Chapter 4: The Man At The Door
1021 Words
Chapter 4: The Man at the Door
The wooden door opened without a sound.
No violent explosion.
No burst of magical energy.
No dramatic entrance.
It simply... opened.
A man stepped inside as though he had been invited.
He looked no older than thirty. His ash-gray hair rested neatly on his shoulders, and he wore a long white coat embroidered with silver patterns that shimmered faintly in the dim light. His hands were clean, unarmed, folded calmly behind his back.
His face carried the kind of gentle smile that put ordinary people at ease.
But the moment Seraphina saw him, every instinct in her body screamed at her to run.
Her breathing became shallow.
Sweat rolled down her temple.
Not because she was weak.
But because she knew exactly who stood before her.
Lucien.
The Sage of Eternity.
The man history remembered as a hero.
The man she remembered as a murderer.
He glanced around the tiny house before his eyes settled on Aiden.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Lucien studied the young man's face carefully, almost affectionately.
"So..."
he whispered.
"This is what a thousand years has done to you."
Aiden stood his ground, though every part of him wanted to step back.
"You know me?"
Lucien smiled.
"I knew someone who wore your face."
The answer irritated Aiden.
"Stop speaking in riddles."
Lucien chuckled softly.
"Still impatient."
His smile widened, but there was sadness hidden beneath it.
"You truly remember nothing."
Aiden remained silent.
The voice inside his soul whispered again.
"Don't trust him."
Lucien's eyes shifted ever so slightly.
For a brief second...
It almost looked as though he had heard the voice too.
---
Outside, the streets of Valoria had become strangely quiet.
Merchants had disappeared.
Children had gone home.
Even the stray dogs that usually wandered the alleys were nowhere to be seen.
An unnatural silence had swallowed the neighborhood.
Only Mira remained outside.
She stood beneath her umbrella, staring at Aiden's house.
Her old eyes narrowed.
She couldn't see Lucien.
She couldn't sense his power.
But decades of experience had taught her one thing.
When nature became this silent...
Death was nearby.
---
Inside the house, Seraphina slowly stepped in front of Aiden.
"If you're here to kill him..."
Her voice trembled despite her determination.
"You'll have to go through me."
Lucien looked at her with genuine surprise.
"Seraphina."
He spoke her name as if greeting an old student.
"I never imagined you'd choose his side."
She didn't lower her sword.
"I owe him my life."
Lucien sighed.
"And I owe him mine."
Aiden frowned.
"What is everyone talking about?"
Neither of them answered.
Instead, Lucien looked directly into Aiden's eyes.
"Tell me."
"What is the last thing you remember?"
Aiden hesitated.
"My parents..."
"I don't remember their faces."
"I only remember waking up in an orphanage."
Lucien nodded slowly.
"And before that?"
"Nothing."
"Dreams?"
Aiden's heartbeat quickened.
"Sometimes."
"What do you see?"
"A battlefield."
Lucien closed his eyes.
"What else?"
"A throne."
Lucien's expression tightened.
"A woman crying."
His breathing grew heavier.
"And..."
Aiden paused.
"There was someone standing behind me."
Lucien opened his eyes.
"What did he look like?"
Aiden frowned, trying to remember.
"I never saw his face."
"I only remember..."
His voice became quieter.
"...he was holding a sword covered in blood."
Silence.
Lucien's gentle smile finally disappeared.
He looked older somehow.
More tired.
"So..."
he whispered.
"You've begun remembering the day you died."
---
Without warning, Lucien raised one hand.
Seraphina reacted instantly.
She lunged forward with blinding speed.
Her sword flashed toward his neck.
It never reached him.
An invisible force stopped the blade inches away.
The metal trembled violently.
No matter how hard she pushed, it refused to move.
Lucien didn't even look at her.
"I'm not your enemy."
With a flick of his fingers, Seraphina was thrown backward.
She crashed into the wall, splintering the wooden boards before falling to the floor.
"Seraphina!"
Aiden rushed toward her.
"I'm fine," she coughed, though blood stained the corner of her mouth.
Aiden turned back toward Lucien.
Anger surged through him.
"You said you weren't here to hurt anyone!"
Lucien looked almost disappointed.
"I didn't hurt her."
"You threw her across the room!"
"I stopped her from forcing me to defend myself."
Aiden's fists tightened.
"You think that makes it better?"
For the first time...
Lucien laughed.
A genuine laugh.
"There you are."
Aiden blinked.
"What?"
"The king I remember."
Lucien took a slow step forward.
"The man who could never ignore injustice."
His smile returned.
"I was beginning to wonder if he had truly disappeared."
---
Suddenly, Aiden felt an unbearable pain shoot through his chest.
He gasped.
His knees buckled.
The silver ring on his finger glowed with a deep violet light.
A memory burst into his mind.
Not a dream.
Not fragments.
A real memory.
He stood atop a mountain under a crimson sky.
Lucien stood beside him, younger but unmistakable.
Both of them laughed as they watched the sunrise.
"You'll always be my brother," Lucien had said.
Aiden—no, the Immortal King—smiled.
"And you'll always have a place beside me."
The memory shifted violently.
The same mountain.
The same sky.
The same two men.
But this time...
Lucien's sword pierced straight through the King's chest.
Blood stained the snow.
The King's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Why...?"
Lucien was crying.
"I'm sorry."
"I had no other choice."
The memory shattered.
---
Aiden collapsed onto the floor, clutching his chest as tears streamed down his face.
He didn't understand why he was crying.
He had never lived that life.
He had never climbed that mountain.
He had never called Lucien his brother.
Yet the grief...
The betrayal...
The heartbreak...
They felt real.
Lucien stared at him in silence.
His own eyes had become red.
"So..."
he whispered.
"You finally remembered me."
Aiden slowly lifted his head.
His voice was barely audible.
One question escaped his lips.
"...Why?"
Lucien closed his eyes.
A single tear slid down his cheek.
"Because saving the world..."
He opened his eyes again.
"...required me to destroy yours."
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