Chapter 8: “The Flame of the First Sin”
The next morning, the air was thick with something unsaid.
The fire had long died.The sky bled peach and silver.And Kairo Veltz sat alone, staring at the place where Velvara had vanished hours ago—like a dream with teeth.
Gix floated silently for once. Lyria was leaning against a tree upside down, flipping a dagger on her boot. Ayleth just watched him from afar.
"You remember more now, don't you?" Gix asked softly.
Kairo nodded.
He remembered her screams.
He remembered his sword.
He remembered how her final smile had hurt more than the blade ever could.
"Memory Link Active: Echo Flare""First Sin Access: Betrayal Timeline – Initiated"
FLASH — ECHO VISION
Another version of him—Kairo the Firstblade—walked down the steps of the Glass Sanctum.
He wasn't like now. His armor was clean. His hair short. His eyes… clear. Too clear.
At his side walked Velvara, dressed in black, her eyes still whole, her voice like lullabies mixed with secrets.
"They're going to turn on you," she whispered.
"I know."
"You'll die if you stay loyal."
"I know."
"Then why…?"
He turned, kissed her forehead, and said:
"Because I have to become the villain they all remember."
And then… he sold her out.
Not because he hated her.
But because it was the only way to protect her from the purge.
She screamed. Begged. Fought.
He didn't flinch.
He took the blame.
And as the Sanctum sealed her away and broke her mind, his name became cursed.
BACK TO PRESENT
Kairo jolted awake.
Sweat. Blood. A thin red scar across his neck—vanished a second later.
Gix hovered, eyeing him like a ticking bomb.
"So," she said. "We finally know the flavor of your guilt."
"I destroyed her life," Kairo muttered. "For a lie. For… politics."
"Yep. First Sin's name is Betrayal."
"Sin Fully Registered: Firstblade Betrayal""Passive Unlocked: Echo Immunity – Timeline Corruption Resistance +++""Echo Progress: 2/10"
Ayleth approached, voice steady as always.
"We move at dusk. The Sanctum sent a retrieval squad to capture you."
"Why?"
"Because you just relit a war they buried under five centuries of silence."
SCENE SHIFT — GLASS SANCTUM
Mirael Venla stood before her mirror wall, surrounded by twenty versions of herself.
Each showed Kairo in a different state:
Laughing with Velvara
Killing her again
Leading armies
Sitting on the world's last throne, alone
"He's becoming all of them," one self whispered."And none of us are ready."
"Then what do we do?" asked another.
Mirael opened her eyes.
"We lie. Again."
SCENE SHIFT — UNKNOWN LOCATION
Zayne stood before a frozen statue.Inside it was another Kairo. Different. Older. Wearing a crown of bone and fire.
Zayne placed a hand on the ice.
"He'll remember you soon too.""And when he does… I wonder if he'll still fight."
Behind him, a figure in white approached.
"Orders?"
"Follow him.""Make him bleed again. We need to know if he still breaks the same way."
BACK TO KAIRO – DUSK
As the group began packing up camp, a new figure approached.
Barefoot. Wearing a cloak made of crow feathers. Her eyes were bandaged, but she moved like she saw everything.
She dropped a violin at Kairo's feet.
"She wants you to carry this," the girl said.
"Who…?"
"Velvara."
"Why?"
"Because it's the only part of her that remembers who she was… before you turned her into what she is."
"New Item: Velvara's Heartstring Violin – Soulbound""Echo Link: x2 Memory Conduits Activated""Side Mission Unlocked: The Ten Crowns of Regret"
Kairo picked it up.
It burned his hands like guilt.
But he held on.
Because maybe, just maybe… he still had a chance to write a different ending.