The world was unraveling.
One town at a time, one sky-thread at a time.
Cities once mapped on the bunker's analog screen began disappearing—not with explosions or war, but with quiet, terrifying absence. Places simply stopped existing. The network grid called it a "geospatial collapse," but Orias had another name for it.
"Memory Reversion," he said grimly. "The worlds are forgetting themselves."
Skyler sat in the control room, watching as glowing red Xs appeared across the map. Whole continents blinking out of relevance. Time had stopped making sense out there.
"Why now?" Skyler asked. "Why is the multiverse falling apart now?"
Orias stood by the wall of ancestor glyphs, brushing dust off a carving of Aeria Novaah, the First Witness.
"Because you're waking up. And they're panicking."
"They who?"
"The Forgetters. The Blind Council. Those who sealed the truth and poisoned your bloodline with silence."
The lights flickered.
Then the security bell rang—three low chimes. A proximity alert.
They never had visitors.
Skyler leapt up, eyes narrowing. Saya stepped into the hallway, already gripping her chalk.
His father activated the view-screen—and the desert outside shimmered like heat-warped glass. From within that mirage, a man emerged, walking slowly across the dead sands.
He wore a cloak made of patchwork dimension-fibers—torn from timelines that no longer existed. On his shoulder was a glowing memory orb. His presence radiated displacement—like he didn't belong anywhere in time or space.
Orias stepped forward, face hard. "He's not from here."
Skyler's mother spoke softly. "He's from the End."
The stranger reached the edge of the compound and stopped. He looked straight into the surveillance orb—as if he could see Skyler through it.
Then he raised a hand.
And fire erupted behind him—white flame, burning upward, but not destroying anything.
Skyler felt it in his chest. A thrum. A signal.
Orias swore under his breath. "He's Echo-Bound."
"Who is he?" Skyler asked.
Orias gave him a grave look.
"He's the one who survived every version of you."
Skyler didn't understand—until the man finally spoke.
No transmitter. No sound.
Just a whisper—carried on a psychic current:
"Skyler Novaah. The seals are lies. They were never to protect you—they were to protect them."
"I've come to give you your first truth."
Skyler's pendant grew hot.
The Book of Recalled Flame unlocked itself in the lower chamber.
The first page turned.
The sky above twisted into spirals.
And the man vanished—without moving.
Orias gritted his teeth. "Damn it. One of the Others made contact. They'll come now. All of them."
Skyler could barely breathe. "What truth was he talking about?"
His sister, Saya, walked to the window and stared at the rippling sky.
"He knows what Skyler did," she said. "In one of the timelines we're not allowed to remember."
The house trembled. In the far-off clouds, something enormous moved—like a god dragging chains.
Skyler closed his eyes.
The seal was cracking.
And the world had taken notice.