Far to the north, where the sun barely kissed the land and the auroras sang to an ancient rhythm, the convergence point flickered into being.
It wasn't a place known on any map—it was a space forgotten rather than undiscovered.
And it waited.
Northern Scandinavia – Entry Point: Fracture Lake
The sky above shimmered with violet streaks of aurora as Rei and his companions descended toward the frozen waters of Fracture Lake. The surface cracked beneath their feet, not from weight, but from presence.
"This area has no recorded spirit activity in over five centuries," Mireille said, scanning the perimeter.
Eirenne ran her fingers along the surface. "And yet... this place remembers."
Karasu circled high above, then landed abruptly. "This is a convergence of silenced timelines. We're standing where realities used to meet—before they were erased."
Noira's eyes narrowed. "So something killed an entire sequence of existence here?"
Rei said nothing, staring into the ice.
Beneath them, a symbol glowed faintly.
Not a rune. Not a sigil.
A brand.
The mark of a Flameborn Sovereign.
Frozen Sanctum – The Black Sun Core
The team descended through a spiral fissure in the lake, revealing a crystalline chamber hidden beneath the surface. Shards of mirror-ice reflected not their faces, but possibilities—versions of themselves in different lifelines.
At the center stood a figure, bound in glass and shadow. His eyes were open, but his body unmoving.
Karasu gasped. "That's... Ravel. Sovereign of Erasure. The one who silenced the Moon Libraries."
Rei approached slowly. "He's alive. But bound in recursive stasis."
System Prompt:
[Echo Containment Anomaly Detected]
[Status: Recursive Sleep. External Flame Can Trigger Partial Awakening.]
Mireille glanced at Rei. "You're not really thinking of waking him?"
"He holds a memory no one else does," Rei replied. "Something lost when the Black Sun burned through the sky. Something even Chronomnemesis refused to preserve."
Noira stepped forward. "Then we do this together."
Memory Breach: The Black Sun Collapse
They channeled their combined resonance into the crystal.
The world exploded in darkness.
The team stood on the remains of a battlefield suspended in space—stars dimmed, time looped in broken frames. Shattered cities floated alongside bleeding moons. And above all… a black sun screamed silently.
Ravel stood at the center, younger, freer, surrounded by corpses of flamebearers and sovereigns alike.
"I chose to forget," his voice echoed. "Because the truth was unlivable."
Rei approached. "Let me see it."
Ravel raised a finger.
A single memory passed into Rei's core.
The Truth of the Black Sun
It wasn't an invasion. It wasn't even destruction.
It was mercy.
A cosmic being—neither flame nor void—entered the timeline to end a paradox. Sovereigns, fragmented by greed, had begun to collapse timelines into singularity. The Black Sun was a failsafe: a reset.
Ravel, the last conscious sovereign, chose to erase his own kind.
To buy time for a future where balance could exist.
Rei opened his eyes. They burned with understanding—and grief.
"You destroyed your family to protect the timeline."
"I murdered hope to preserve possibility," Ravel replied.
The battlefield faded.
They returned to the Frozen Sanctum.
Ravel, still bound, smiled faintly. "Now that you know… choose your future with care. The Black Sun is not gone. It's waiting for its next bearer."
System Prompt:
[Knowledge of Erasure Integrated. Module Unlocked: Nullfire Mantle – Temporarily nullifies all time-based interference and Chrono-locks.]
Karasu's wings trembled. "Next convergence… is no longer a place. It's a person."
Rei whispered, "And they're already burning."
Far away, in a city sleeping beneath fractured towers, a young girl opened her eyes.
They glowed black.