Chapter 70 – The One Who Was Never Meant to Return
The plaza fell completely silent.
No one moved.
No one even breathed.
The figure stepped out of the white doorway with slow, steady footsteps.
He wore a long black cloak that looked older than time itself. There were no symbols embroidered into the fabric, no armor beneath it, and no visible weapon at his side.
His face was hidden beneath the shadow of a hood.
Yet everyone present could feel it.
He wasn't trying to release pressure.
He wasn't trying to intimidate anyone.
His mere existence was enough.
The air itself seemed to bend around him.
---
Kai instinctively stepped in front of Evetyl.
She noticed.
"You know..." she whispered with a small smile, "I can fight too."
"I know."
"Then why?"
Kai kept his eyes on the stranger.
"Because if I'm wrong..."
"I'd rather be wrong first."
Evetyl didn't argue.
Instead...
She quietly stood beside him.
"If you're wrong..."
"...then we'll be wrong together."
Kai smiled.
"Deal."
---
The hooded man stopped a few meters away.
His gaze slowly swept across the group.
The Curator.
The Warden.
The Eye.
The First Thought.
The First Thing.
The Forgotten One.
Finally...
His eyes rested on Kai.
For several long seconds...
Neither of them spoke.
Then the stranger chuckled.
"So..."
"You're younger than I expected."
Kai blinked.
"Do people from the future always talk like that?"
The little silver-haired girl giggled.
"They do."
Cr-Hook sighed dramatically.
"I'm officially banning time travel."
The First Anomaly nodded.
"I support this decision."
Even the Warden quietly added,
"It is... confusing."
---
The stranger slowly lowered his hood.
A man in his early thirties stood before them.
His hair was dark silver, reaching just past his shoulders.
A thin scar crossed his left eyebrow.
His eyes...
They were unlike anything Evetyl had ever seen.
One eye was deep blue.
The other shimmered like a night sky filled with countless stars.
Kai stared for a moment.
"...You're human."
The man smiled.
"I was."
That single answer made everyone uneasy.
---
The Curator stepped forward.
"I know every Keeper, every Watcher, every Wanderer between worlds."
"I've never seen you."
The man nodded.
"You weren't supposed to."
The Curator frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
The stranger looked around Crosshaven.
"...history succeeded."
No one understood.
Except one person.
The Forgotten One.
Its expression became grim.
"So..."
"It really is you."
The stranger looked toward the ancient being.
"It has been a long time."
The Forgotten One slowly closed its eyes.
"Far too long."
---
Kai glanced between them.
"Would somebody explain what's happening?"
The Forgotten One remained silent.
Instead...
The stranger answered.
"My name..."
He paused.
"...doesn't exist anymore."
Cr-Hook raised an eyebrow.
"That's not possible."
"It is when every record containing it has been erased."
The First Thought's countless pages fluttered wildly.
"I searched every archive."
"I found nothing."
The stranger smiled.
"You never would."
"I made sure of that."
---
The little girl walked to his side.
She held his hand naturally, as though she had done so for years.
Kai looked at her.
"And who are you?"
The girl smiled brightly.
"I'm Lyra."
Evetyl knelt so she was at eye level.
"Have we met before?"
Lyra nodded.
"Many times."
Evetyl blinked.
"I... don't remember."
"I know."
Lyra's smile didn't fade.
"You aren't supposed to."
---
Cr-Hook leaned toward Kai.
"I miss normal villains."
Kai whispered back,
"I miss normal Mondays."
---
A few people in the crowd laughed.
The tension eased ever so slightly.
---
The stranger turned toward the white doorway.
It remained open.
Inside...
Nothing could be seen except endless white light.
No buildings.
No sky.
No ground.
Just white.
The Eye focused on it.
"I cannot observe beyond it."
The stranger answered calmly.
"Because there is nothing to observe."
The Eye became still.
"...Explain."
"The doorway doesn't lead somewhere."
"It leads..."
He looked at the glowing entrance.
"...to someone."
---
Silence.
---
The Curator's golden key suddenly vibrated violently.
Cracks of golden light spread across its surface.
The Curator immediately stepped back.
"This has never happened."
The stranger looked at the key.
"It remembers."
"Remembers what?"
The stranger looked directly at him.
"Its creator."
The Curator froze.
"My..."
"My creator?"
The stranger nodded.
"The one who forged the First Keys."
"The one who built the earliest gateways."
"The one who imagined Crosshaven before Crosshaven existed."
Every ancient being stared at him.
Even the First Thing slowly stood.
There had always been legends.
Legends about someone who had designed the pathways between realities.
Someone whose existence had slowly faded from history.
Most believed it was only a myth.
The stranger quietly spoke.
"He wasn't a myth."
---
Far beneath the city...
The glowing crystal pulsed again.
The Forgotten One suddenly looked toward the ground.
"No..."
"It can't already be happening."
The stranger sighed.
"It can."
"And it is."
---
Without warning...
The entire plaza shook.
Stone cracked beneath everyone's feet.
The white doorway expanded.
Not outward.
Inward.
Its endless light deepened until it resembled a tunnel stretching forever.
A low humming sound echoed through the city.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Almost...
Lonely.
Lyra looked up at the stranger.
"It's waking."
"I know."
"Are we too late?"
He didn't answer.
---
Kai looked around.
"Someone please tell me what's waking."
The stranger met his eyes.
"The last place that should exist."
"The birthplace of memory."
Evetyl frowned.
"Memory has a birthplace?"
"It does."
"And someone has just opened its door."
---
The First Thought suddenly clutched one of its books.
More words appeared across the blank pages.
It read them.
Its expression changed immediately.
"No..."
"The records are changing."
The Eye floated beside it.
"What changed?"
The First Thought slowly turned the book toward everyone.
The newest sentence read:
Crosshaven was never the City Between Worlds.
Silence.
Another sentence appeared beneath it.
Crosshaven was built to guard something beneath it.
Then another.
The seal has begun to fail.
The pages stopped moving.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody wanted to.
---
The stranger closed his eyes.
"I hoped..."
"...we had more time."
Kai took one step forward.
"Can it be stopped?"
The stranger looked at him.
"Yes."
Hope returned to everyone's faces.
Then he finished his sentence.
"But not by me."
Kai frowned.
"Then by who?"
The stranger smiled faintly.
"By the one it has been calling."
Everyone looked toward Evetyl.
She instinctively stepped back.
"...Me?"
The stranger nodded.
"For longer than you can imagine."
Evetyl's heartbeat quickened.
Ever since the previous night...
She had heard that lonely voice.
"Find me..."
She thought it was her imagination.
Now...
She wasn't so sure.
The humming beneath Crosshaven suddenly became louder.
Only Evetyl could hear the words hidden within it.
Soft.
Weak.
Almost like a child whispering through endless darkness.
"You're finally close..."
"Please..."
"Don't forget me again."
Evetyl's eyes widened.
"...Again?"
The stranger's calm expression finally changed.
For the first time...
He looked genuinely shocked.
"It spoke to you already?"
Evetyl slowly nodded.
"I..."
"I heard it."
The stranger looked toward the glowing doorway.
His voice became almost a whisper.
"Then we're already out of time."
At that exact moment...
A massive crack echoed beneath the entire city.
The ground trembled violently.
And somewhere deep below Crosshaven...
Something that had slept since before history...
Opened its eyes.
To Be Continued...