When Ocean opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the room.

Darkness surrounded him completely—dense, oppressive, as though the earth itself had closed in around him. He felt as if he were underground. The air was damp and stale, clinging to his skin, unmoving. There was no breeze, no sound—only the quiet suffocation of stillness.

Then, without warning, his heart clenched.

A presence bloomed behind him.

It was vast. Void-like. Not merely dark, but consuming—an absence so profound it felt as though he were standing at the edge of a colossal black hole, one that could swallow not just his body, but everything he was. Instinct screamed at him to flee, yet his feet remained rooted to the ground.

Ocean turned slowly.

Etched into the stone wall was a massive circular carving, its edges deeply cut as though the rock had been wounded rather than shaped. Unlike the rest of the cavern, the surface around it was unnaturally intact, untouched by erosion, as if the space itself refused to decay.

Runes spiraled along the circumference of the circle—countless symbols carved over one another, some sharp and deliberate, others worn thin with age. A few words surfaced through the chaos, faint yet unmistakable.

Restriction.

Evil.

Dragons.

The rest blurred together, their meanings fractured, as though time—or intent—had eroded them selectively.

At the center of the circle was the image of a Dragon, carved in gold that caught even the faintest hint of light. The metal was not ornamental; it had been fused into the stone itself, veins of gold threading through cracks like something forcibly sealed into place.

Ocean’s breath stilled when he noticed the fracture.

A jagged crack split the Dragon’s chest, running straight through the heart of the carving. It wasn’t accidental. It was deliberate—an act of violence preserved in stone.

Ocean stepped closer and reached out about to touch the fracture.

"I CURSE YOU!"

The shout thundered from behind the wall.

Ocean staggered back, his balance nearly giving way. His heart slammed violently against his ribs, blood roaring in his ears as cold terror seeped into his limbs. His arms and legs trembled uncontrollably.

Fear.

It was an emotion he had rarely known in this life—and it wrapped around him now like a vice.

He swallowed hard, forcing himself to breathe, and took a hesitant step toward the circle once more.

That was when he felt it.

A hand fell on his shoulder.

Ocean spun around—and instinctively squeezed his eyes shut as blinding light erupted behind him, piercing through the darkness. For the briefest instant, before the light overwhelmed his vision, he caught a glimpse of a figure standing there.

"You must... gather... needed... can’t do it alone."

The voice reached him in fragments, soft yet urgent, as though it were traveling through layers of water and stone before finding him. It was feminine—low, steady—but parts of it dissolved before they could fully form.

"What?" Ocean asked, his voice sounding distant even to himself.

"Time is running out... can’t... alone... Sol... need help... Find... before it’s too late."

The words pressed against his mind like a warning carved too hastily, incomplete yet heavy with intent. Ocean frowned, straining forward, trying to see her clearly. His vision refused to cooperate. No matter how hard he focused, the upper half of her face remained shrouded, as though obscured by light—or forbidden from him entirely.

All he could see was the lower half.

A sharp, elegant chin. Plum-colored lips moving in repetition, shaping the same warning over and over again. Strands of brown hair framed her face, stirring slightly, though there was no wind.

Then—

Ocean’s eyes flew open.

He lay staring at his ceiling, breath shallow, heart pounding so loudly it felt as though it might burst free of his chest. His hand moved on instinct to his earstud, fingers trembling as he activated it. His form shifted, reverting to Reina’s—only for him to realize his skin was drenched in cold sweat.

The room was silent. Too silent.

He swallowed, forcing himself to breathe.

The dream lingered, clinging to him with an unsettling clarity. It hadn’t felt random. It hadn’t felt symbolic in the way ordinary dreams were.

It felt deliberate.

A warning.

A premonition.

Something was coming—something vast, inevitable—and for the first time, Ocean understood one thing with absolute certainty.

He couldn’t face it alone. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

He would need help.

At Eldarf manor, Sol also gasped loudly and sat up grabbing his chest feeling his heart clenching painfully.

He gnashed his teeth to keep himself from screaming and squeezed his eyes shut feeling the tears slip past. His Mana throbbed within him and along with the golden scales that appeared on his body were the black curse incantations that seemed to be eating away at his light.

