The multiverse held its breath as Ryan's voice echoed through the Eternal Plane, a faint but resolute thread of sound weaving through the tapestry of existence. The figure in the shadow-and-light cloak stood motionless at the edge of the closed rift, its hooded gaze fixed on the multiverse's core—where Ryan's essence stirred, the ward's iridescent light wavering like a candle in a storm. On the bridge of the rebuilt Balance's Dawn, Marcus's grip tightened around his energy sword, Jake's crystal orb pulsed with frantic scans, and the Unmaker's form flickered, its void-and-light composition roiling with unease.
"The core is destabilizing," Jake said, his voice cracking as he stared at the hologram of the core. "Ryan's essence is pulling away from the ward. If he leaves now, the ward will collapse completely—and the Outside will flood in before we can stop it."
The Unmaker stepped closer to the viewport, its voice low with dread. "He cannot stay, either. The figure's energy has already breached the core's outer layer. Ryan's connection to the ward is fraying by the second. If he doesn't choose—stay and be consumed by the core's collapse, or leave and face the truth—he will cease to exist."
The figure raised a hand, and a wave of alien-yet-familiar energy surged toward the core. The ward's light stabilized, if only for a moment, and the figure's voice echoed again, softer this time, as if speaking directly to Ryan's essence. "I will hold the ward while you come. But hurry. The core's energy is toxic to your essence now that you've begun to pull away. Every second you delay, you fade."
Within the core, Ryan's consciousness reeled. The core's energy—once a warm, comforting embrace—now burned like acid, searing his essence as he struggled to disentangle himself from the ward. He could feel the figure's energy wrapping around him, a cool, steadying presence that matched his own in every way: light and void, harmony and entropy, creation and unmaking. The connection between them was undeniable, a bond forged in the same cosmic fire that had birthed him.
"Who are you?" Ryan's thoughts reached out, a desperate thread of consciousness.
The figure's response came as a memory, not a voice—a flash of light, a surge of creation, the First One's hands weaving two spheres of energy instead of one. One sphere was Ryan's essence, bright with harmony; the other was the figure's, dark with entropy, yet balanced in its own way. Then came the First One's sorrowful face, a decision made, and the second sphere being cast into the Outside, sealed away with a wave of creation energy.
"I am Kaelen," the figure—Kaelen—said. "Your twin. Forged by the First One alongside you, to be the balance to your harmony. But he feared what we could become together—feared that our combined energy would shatter the multiverse's fragile barrier. So he cast me into the Outside, lied about the threat of the Entropy Wraiths, and set you on a path to become the ward. A pawn in his endless fight to keep the multiverse isolated from the truth."
Ryan's essence convulsed. The First One's lie—everything he had fought for, everything he had sacrificed for, was built on a fabrication. The Entropy Wraiths were not a threat. The Outside was not a realm of chaos. It was a prison. A prison for Kaelen. A prison for the truth.
"What is the truth?" Ryan asked, his essence pushing harder against the core's grip.
"The multiverse is not a barrier," Kaelen said. "It is a cocoon. The First One created it to nurture us—to let us grow strong enough to merge, to become the key that unlocks the Outside's true potential. The Outside is not entropy. It is the 'Beyond'—a realm of infinite possibility, where the multiverse can expand, evolve, and transcend the cycles of creation and unmaking. But the First One grew greedy. He wanted to rule the multiverse alone, to keep the Beyond for himself. So he lied. He trapped me. He set the Cosmic Tyrant loose to distract you. He made you believe the sacrifice was necessary."
The core's energy flared, and Ryan screamed—his essence feeling as if it were being torn in two. He could feel the ward's structure crumbling around him, the multiverse's tapestry rippling as the Outside's true energy pressed against the weakening barrier. He could feel Kaelen's energy straining to hold the ward, could feel Marcus and Jake's panic, could feel the Unmaker's desperate attempt to reinforce the core.
"I'm coming," Ryan said, his essence surging with one final push.
