I Chose This Path, Now the Universe Will Know My Name

The night here didn't fall so much as it blossomed.

A soft twilight hue blanketed the sky, with stars that drifted like lazy fireflies. The tree canopy above glowed faintly, casting a gentle luminance that made the world feel like it was wrapped in silk.

We'd been led to a sheltered grove not far from the great tree. The ground was covered in soft moss, warm to the touch, and a natural spring gurgled nearby, glowing with mana-rich water.

We hadn't said much since Seraphine left.

It wasn't fear that silenced us — it was awe. Confusion. Maybe even grief for something we didn't understand yet.

I sat on a low, curved stone, staring into the quiet shimmer of the spring. My reflection wavered, ghostlike. The same brown skin, the same silver-tinted eyes… but somehow, I felt different. Like my name was still mine, but everything else was waiting to molt off me.

Behind me, Freya stood with her arms folded, back against a trunk of a tree. She hadn't taken her eyes off me since we arrived. Her expression was unreadable, but I could feel the question in her gaze.

Was I still the same Zavier who'd risked himself beside her two days ago?

Lyssira, meanwhile, was crouched near the spring, gently brushing her fingers over a leaf that glowed faintly under her touch. She'd been quiet — too quiet — since Seraphine's words. I think part of her wanted to be happy for me… but the rest of her wasn't sure if I was still someone she could reach.

"So," I finally said, my voice cracking into the silence. "Am I the only one feeling like… none of this makes sense anymore?"

Freya scoffed softly. "You? You're the only thing that does make sense right now."

I turned toward her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," she said, pushing off the tree, "that somehow, in this whole chaotic multiverse, you keep becoming the exception. First the wings. Then the buff. Now this… dragon destiny."

I flinched. "You think I asked for this?"

"No," she said, folding her arms again. "But it still chose you."

There was no malice in her tone. Only frustration. And maybe fear. The kind you bury under sarcasm and a sharp tongue.

Lyssira finally looked up. "I don't think any of us are who we were when we first stepped onto that map."

Her green hair caught the soft light as she turned to face me, her expression open, gentle.

"I've seen warriors crack under a single death stare from a Voidborn. I've seen nobles from my realm with every blessing and artifact fall to monsters in the first hour. But you… you've survived all of it. And still stayed kind. Still looked after us."

My chest tightened.

She smiled faintly. "But now I see something in you I hadn't before. Dignity. Distance. It's like you're already looking past us…"

I didn't know what to say to that. Because she wasn't wrong.

A part of me did feel like I was changing. Like something had peeled back a layer I didn't know was there.

"I'm trying to understand what I've become," I said. "But every time I get close, something changes again. I just… I don't want to lose who I was."

Freya stepped closer, her voice low. "Then hold onto what matters. That's the only way we survive."

A quiet wind stirred the grove. Somewhere above, a melodic chime echoed — no source, just sound.

We sat around the spring for a long while after that. No fighting. No fleeing. Just breathing.

At some point, Seraphine returned, her form gliding through the trees like moonlight on glass.

"I hope the night was kind to you," she said, her voice still filled with that warm timelessness. "Because tomorrow… I'll begin telling you what you really need to know."

She paused, her eyes falling on me.

"About the other dragons. About the Tree. And about the fate tied to your birth."