Kael sat on the broken ledge of the Abyss, breathing hard.
Arhaan remained beside him, one wing wrapped protectively around Kael's shoulders.
He didn't speak.
He didn't push.
He just stayed.
For a moment, the only sound was Kael's uneven breathing.
Then—
A cold whisper echoed through Kael's mind.
A whisper that wasn't his.
> "You cling to him."
Kael stiffened.
Arhaan felt it instantly.
> "Kael? What is it?"
Kael swallowed.
> "He's… awake."
Arhaan's expression darkened.
> "The entity inside you?"
Kael nodded slowly.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Then the voice returned.
Closer.
Clearer.
Older than creation.
---
I. THE FIRST WORDS
> "Little Angel…"
Kael froze.
Arhaan grabbed his arm, panic rising.
> "Kael, stay with me—"
But Kael wasn't hearing Arhaan anymore.
He was hearing it.
The ancient thing that starfire had awakened inside him.
> "Do you know what you are now?"
Kael clenched his fists.
> "A mistake," he muttered.
The voice chuckled.
Not cruelly.
More like someone amused at a child's ignorance.
> "No.
You are a door."
Kael's breath caught.
Arhaan shook his shoulder gently.
> "Kael. Look at me."
Kael looked up.
But behind his eyes… something else looked with him.
---
II. THE ECLIPSE SPEAKS
Kael's pupils shifted.
For a moment, Arhaan saw two overlapping gazes:
—Kael's
—and the gaze of something impossibly vast.
A layered voice flowed from Kael's mouth:
> "Greetings, Star."
Arhaan's wings flared.
> "Who are you?"
Kael's lips moved, but the voice was not his:
> "I am the Eclipse of Ages."
Arhaan's face paled.
> "That entity was sealed before the Abyss even existed…"
> "Correct."
The voice echoed from Kael's chest.
"I was imprisoned beyond the reach of gods.
Until you broke the chain that kept me quiet."
Kael's breath hitched.
> "I didn't mean to—"
> "You didn't.
He did."
Kael blinked.
> "…Arhaan?"
The Eclipse laughed softly through him.
> "The star shocked your dying soul with primordial flame.
A noble attempt.
A foolish one."
Arhaan stepped between Kael and the darkness.
> "Release him. Now."
The voice answered calmly:
> "No."
Kael felt something cold coil around his mind.
Arhaan felt the atmosphere drop ten degrees.
---
III. THE BIRTH OF A GOD-DOOR
Kael's wings twitched.
One feather dripped starlight.
Another dripped shadow.
The Eclipse's voice whispered:
> "You are the first being to hold starfire and abyssal essence in equal measure.
Do you understand the significance?"
Kael shook his head.
His voice barely a whisper:
> "No…"
The Eclipse replied:
> "You are a path.
A bridge.
A vessel."
Arhaan's voice turned sharp:
> "He is not your vessel."
The Eclipse ignored him.
> "Through you, Kael, I can return.
Not as a monster…
But as a god."
Kael's heart lurched in fear.
> "No. I won't let you use me."
Silence.
Then the Eclipse spoke softly:
> "You already have."
Kael's breath stopped.
Arhaan stepped closer, grabbing Kael's trembling hand.
> "Kael. Listen to my voice.
Fight him."
The entity inside Kael whispered:
> "He cannot save you forever…"
Kael's new eyes flickered wildly.
Golden sun.
Black eclipse.
Golden sun.
Black eclipse.
Arhaan held his face gently.
> "Kael. Look at me."
Kael forced his gaze upward.
Arhaan smiled—soft, steady, unshaken.
> "As long as I'm here, you're not his."
The Eclipse hissed:
> "We shall see."
And then it retreated—
slowly, reluctantly—
back into the depths of Kael's soul.
Kael collapsed into Arhaan's arms, shaking.
Arhaan whispered:
> "I've got you."
Kael buried his face in Arhaan's chest.
His voice broke:
> "Arhaan…
Something inside me wants to get out."
Arhaan held him tighter.
> "Then it will have to go through me first."