> "Some truths are too heavy to be told. So we sing them instead."
— The Moon-Masked Oracle
---
Kai stared at the figure in white.
The mask glowed faintly under the twilight sky.
No visible mouth. No visible eyes. Just that tear-shaped crack.
The Oracle.
Lira stepped forward, half-drawn blade in hand.
> "State your Path."
The figure didn't move.
Instead, she sang.
---
A song that wasn't made of words.
It echoed in Kai's head — not his ears.
Like distant memories trying to form shape again.
And suddenly…
The Labyrinth around them froze.
Literally.
Time halted.
The trees stopped swaying.
A falling leaf hung motionless in air.
Even Lira stopped blinking.
Only Kai remained free.
And the Oracle stepped closer.
---
> "Hello again, Dreamstealer."
> "You've begun to awaken things… you weren't meant to touch."
---
Kai felt his Dreambind tremble.
The air rippled around his chest — where Rei's phantom bond pulsed faintly.
> "Who are you really?"
The Oracle raised her hand.
The dreamscape fractured — revealing floating images all around them:
A battlefield in the sky
A sleeping god with no mouth
A chained mirror reflecting a thousand Kai's — each screaming silently
And in the center…
A throne made of bones. With no one sitting on it.
---
> "There was once a throne for the First Dreamer," the Oracle whispered.
> "The one who shaped the Labyrinth before it was cursed."
> "Before the Waking Realm betrayed it."
> "That throne… is waking again."
---
> "And you, Kai… you are its last seed."
---
Kai's knees buckled.
> "That's not possible. I wasn't born here. I'm from Waking Realm."
> "I didn't—"
The Oracle placed a single finger on his forehead.
His mind exploded in light.
---
MEMORY SHARD UNLOCKED
> "No one is truly born in one world."
"Every soul is a migration."
---
Flashback Sequence (Fragmented)
A child standing before a cracked dream mirror
A ritual circle of sleeping children
A name carved into the walls: Kaius, The Fifth Echo
Screaming. Fire. Chains. And then…
> "Erase him. Drop him into the Waking Realm. Let him forget."
> "Until the time comes."
---
End Flashback
Kai gasped, falling to his hands.
He could feel the truth now — embedded in his bones.
He wasn't just someone trapped in the Labyrinth.
He was once part of it.
---
> "I was… made here."
> "Then thrown away."
---
The Oracle nodded.
> "You're not alone, Kai."
> "Others like you exist. Hidden. Fragmented. Dreamseeds."
> "But unlike them… your bindings are breaking."
> "And so they will come for you."
---
Kai stood slowly.
> "Who?"
> "The Veilstriders?"
> "The Archivist?"
The Oracle shook her head.
> "No."
> "The Sleepless God."
---
A New Threat Awakens…
> [World Alert – Labyrinth Tier 7+]
Name: Somniorum Rex — The Sleepless King
Status: Stirring
Linked Target: Kai (Echo Fragment Detected)
> Estimated Manifestation: 4 Cycles
---
Suddenly, time resumed.
Lira blinked rapidly.
> "What just happened?"
Kai didn't answer.
He just stared at the Oracle…
Who was now walking away, singing again.
---
But just before she vanished into the mist, she said one last thing:
> "The throne doesn't want to be empty anymore."
> "And your heart… is the last key."
---
🕳️ Meanwhile — Unknown Realm
Deep beneath the Labyrinth, in a prison made of mirrors…
A man awoke.
Blindfolded. Bleeding from the eyes.
Yet smiling.
> "He's remembering."
> "Good."
> "Let him wake the gods."
---
📜 INTERLUDE FILE: "The Dreamseeds"
> Dreamseeds are not born. They are leftovers of collapsed timelines and divine experiments.
Some blossom.
Others rot.
But all remember, eventually.
— Redacted Entry, Archivist Log No. 51