Chapter 109: The Truth Buried in the Beginning
Chapter 109
Moros' POV
"No..."
The word barely escaped my lips.
The battlefield blurred.
The screams.
The swords.
The armies.
Everything faded into silence.
Only Lucian's words remained.
"The Creator never left you."
Lies.
It had to be.
I remembered the day the Creator disappeared.
I remembered standing alone beneath the Tree of Dawn.
I remembered calling His name until my voice disappeared.
No one answered.
No light came.
No hand reached for mine.
I had been abandoned.
Hadn't I?
My head throbbed violently.
Fragments of forgotten memories forced themselves to the surface.
A warm hand resting on my shoulder.
Laughter.
A voice saying,
"Even if you cannot see Me..."
"...I am still with you."
I staggered backward.
"No..."
The memory vanished before I could grasp it.
Sable's POV
Time returned.
The battlefield moved again.
The wave of darkness collapsed into mist.
The soldiers on both sides looked around in confusion.
Leonidas rushed toward me the moment my knees weakened.
He caught me before I fell.
"I've got you."
I smiled weakly.
"I know."
He searched my face.
"What happened?"
"I met someone."
"Eden?"
"No."
"The Keeper of the Third Flame."
"The Judge."
Lucian.
The name alone seemed to make the wind fall silent.
The King's expression changed immediately.
"He awakened?"
I nodded.
"And he told me something."
Everyone waited.
I looked directly at Moros, who was still kneeling in the distance.
"He said..."
"...the Creator never abandoned him."
A ripple of disbelief spread through everyone present.
Orion's POV
Impossible.
If that was true...
Then the entire First War had been built upon a misunderstanding.
No.
Something even worse.
A lie.
I remembered Moros before everything changed.
He wasn't cruel.
He wasn't heartless.
He laughed louder than anyone.
He trained beside me until sunset.
He stayed awake comforting frightened children after storms.
How had that man become this one?
What had happened between those two versions of him?
Leonidas' POV
I never took my eyes off Moros.
He looked...
Broken.
Not physically.
Spiritually.
Like someone whose entire life had suddenly stopped making sense.
It would have been easy to attack.
To finish the battle while he was vulnerable.
But Sable didn't move.
Instead, she whispered,
"He's remembering."
Moros' POV
The memories came faster now.
The Creator teaching us beneath the silver trees.
The First Queen laughing as she planted flowers.
The King arguing with Orion over sword techniques.
Sera bringing everyone food because no one remembered to eat.
Then...
The final memory.
The Creator placing a hand over my heart.
"There will come a day when you cannot feel My presence."
"When that day comes..."
"Trust My promise..."
"Not your loneliness."
I froze.
No...
No...
I had forgotten.
I had forgotten those words.
How?
Who...
Who took them from me?
Eden's POV
There it is.
The truth.
Not still complete.
But enough.
The Third Flame had done what it was created to do.
It had burned away the first lie.
Not with fire.
With remembrance.
But another lie still remained.
The older one.
The more dangerous one.
And someone...
Had gone to extraordinary lengths to hide it.
Noctis' POV
The prophecy scroll became warm in my hands.
New words slowly appeared.
I had hoped never to read them.
Instead...
They confirmed my greatest fear.
"When the First Lie falls..."
"The Hidden Betrayer shall awaken."
My blood ran cold.
Not "be revealed."
Awaken.
Which meant...
The traitor had been asleep all this time.
Watching.
Waiting.
Hidden where no one would ever think to look.
I looked toward the Palace of Creation.
Toward the Heart.
A terrible thought entered my mind.
"What if..."
I whispered.
"...the traitor has been inside the palace this entire time without anyone noticing?"
The wind suddenly stopped.
Then...
A cold laugh echoed from somewhere inside the palace walls.
Not outside.
Inside.
Everyone turned at once.
Even Moros slowly lifted his head.
The laughter came again.
Soft.
Patient.
As though someone had been waiting thousands of years for this exact moment.
Sable's POV
The laughter echoed through the Palace of Creation.
It wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
It carried through every hallway, every broken pillar, every chamber touched by the Heart of Creation.
The battlefield fell silent.
Thousands of warriors looked toward the palace.
The sound wasn't cruel.
It wasn't joyful.
It was...
Ancient.
As though someone had finally awakened after an endless sleep.
Leonidas stepped in front of me.
"Stay close."
I nodded.
But my eyes never left the palace. Again the First Flame burned hotter and The Second Flame answered.
