Episode 15 - The First Betrayal
1125 Words
Silver light consumed the Relic Chamber.
The force of the explosion sent everyone backward as fragments of crystal scattered across the ancient floor like frozen stars.
Elias shielded his eyes instinctively.
When the light finally faded—
The Memory Keeper stood at the center of the chamber.
Free.
Her long white hair drifted weightlessly around her while silver markings glowed softly across her skin. Ancient energy surrounded her presence, calm yet overwhelming.
The chamber itself reacted to her awakening.
The relic pedestals hummed.
The silver flames along the walls reignited brighter.
Even the Hollow Path outside became silent.
Like reality itself recognized her.
Elias stared in disbelief.
The Memory Keeper slowly looked around the chamber.
First at the Hollow King.
Then the Gatewalker.
Finally—
At Elias.
Her silver eyes softened slightly.
“…You really came back.”
Elias immediately pointed at himself.
“I feel like people keep talking to someone else when they look at me.”
The Memory Keeper gave a faint smile.
“In a way, they are.”
Not helpful.
Kael cautiously raised his sword.
“You opened the Final Gate?”
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
The Gatewalker looked away.
The Hollow King remained silent.
The Memory Keeper closed her eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
No denial.
No excuse.
Just honesty.
Lyra stepped forward carefully.
“Why?”
The woman’s expression became distant.
“Because I believed I could control what existed beyond the Gate.”
Outside the chamber, distant roars echoed through the Hollow Path again.
The Void.
The Memory Keeper continued quietly:
“I was wrong.”
The silver light around her dimmed slightly.
“I thought knowledge alone could save the worlds.”
The Hollow King laughed softly.
“That mistake destroyed everything.”
The Gatewalker glared sharply at him.
“You encouraged her.”
“And you were too afraid to act.”
The tension between the brothers returned instantly.
Ancient resentment filled the chamber.
Elias rubbed his forehead tiredly.
“Does everyone here have history with everyone?”
“Unfortunately,” Kael muttered.
The Memory Keeper suddenly looked toward Elias again.
“The relics awakened faster than expected.”
Elias frowned slightly.
“Can somebody explain why that keeps happening around me?”
The Memory Keeper walked slowly toward him.
The Silver Key floated closer to her instinctively.
“So much of the Gatewalker’s soul survived inside you that the relics recognized you immediately.”
Elias tightened his grip slightly.
“I’m still Elias.”
“Yes,” she answered gently. “But you are also becoming him.”
Those words hit harder than Elias expected.
A cold silence followed.
Because deep inside—
He had already started noticing it.
The visions.
The instincts.
The strange memories.
Even the way the relics obeyed him.
Parts of him were changing.
And that terrified him.
Suddenly—
The chamber shook violently.
Cracks spread across the ceiling.
The Hollow King immediately looked upward.
“…Too late.”
A massive roar echoed through the Hollow Path.
The silver flames dimmed again.
Then darkness began flooding into the chamber itself.
Not shadow.
Not corruption.
Something worse.
The air became painfully cold.
Elias felt fear unlike anything before.
Pure instinctive terror.
The Memory Keeper’s expression hardened instantly.
“The Void found the path.”
The darkness at the chamber entrance twisted unnaturally.
Then a creature slowly emerged.
It had no clear shape.
Its body constantly shifted between forms like living smoke and broken reality. Multiple glowing eyes opened and vanished across its surface while distorted whispers echoed around it.
Even the Hollow King stepped backward.
Elias noticed immediately.
“You’re afraid of it.”
The Hollow King answered quietly:
“Yes.”
That single word terrified Elias more than the creature itself.
The Void creature entered the chamber slowly.
Wherever it moved, reality cracked apart.
The silver floor dissolved into darkness beneath it.
The relics reacted violently.
The Blade of Aether glowed brighter.
The Silver Key pulsed rapidly.
The creature suddenly stopped.
Every shifting eye focused directly on Elias.
Then the whispers became words.
“Gatewalker…”
Elias froze.
The creature moved closer.
“You escaped us.”
The chamber fell silent.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
“What does that mean?”
The Memory Keeper looked horrified.
“No…”
The Void creature tilted its head unnaturally toward Elias.
“We remember the First Betrayal.”
The Gatewalker’s face darkened instantly.
“Do not speak of it.”
The Void creature laughed.
The sound felt wrong.
Broken.
Like multiple voices speaking together.
“You abandoned the Gate.”
Elias stared at the Gatewalker.
“…What?”
The ancient figure remained silent.
The Hollow King smiled faintly.
“There it is.”
The Void creature’s eyes multiplied rapidly across its body.
“The Gatewalker fled while worlds burned.”
Cold silence filled the chamber.
Elias slowly looked toward the Gatewalker.
“That’s not true… right?”
The Gatewalker closed his eyes briefly.
Pain crossed his face again.
Then finally—
“…Partially.”
Kael looked stunned.
Lyra frowned sharply.
“What does that mean?”
The Memory Keeper answered softly before the Gatewalker could.
“He tried to save me.”
Everyone froze.
The Void creature spread its darkness farther.
“And billions died.”
The Gatewalker suddenly exploded with silver energy.
“Enough!”
The chamber shook violently.
For the first time, Elias truly saw the ancient power hidden within him.
Silver flames erupted across the room while chains of light wrapped around the Void creature.
The Hollow King watched silently.
No amusement anymore.
Only exhaustion.
The Void creature screamed as the chains tightened.
But even restrained—
It smiled.
“You cannot stop what comes.”
The darkness across its body began spreading through the chains themselves.
Corrupting them.
Consuming them.
The Memory Keeper stepped beside Elias quickly.
“We cannot fight the Void directly.”
Elias stared at the creature.
“Then what do we do?”
The Memory Keeper looked toward the floating relic pedestals.
“We gather the remaining relics.”
The Hollow King laughed softly again.
“And repeat the same mistakes?”
The Memory Keeper met his gaze calmly.
“No.”
Then she looked at Elias.
“This time, the choice belongs to him.”
The entire chamber became silent.
Every eye turned toward Elias.
The Gatewalker.
The Hollow King.
The Memory Keeper.
Kael.
Lyra.
Even the Void creature.
Waiting.
Watching.
Elias felt the weight of it all crushing against him.
He never wanted this.
He never asked for it.
But somehow—
Reality itself had chosen him anyway.
Then the Void creature whispered one final sentence.
And it changed everything.
“The Final Gate is already opening on Earth.”
- Writer
