: The Archivist Returns

Chapter 10

The winds over the Hollowed Spires blew cold that night, whispering stories too ancient for mortal tongues. Beneath the jagged cliffs where stars once fell, a door opened — one not built by hands, but remembered into existence.

From its threshold stepped a figure swathed in tattered parchment and smoke — the Archivist.

He wore no eyes. Only scrolls for skin, and on each strip, names etched in flame. Names that should not exist.

"The Echo has stirred the Labyrinth," he said aloud, though no one stood beside him. "And with it, truths not meant for light."

He bent down and touched the stone — a ripple of history surged beneath his touch.

"Then I must bind the echoes. Again."

Meanwhile...

Nezutsu sat at the edge of a cliff, Kaelith beside him, both watching a silent aurora drift through the night sky.

The violet blade rested across his lap, its surface no longer humming. The events within the Labyrinth had left a mark not only on his body, but on the very air around him.

Birds no longer came near.

Flames flickered the wrong way.

"The mark on your hand," Kaelith said softly, "it's changed again."

He showed her. The closed eye symbol had now opened slightly, and a second pupil glowed faintly within.

"It opened when I remembered her. The silver-fire woman."

Kaelith nodded, troubled. "There are beings even the gods fear. If she knew your name, then she may have been one of them."

"Do you know my name?"

"Not yet. But the Archivist might."

"Who's the Archivist?"

"A being older than this world. He keeps memories the gods tried to burn. If you're starting to remember, he'll come."

"To help?"

"To erase."

The Council Watches

Deep within the floating citadel of the Eye Council, nine robed figures circled a burning sphere.

"He holds the sword now."

"And the Echo mark has begun to split."

"Too early. The seal was meant to last till his twenty-first year."

"The Labyrinth broke first. The Flame is not obeying the old laws."

"Then send the Archivist. We delay no more."

"But if he fails—"

"Then the other one wakes."

A silence fell.

Even gods feared the Other One.

Echoes of a Forgotten War

Nezutsu woke in a cold sweat.

He had dreamt of fire. Of himself atop a mountain of ash. Screaming a name — his name — until the stars bled.

Kaelith was already up, blade drawn. "We have company."

The air cracked.

The Archivist stepped through a fold in space. Time distorted around him — days passing in his shadow, grass withering beneath his feet.

"Nezutsu," the Archivist said. "Your existence is a contradiction. I have come to rectify it."

"I don't even know who I am yet!"

"Precisely. You were not meant to."

The sword leapt into Nezutsu's hand.

"If you're here to erase me... you'll have to try."

The Archivist raised a hand — and the world paused.

Leaves froze midair. Flames hung like painted ribbons. Even Kaelith could not move.

But Nezutsu could.

"Why?" the Archivist asked, confused. "The flame should still be bound."

"Maybe it's done being bound."

He slashed.

The violet sword collided with the Archivist's hand — and the scroll-skin burned away, revealing not bone, but runic circuits older than language.

"You are not like the others," the Archivist hissed. "You are... an anomaly."

"You have no idea."

Nezutsu's second swing tore a gap in space, and the Archivist staggered back, vanishing into the rift.

Time resumed.

Kaelith stared, stunned. "You fought the Archivist and survived. That should be impossible."

Nezutsu looked at his hand.

The eye was now fully open.

And it was weeping blood.

[TO BE CONTINUED...]