Neither of the Flame reacted with fear instead they reacted with recognition.
Whoever was inside...
The Flames already knew them.
The King's POV
Impossible.
No one could enter the Palace without my permission.
Not after the ancient seals were restored.
Unless...
My heart stopped.
"They were never outside."
Sera looked at me.
"You think they were hidden here?"
I nodded slowly.
"The palace has chambers even I have never entered."
Orion's expression darkened.
"The Forgotten Wing."
I turned toward him.
"You remember?"
He closed his eyes.
"I remember Father sealing it."
"Why?"
"He said..."
"...'Some doors protect the world by remaining closed.'"
Noctis' POV
I unfolded the prophecy once more.
More silver letters appeared.
This time they formed a single sentence.
"The betrayer wears no chains."
"The betrayer remembers everything."
A chill ran down my spine.
That meant they hadn't been controlled.
Everything they had done...
Had been by choice.
Moros' POV
The laughter.
I knew it.
I hadn't heard it in thousands of years.
"No..."
My voice trembled.
"It can't be."
Memories returned like crashing waves.
A council chamber.
The Creator.
Lucian.
The King.
Orion.
And one more figure standing in the shadows.
A face I had trusted.
A voice that whispered poison so gently it sounded like comfort.
"They don't understand you, Moros."
"Only I do."
I stumbled backward.
"It was you..."
Not the Creator.
Not the King.
Not Orion.
Someone else had planted the first seed of doubt inside my heart.
Someone I had never questioned.
Leonidas' POV
Moros looked terrified.
Not angry.
Terrified.
I had never imagined I would see the day.
He wasn't looking at us.
He was staring at the palace like a man watching a nightmare come to life.
Sable noticed it too.
"He's afraid."
Marcus frowned.
"Good."
Sable slowly shook her head.
"No. This isn't good."
"If Moros is afraid..."
"...then whatever's inside is worse."
The words settled heavily over everyone.
Inside the Palace, the great doors creaked open on their own without anyone touching them.
Cold air poured from the darkness within.
One by one...
The torches lining the corridor lit themselves with silver flames.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Measured.
Patient.
Someone was walking toward us and each step seemed to shake the Heart of Creation.
Step.
The Heart beat once.
THUMP.
Step.
Another heartbeat.
THUMP.
The rhythm became one.
The stranger's footsteps...
And the Heart...
Were perfectly synchronized.
Eden's POV
I closed my eyes.
"So..."
"You've finally decided to wake up."
The Messenger appeared beside me. His usual calm expression had disappeared.
For the first time...
He looked worried.
"Even I had hoped this day would never come."
I looked at him.
"Will Sable be enough?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he watched the palace doors.
Finally, he whispered,
"She won't have to face this enemy with strength."
"Then how?"
"With truth."
Sable's POV
The figure finally emerged from the shadows.
I expected a monster.
A warrior.
A king.
Instead...
An elderly man stepped into the light.
His robes were simple white and silver. His hair was as white as snow, flowing down his back. His face was gentle.
Kind.
The kind of face that reminded me of a grandfather.
In one hand, he carried an old wooden staff.
Around his neck hung the same symbol carved into the Heart of Creation.
He smiled warmly.
"My..."
"What a wonderful reunion."
The King froze.
Sera's staff slipped from her hands. Orion's face turned completely white.
Even Moros staggered backward. His lips trembled as he whispered,
"No..."
"It can't be..."
The old man smiled at all of them.
"Have you truly forgotten me already?"
Then he looked directly at me. His silver eyes sparkled with quiet amusement.
"So..."
"You are the child He chose."
I took an involuntary step forward.
"Who are you?"
The old man's smile widened.
He tapped his staff gently against the marble floor.
"My name..."
He paused.
As if the name itself carried unbearable weight.
"...is Aster."
The moment the name left his lips...
Every Flame inside Sable went completely silent.
Silence.
Not ordinary silence.
The First Flame... quiet.
The Second Flame... quiet.
Even the awakening Third Flame withdrew into stillness.
It was as if every ancient power in existence had bowed before the old man standing in the palace doorway.
Aster smiled gently.
"I see they still remember me."
His voice carried no threat.
No pride.
Only sadness.
I looked at Leonidas.
He looked just as confused as I was.
"Who is he?"
No one answered.
No one...
Except Moros.
Moros' POV
My legs gave out beneath me.
"No..."
"You died."
Aster chuckled softly.
"That is what everyone believed."
"I watched your funeral."
"You watched an empty grave."
