring."
A silence followed, broken only by the groaning of the heavens themselves. Then came laughter—low, resonant, echoing across creation.
"You think I do not know? The air carries his hunger. The stars dim in his shadow. Even I feel the chains around me grow weaker."
Zeus braced his spear. "Then tell us how to stop him."
The cosmos flared, lightning streaking through endless clouds.
"You cannot stop him. Not as you are. Not as Olympians. Not even Titans. He is older than thrones, older than order, older than even I."
Cronus's face twisted in desperation. "Then what? Do we simply wait for our end?"
For a long moment, the heavens remained silent. Then the stars began to shift, forming shapes, constellations bending to a new design. A throne of light appeared in the sky, and from it, the voice grew sharper, more direct.
"Bring him to me. The boy. The vessel. If he is to carry this burden, then I must judge him myself."
Zeus and Cronus exchanged a glance. The unspoken truth lingered between them—Uranus wasn't asking. He was commanding.
⸻
The Descent
Back on Mount Oryx, Megumi sat in solitude, Chloe's laughter faintly echoing from within the keep. He closed his eyes, trying to silence the whisper that gnawed at his soul.
Vessel. You cannot resist. You are already mine.
He gritted his teeth. His hands trembled against the stone ledge. He wanted to believe Ava's words, to believe he wasn't alone. But the whisper was relentless.
The wind shifted.
A shadow fell across him, vast and suffocating. He opened his eyes—and froze.
Before him stood a figure, tall and broad, cloaked in shimmering starlight. His hair flowed like streams of silver, his eyes twin galaxies burning with ancient light. Every movement bent the air around him, as though the world itself strained to contain his form.
Yet despite the grandeur, his face was lined with weariness, his presence older than mountains, heavier than the sea.
The figure looked down at him, and when he spoke, his voice was both thunder and whisper, sky and silence.
"Kid," he said, almost casually, though the weight behind the word nearly drove Megumi to his knees. "It's time I introduced myself."
He stepped closer, starlight spilling from his frame, and extended a hand.
"I'm Uranus. Titan god of the sky."