Mohamed felt it the moment the convergence began: the calm before a storm that had been centuries in the making.
Not outside. Not in the city.
Inside the Eclipse Order itself.
They arrived in a chamber no map should have contained.
Walls of black stone etched with glowing red symbols. The air hummed with authority—the weight of secrets held for generations.
Twelve figures stood in formation.
Not the usual members Mohamed had encountered. These were the Inner Axis—leaders of leaders, a cabal controlling the cabals, the architects of convergence itself.
Ryoto stepped forward.
"You shouldn't be here," he said quietly. His scarred eye glimmered with unease.
Mohamed studied them.
Aiko stood in front of the Axis as if she belonged, twirling a small knife absentmindedly.
Faromet's presence, though unseen, pressed against the room.
"They will show you why everything exists the way it does," Faromet whispered in his mind.
The first figure spoke.
Tall. Bald. Cloaked in deep crimson robes.
"We are custodians," he said, voice smooth, measured. "We shape the order, not for power, but for continuity."
Another stepped forward. Twin daggers gleaming, eyes unnervingly calm.
"Control is not cruelty," she said. "It is inevitability."
Mohamed's pulse quickened. "You decide who survives. Who learns. Who dies. That's control. That's murder."
Ryoto said nothing. Aiko laughed lightly.
"Murder is subjective," Aiko whispered. "Perspective is everything."
The Inner Axis moved in unison. Symbols flashed beneath their feet—symbols Mohamed had only glimpsed before in the memories of the Fifth Convergence.
"We have existed beyond time," the bald man continued. "We oversee convergence. We prune when necessary. We teach when possible. And we correct when inevitable."
Mohamed's hands shook. "Correct? You erase civilizations. You manipulate faith, knowledge, and life itself. You call that correction?"
"Yes," the twin-dagger woman replied. "Because entropy is indiscriminate. We are the firewall."
Then the room split.
Not physically. Symbolically.
Each member of the Axis revealed their true nature:
One with a mask of gold, eyes glowing with the memory of thousands of lives studied.
One cloaked entirely in black, symbols moving along the fabric as if alive.
One… terrifyingly small, a childlike figure with immense presence: Aiko's prototype.
Mohamed realized it: the Inner Axis was a microcosm of the Eclipse Order itself.
Every philosophy, every method, every manipulation compressed into twelve beings.
"You are the anomaly," the bald man said, finally noticing Mohamed.
"The variable we could not anticipate. The one who refuses pruning."
Mohamed felt heat rising in his chest. "Then your rules end. I refuse your order."
Aiko clapped softly. "Finally, someone interesting."
Ryoto's hand hovered near his sword. "You underestimate them," he warned.
Mohamed shook his head. "No. I understand them. I just don't obey."
The Inner Axis tilted their heads. Symbols pulsed faster. Faromet's shadow touched the chamber.
"This is the convergence that defines all others," Faromet said.
"And yet… you disrupt it without violence."
Mohamed's lips curled. "Because violence isn't the only way to break control. Knowledge is."
The chamber's red glow flared. Threads of reality stretched toward Mohamed, pulling, testing, prying.
He smiled. "Show me everything."
The Inner Axis shared their memory simultaneously:
Decisions that erased empires.
Calculations that determined life spans.
Faith manipulated, knowledge filtered, humans pruned like crops.
Mohamed saw clearly for the first time: the Eclipse Order was not just power. It was a philosophy of inevitability, one that believed the only path to survival was control itself.
Selene whispered, "You've seen the heart of the Axis. And now… you must act."
Mohamed's hands clenched. "Then let them know: control has consequences."
Aiko grinned. "Finally, fun begins."
Faromet's shadow lingered longer than usual.
"You are dangerous," he said. "Perhaps… more dangerous than I intended."
Mohamed's eyes burned. "Good. I intend to finish what you never dared to attempt."
The Inner Axis tightened formation. Symbols swirled violently. Threads snapped.
Mohamed took a breath.
And smiled.
Because the storm had only just begun.