The battlefield erupted into whispers.
The ancient soldiers looked at one another in confusion.
The Guardian Kings tightened their grips on their weapons.
Even the wind seemed uncertain.
The King's POV
Aster.
The First Counselor.
The wisest man our kingdom had ever known.
He had advised my father.
Guided Orion.
Taught Moros.
Helped Sera master ancient magic.
He had been more than an adviser.
He had been family.
When he disappeared...
We searched the entire continent yet we never found a body only his staff.
I had buried that staff with full royal honors.
Yet here he stood.
Alive.
Or...
Something beyond life.
Orion's POV
I remembered his lessons.
"Power without compassion becomes tyranny."
"Compassion without courage becomes weakness."
"Balance is what keeps kingdoms alive."
We all admired him.
Even Moros.
Especially Moros.
He treated Aster like a father.
Which meant...
If Aster had survived...
Why had he never returned?
Aster's POV
The question was written across all their faces.
Why?
Why disappear?
Why hide?
Why allow the world to believe I was dead?
Because the Creator commanded it.
There were truths this generation could not bear.
Not until the Daughter of Dawn awakened.
Not until the First Lie began to crumble.
Only then...
Could I return.
I looked at Sable.
She carried hope exactly as He said she would.
Not perfectly.
Not fearlessly.
But faithfully.
That was enough.
Leonidas' POV
Something about Aster unsettled me.
Not because he seemed dangerous rather because he seemed...
Too peaceful.
Even standing before thousands of warriors, he looked like a man enjoying a quiet afternoon walk.
Sable stepped toward him.
Instinct screamed at me to stop her.
Instead...
I trusted her.
As always.
Sable's POV
"You know me."
Aster nodded.
"I've waited for you."
"For me?"
"For twenty years."
My heart skipped.
Twenty years.
Exactly my age.
"You knew I would be born?"
"I knew hope would return."
He smiled warmly.
"I just didn't know your name."
I hesitated.
"Everyone keeps talking about prophecy."
"About destiny."
"About Flames."
"I don't understand any of it anymore."
Aster laughed gently.
"Good."
Confused, I frowned.
"Good?"
"The moment you believe you understand everything..."
"...you stop learning."
Eden's POV
He hadn't changed.
Not even after all these ages.
Still speaking in riddles.
Still teaching through questions instead of answers.
The Creator always said Aster's greatest gift wasn't wisdom.
It was patience.
A patience great enough to wait seven thousand years...
For the right conversation.
Aster's POV
I turned slowly toward Moros.
He refused to meet my eyes.
Shame.
Regret.
Fear.
All battled across his face.
"My son."
Moros flinched violently.
The battlefield gasped.
The King stared at me.
Sera covered her mouth.
Leonidas looked between us in disbelief.
"My..."
"...son?"
Moros whispered.
"You called me that..."
"...once."
"I never stopped."
Tears filled his eyes.
"I destroyed everything."
"You broke many things."
Aster nodded sadly.
"But broken things can be mended."
Moros shook his head violently.
"No."
"Not me."
"You don't know what I've done."
"I know every life you've taken."
"I know every lie you believed."
"I know every night you've cried where no one could see."
Moros froze.
"How..."
Aster placed a hand over his own heart.
"Because a father never stops watching."
The Messenger's POV
The Heart of Creation glowed brighter than ever before.
Not because evil was defeated.
Because truth was being spoken without hatred.
That...
Was the purpose of the Third
Flame.
Not punishment.
Revelation.
Sable's POV
I watched Moros.
The mighty conqueror.
The feared king of shadows.
The man who had nearly destroyed the world.
He looked...
Like a lost child.
For the first time, I realized something heartbreaking.
Moros had spent thousands of years trying to become powerful enough...
To silence the pain of believing he had never been loved.
Aster took one slow step toward him.
Then another.
No one moved neither dis they breathed keeping the moment for them.
He stopped only a few feet away.
"Come home."
Two simple words.
Nothing more.
Moros stared at him.
His lips trembled.
His sword slipped from his hand and it struck the ground with a hollow clang.
For one fragile moment...
It seemed as though the war might truly end.
Then—
A scream unlike anything the world had ever heard ripped across the heavens.
The crimson eye shattered into countless fragments.
The sky itself cracked open.
From beyond the broken heavens...
Something immense began forcing its way into creation.
Eden's face drained of all color.
The Messenger closed his eyes.
Lucian's voice echoed across the battlefield from somewhere unseen.
"The Devourer has awakened."