Sol writhed in pain for a few minutes before he relaxed and fell in his bed drenched in sweat. For a moment, his eyes glowed gold before the radiance faded to normalcy looking almost lifeless.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door of his room before it opened and Viella poked her head in.

"Sol, are you all right? I felt something strange..." She asked.

Sol remained motionless in his bed as he responded, "I’m fine."

Viella didn’t seem convinced and she looked at the others who had been standing at their doors looking in her direction.

The moment Sol’s mana fluctuated and the curse acted up all the Elves and Dwarves around the manor became alert despite being deep in sleep. They all sensed it from Sol’s room.

They could have barged right in but they knew that Sol, at first wouldn’t like it and second, it was impossible for any dark forces to enter anywhere near him without them sensing it from a mile away.

"You sure?" Viella asked and Sol hummed.

Viella reluctantly closed the door and then looked at her friends, shaking her head. The kids looked at each other before they went back inside their rooms and closed the doors.

Viella walked over to Sylvia who stood at the door of their shared room.

"His voice seemed pretty weak." Viella spoke in a low voice.

"We must inform Master about this." Sylvia spoke before the two walked back inside their room.

The sound of Sol’s breathing was shallow as he stared up at the ceiling. The familiar voice repeated the warning in his ears and he couldn’t help but feel his helplessness claw at him.

He had just begun to relax thinking he could have some moments to forget about everything but he hadn’t expected the reality to come and break his delusion so quickly.

"I... can’t stay here for long... Time is running out... I must... start getting help or... she will try to do it all by herself." Sol mumbled before his eyes slid back closed again dragging him back into the oblivion.

The wind blew so strong that it threatened to take down the flight of the sole silvery feathered gyrfalcon that was flying over the icy mountains.

The white, snowcapped mountains stretched as far as the eye could see and the winds were merciless. The gyrfalcon didn’t seem perturbed by the wind as if it was already accustomed to it.

It swooped higher up in the air making its way towards the tallest mountain of the region piercing through the clouds until it reached the summit.

The place resembled a dreamscape with the pure white snow everywhere but amid it was a lake so blue that one would be mesmerized. Beyond the frozen lake was something that would make one check their eyes.

It was a little warm Oasis. There were trees around that despite the harsh, cold environment seemed to be thriving. There were several fruit laden trees with the flesh thick foliage.

The gyrfalcon flew through the little wooded area until it reached a hammock where a sole figure rested.

Their long, straight silver hair flowed down from the side of the hammock and they were dressed in the deep blue robes which would resemble to share the similar design of a hanfu with the robes sliding off their bony looking shoulders and a white folding fan with the image of a breeze flowing over the green mountains resting over their face.

The gyrfalcon landed on the rope of hammock and tilted its head watching the sleeping person before it reached out and tugged at a long silver strand of the sleeping persona harshly.

A soft groan escaped from behind the fan followed by a drowsy sleek voice, "Xevia..."

The gyrfalcon let out a low whine and the figure groaned again before they slowly removed the fan and opened their foxy looking upturned eyes which resembled more like glowing diamonds caught in sunlight. The ringed eyes seemed to carry the deeper shades of gray until it all dissolved into the deep black, slitted pupils.

"What is it? Why are you taking my hair?" He asked.

The gyrfalcon shook its head and the sleepy male closed his eyes back again for a few more moments, looking like he’d fall back asleep again. However, his thin, silver brows creased and he pushed himself up from the hammock with a grimace. His long silver hair cascaded down his bare shoulders, along with his robes and he sighed. His face obscure.

"Curse the heavens, is it that time already?" He muttered and the looked at the gyrfalcon who hopped closer to him.

"Be prepared little one, you haven’t seen a war, right? There’s one approaching real soon."

The man’s long, pale fingers brushed against the feathers of the bird as his voice dropped to a whisper.

He then groaned as he buried his face back down on his comfy pillow.

"We’ll have to go up north now, to look for her..." He whined, "Ah, I hate this, it’s been more than 5 thousand years and 99 attempts, have they finally found someone who has come this far?"

Though his voice carried the hint of his wish of avoidance from the inevitable but his eyes grew slightly sharp.

"I wonder how far this one will go until she drops dead."