Beyond Worlds, Beneath the Star God

The stairwell was impossibly old.

With each step down, the air grew colder—not in temperature, but in memory. The kind of cold that settled behind the eyes. That made you forget your name for a second. That made you feel like you'd been walking forever.

Elira gripped Kun's sleeve once, just to make sure she was still there.

Orlan whispered protection charms constantly now—not for defense, but to keep their minds intact. Even Rhea, ever-skeptical, walked without a word, jaw tight.

At the bottom, the stair ended abruptly—opening into a spherical chamber of black marble, ringed with silver veins that pulsed like breath.

At the center floated a flame.

It cast no light.

It was a flickering shape of absence—smoke without heat, memory without context. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat with no pulse. Its color was not black, not even void—it was the color you forget the moment you look away.

Noctis Flame.

The Flame That Forgets.

---

The Flame's Voice

As they stepped into the chamber, time stuttered.

And then, Kun heard it.

Not a whisper.

A song.

A lullaby without words.

His knees buckled. He dropped his sword. The Sovereign Fire inside him flickered in protest—but also in recognition.

Behind him, Orlan gasped. "It's… sentient. It's not just fire. It's a will."

Elira clutched her head. "I—I can't remember… why we came here—"

Rhea stumbled, fell to one knee. "It's... eating thoughts…"

Kun rose slowly, staring at the flame.

And the flame stared back.

> "You are the one who survived the star's death."

> "You walk in the skin of a god."

> "Would you like to forget the pain?"

He stepped forward.

Elira screamed, "Kun, don't—!"

But the flame wasn't hurting him.

It was welcoming him.

---

Memory Trial – The Choice

Suddenly, Kun stood somewhere else.

He was in a field. Earth. The old Earth. His space suit was half-torn, his helmet cracked. The stars above him were red and wrong.

And his crew—

Gone.

He saw them. Saw her—his commander, his sister, floating in the black. Calling for help. And he—helpless—screaming into a dead radio.

The Noctis Flame hovered beside him.

> "You can forget her."

> "Forget your failure. Forget the guilt. Return to the world as light, unburdened."

> "All it takes… is acceptance."

It reached toward him with a tendril of cool shadow.

Kun shook.

Tears fell.

But then—

> "No."

He turned.

And instead of taking the flame—

He embraced the memory.

The pain.

The scream.

The loss.

He let it burn.

Not to forget.

But to remember.

---

Return – Skygrave Vault

He opened his eyes.

The Noctis Flame retracted.

Silent.

Then it spoke again—but softer.

> "You are not the first."

> "But perhaps… the last."

It drifted back into the heart of the forge.

And disappeared.

Elira rushed to him, grabbing his shoulders. "You okay?!"

He nodded. "It tried to make me forget. Everything. It offered peace."

Rhea muttered, "Gods. That flame's not power. It's surrender."

Orlan added, pale-faced, "Now we know what Kael truly wants."

Kun looked up, eyes sharp.

"Elira. Rhea. Orlan. Listen."

> "Kael doesn't want to destroy the world."

> "He wants to rewrite it—by burning the memory of what it was."

> "He'll use the Noctis Flame to erase every law, name, person, history… everything."

And replace it with his own.

---

Final Scene – Elsewhere

Far away, beneath a dead mountain, Kael stood in a ring of fire, surrounded by kneeling figures in shadowed robes.

Before him, a mirror of Kun's face—crafted of black flame—drifted inside a crystal orb.

He smiled.

"Good. He saw the flame. He chose memory. Just as I did once."

He turned to his generals.

> "Now… he must learn the price."

He raised his hand.

And pointed toward the map of the realm.

Toward Kun's village.

Toward the place of his rebirth.

> "Burn it."