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[ Dreams Beneath the Seal ]
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Darkness.
But not the empty kind—it pulsed, slow and steady, like a sleeping giant's breath.
Ash floated weightlessly in this vast void, a place with no sky or ground, only endless black tinged with faint, glowing red. There was no air to breathe, yet he felt alive—barely. His thoughts drifted like mist. Disjointed memories surfaced: a half-burnt courtyard, a warm smile, an argument under a blood moon, and… betrayal.
> "Why… am I here?"
The question echoed, unanswered.
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Then came a whisper, deep and ancient. Not menacing—but heavy. Like an old truth long buried.
> "You are sealed."
Ash turned, though he had no body to move. "Sealed?"
> "Locked away, bound by fire and fear."
The void trembled.
From the mist emerged crimson chains—glowing with runes and inscriptions too complex to decipher. They floated around him, slowly coiling tighter with each breath he took.
> "You were forgotten. Or so they hoped."
Ash clenched his fists—or thought he did. "Who did this to me?"
> "Someone powerful. Someone who once saw you as a brother."
The words pierced deeper than any blade. A shadow flickered in his mind—tall, regal, distant. Someone with eyes that once carried pride… and later, judgment.
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[Fragments of a Past Life]
The chains shimmered again, and his vision warped.
He was standing—though he knew it was a dream. Around him, a courtyard bathed in twilight stretched wide. On one side stood a young man with sharp eyes and robes too ancient to place. His aura was vast, even though he was smiling softly.
Ash recognized him. His face wasn't clear, but the feeling… familiarity, warmth… and betrayal.
On the other side of the courtyard stood a girl, her long hair tied with a phoenix pin. Her gaze flicked between them with uncertainty, her lips trembling as if words weighed heavy behind them.
Ash reached out to her, but the dream snapped like glass.
Back to the darkness.
> "Who… were they?"
> "You were all disciples of the same era," said the voice. "Fated stars circling the same sun. But some stars fall."
Ash shuddered.
> "Was it me?"
> "You chose the forbidden. Not evil. But dangerous. You sought a path where none had walked, and paid the price for it."
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The chains burned brighter. One of the runes shifted and sparked, releasing a brief image: a burning tree surrounded by kneeling corpses.
Ash turned away.
> "What… is this?"
> "Your soul was touched by the Mourning Flame—a force older than the heavens. It does not consume. It remembers. It preserves pain… and transforms it into power."
A pulse flared in his chest. For a moment, he could feel heat again—his heat.
> "I didn't ask for it."
> "Few who awaken do. But you used it. And others feared it."
He closed his eyes.
The voice grew softer.
> "They feared what it would make of you… or awaken within them."
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Suddenly, from the distant dark, a voice—not ancient this time, but young, unsure, and human—echoed like a ripple across still water.
> "Ash."
His heart jolted.
The chains rattled.
He saw her again—the girl from above. Her dark eyes shone in his mind, full of fear and wonder. She had touched the seal. She had spoken his name.
> "Who is she?"
> "A ripple. A spark. She knows not what she's done—but it is enough."
Enough for what?
Before he could ask, one of the chains cracked slightly, leaking a wisp of red smoke into the void.
Ash inhaled.
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> "You are not free," the voice warned. "Not yet. But now you are aware. That alone is dangerous."
Ash felt the seal adjust, its formation alive. It wasn't simply binding him—it was watching. Reacting.
> "How long have I been here?"
> "Longer than the stars remember."
> "...And she remembered me with a single word?"
> "Names are powerful. Yours was nearly erased. But she spoke it. And that means you are no longer forgotten."
Another pulse stirred from his core.
And from far beyond the sealed void, somewhere in the murky deep sea, an eye opened—an ancient creature that hadn't stirred for ages felt the shift and turned toward the trench.
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In the real world, thousands of meters above, the spiritual seal glowed once—so faintly no mortal would notice. But beasts of the deep felt it. Currents shifted. A screamless song rose from the seabed, as if the ocean itself remembered a name once buried.
And so did another sealed thing in a neighboring trench.
A claw twitched.
A cracked fang smiled.
Ash wasn't the only one stirring.
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