Joshua—or maybe it was Zayriel now—stood at the heart of Ostarius.
The place was silent, filled with a strange, weightless stillness. The sky here didn't move. The air didn't shift. Time itself seemed to slow down around him as he stood quietly, arms at his sides, eyes staring into the emptiness beyond the horizon.
Thoughts came flooding in.
Images.
Flashes.
The battle.
The Architect of Ruin… and the power he lost control of.
That moment… that final moment—when the entire multiverse teetered on the edge of total collapse. When he—Zayriel—had to make the hardest decision of all.
He couldn't stop himself.
He couldn't stop it.
And so… he turned to Veyrion.
Trusted him.
Asked him to do the unthinkable.
Kill him.
End him… and seal everything. The power. The memories. Himself.
Send him away—somewhere small. Somewhere peaceful. Somewhere he couldn't break reality just by breathing.
So they did.
Zayriel was gone.
And in his place… Joshua was born.
