The God Who Erased The Sky

The stars above Odessyus had never looked so quiet.

It had been three days since Tom's fusion burst lit the training grounds. The others had started pushing their own limits, inspired by his growth. Lucy could now echo herself three seconds forward. Kitty's shield had begun to shimmer with golden flecks when she was calm. Even Jack had grown faster in the shadows.

But beneath it all… something felt wrong.

Not in the training. Not in the sky.

In the silence.

Too quiet.

Like the world was waiting.

---

Neolin gathered them all in the Hall of Glass that evening — a hidden chamber near the base of the tower, filled with mirrors that reflected not the body, but traces of the soul. The glass walls shimmered with ancient glyphs. The air itself hummed with history.

The group sat in a circle around the center flame basin. Seven flames — one for each of them — flickered above the coals, shaped by their sigil essence.

Neolin stood silently for a long moment, then finally spoke.

"There's a story I've never told anyone. Not even King Edmund. Not even the Library Elders. A story passed only to the bearer of the Flamekeeper's mark."

Frank leaned forward slightly. "Why now?"

"Because the moon is already turning," Neolin said, "and you deserve to know what came before even Kazakare. Before the Demon Cities. Before the Seven Glyphs."

The fire dimmed.

He waved his hand once — and a projection of light lifted from the coals, showing seven cities floating in the air, glowing like jewels.

"The world was once ruled by cities of magic — not demon-forged like Alkros, but made of pure celestial order. Cities born from the sky, built on balance, and blessed by the Elysian Code itself."

The vision shifted.

Dark clouds rolled in.

"And then… he came."

A figure appeared — formless at first, a swirling void wrapped in golden armor with no face. Behind him, stars bent inward like holes in the sky.

"His name… was Renex. The Being of Infinity. A god? Perhaps. A mistake? Maybe. No one truly knew. But he arrived not from the sky… but from what lies beyond it. A place where endings mean nothing. Where time loops. Where meaning dissolves."

Lucy's breath caught.

Neolin continued.

"He walked once. Just once. Across all seven cities. And in a single moment — with no sword, no roar, no war — he erased them. Not destroyed. Not burned."

He snapped his fingers.

"Gone. Forgotten. As if they had never been drawn on the world."

Jack leaned back slowly, eyes wide. "He… deleted cities?"

"Worse," Neolin said. "He deleted their truth. Their names. Their language. The songs sung there. People vanished even from the minds of their loved ones."

Kitty whispered, "Then… how do we even know this happened?"

Neolin looked at her.

"Because someone brought them back."

---

The fire shifted again. The image of Renex vanished. In its place stood a warrior — faceless in the flame, cloaked in grey-blue robes, holding a broken glyph in one hand and a white sigil in the other.

"No records name him. No statue stands. But every prophecy written since calls him only one thing — The Restorer."

Frank narrowed his eyes. "What did he do?"

"He went to where no human ever dared. Into the silence Renex left behind. And somehow… he revived the cities. Not all. Not perfectly. But enough. He carved names back into the stone. He sang songs back into existence. He breathed fire into forgotten bloodlines."

Peter whispered, "That's how the Demon Cities came to be…"

"Yes," Neolin said. "They rose from the ruins of what Renex had erased. And the Restorer vanished soon after. Some say he was broken by what he had seen. Others… that he was sealed in time, awaiting Renex's return."

Susan, silent until now, spoke. "Do you think Renex will come back?"

Neolin didn't answer immediately.

He reached into his robe and pulled out a piece of blackened crystal, barely pulsing with violet light.

"This was found beneath the City of Echoes," he said. "Last week."

Tom leaned closer. "What is it?"

"A memory fragment," Neolin said. "A shard from one of the lost glyphs. One that can only exist in a world touched by Renex."

Lucy felt her pulse quicken.

"He's waking," Neolin said. "Not yet. But soon."

The room fell completely silent.

---

After the session, most of the group returned to their quarters, quiet, thoughtful, shaken.

But Frank stayed behind.

He stared into the dying coals, watching the embers blink like fading stars.

Neolin turned to leave — then stopped.

"You've felt it, haven't you?"

Frank didn't move. "I don't know what you mean."

"You've had dreams," Neolin said. "Places you've never been. Names you never learned. A weapon that burns only in your hands."

Frank finally spoke. "I thought they were just visions. Side effects of the glyph."

"They're not."

Neolin stepped closer.

"You're not just a bearer, Frank. I think… you're a descendant of the Restorer. Maybe more."

Frank's face didn't change — but his hands clenched slowly.

"If that's true," he said, "then why don't I remember?"

"Because his power wasn't in remembering," Neolin said. "It was in returning. In choosing what must come back. What must survive."

Frank looked up. "And what if I fail?"

Neolin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You won't. You have something even Renex doesn't understand."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Neolin smiled faintly.

"You're not alone."

---

That night, as the others slept, Frank stood in the moonlight.

He opened his notebook and began sketching symbols — ones he didn't know how he knew.

And when he was done, one word echoed in his mind.

Not whispered.

Not forced.

Just… remembered.

Renex.

And somewhere far away, beneath skyless stars, something stirred.