The mission had been a success.
Kael had followed every instruction to the letter.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
But something followed him back.
Something unseen… yet heavy.
---
Days passed.
Kael stopped attending the training sessions.
He slept little. Read even less.
He simply stared out the window from the top floor of the Comandos Base, where a forgotten balcony overlooked the distant forests of Brussels.
He would sit there for hours.
The immortal world had no noise.
No scent.
No aging. No visible pain.
Time didn't seem to move.
Everything felt… still.
And in that stillness, Kael began to feel what might be true solitude.
---
He remembered his last birthday with mortal friends.
A laugh he hadn't heard in decades.
The taste of a simple meal made by someone who no longer existed.
He remembered the Earth. The weight of a body that once aged.
Now, he was eternal.
But he no longer knew what that truly meant.
---
One night, while sipping aged whisky he kept hidden in the library, Kael caught his reflection in the darkened glass.
He didn't look older than thirty.
But his eyes… they carried centuries.
And in that moment, he understood:
Immortality isn't just living forever.
It's watching everything you love fade away — in silence.
---
There was no mission at that moment.
No orders.
No guidance.
Only Kael.
And time.