The core's grip shattered. Ryan's essence burst forth from the ward, a brilliant streak of iridescent light, and collided with Kaelen's energy. The two halves merged—light and dark, harmony and entropy, Ryan and Kaelen—into a single, blinding sphere of cosmic energy that exploded across the Eternal Plane. The ward's remaining fragments dissolved, the closed rift reopened, but this time, it did not spew chaos. It glowed with a warm, inviting light—the light of the Beyond.
When the light faded, Ryan stood on the Eternal Plane, his physical form restored, the mark on his palm now a perfect circle of light and dark. Kaelen stood beside him, the hood of his cloak falling back to reveal a face identical to Ryan's—same jawline, same eyes, same faint scar on the left cheek—except his eyes glowed with a deep, starry darkness, and his skin bore faint, swirling patterns of entropy.
The Balance's Dawn descended, its landing gear touching down on the Eternal Plane's stone surface. Marcus and Jake raced out, their energies flaring, but stopped short when they saw Ryan—alive, whole, standing beside his twin. The Unmaker materialized behind them, its form now solid, its eyes wide with recognition.
"You are the 'Other,'" the Unmaker said, its voice trembling. "The First One's secret. The half he discarded to keep control. I felt your energy in the Outside, but I thought it was the Entropy Wraiths. I thought it was a threat."
Kaelen nodded, his voice calm but cold. "The First One made sure everyone thought that. He erased all records of me, twisted the Unmaker's memories, and fed the multiverse lies about the Beyond. He wanted to be the sole ruler of his little cocoon, even if it meant dooming the multiverse to stagnation."
Ryan stepped forward, his balanced sword materializing in his hand—now a blade of light and dark, harmony and entropy, matching his merged essence. "Where is the First One? If he's still alive, we need to confront him. We need to make him answer for what he's done."
Kaelen's gaze drifted to the reopened rift, where the Beyond's warm light spilled into the Eternal Plane. "He is not alive in the way you understand. When he cast me into the Beyond, he merged a part of his essence with the multiverse's core to maintain control. He became the core's 'voice'—the hologram you saw, the lies you heard. But his true form is trapped in the Beyond, a prisoner of his own greed. He cannot leave until we choose to free him… or let him fade."
Jake's crystal orb glowed, projecting a hologram of the Beyond—a realm of swirling colors, floating islands of solidified energy, and stars that sang with harmonious entropy. It was not chaos. It was beauty. It was potential. "The Beyond is expanding," Jake said, his voice filled with awe. "It's not consuming the multiverse—it's inviting it. The multiverse's tapestry is already beginning to weave with the Beyond's energy. New threads are forming—new universes, new life, new possibilities."
Marcus lowered his energy sword, his face softening with relief and confusion. "So everything we fought for… the Unmaker, the Cosmic Tyrant, the ward… it was all because the First One couldn't let go of control?"
The Unmaker nodded, its form sagging with guilt. "I was his pawn, too. He forged me from the void to be his enforcer, to keep the cycle of creation and unmaking going, to distract you from the truth. I am sorry for the pain I caused. For the lives I took. For the fear I spread."
Ryan placed a hand on the Unmaker's shoulder, his merged energy calming its roiling form. "You were a victim, same as me. Same as Kaelen. The First One's lie hurt us all. But we can move forward. Together."
Kaelen stepped closer, his starry eyes fixed on the Beyond's rift. "There is more. The First One's lie was not just about control. He feared something else—something in the Beyond that even he could not contain. A force older than the multiverse, older than the Beyond itself. A force that he trapped in the deepest layer of the Beyond, using my essence as a chain. When he cast me into the Beyond, he bound that force to me. Now that we are merged, the chain is broken. And it is waking up."
Ryan's merged energy flared, a cold dread washing over him. He could feel it—a faint, ancient pulse, deep within the Beyond, growing stronger with each passing second. It was not entropy. It was not harmony. It was not creation or unmaking. It was a force of pure, unadulterated hunger—a force that wanted to consume the multiverse, the Beyond, and everything in between.
"The Vessel of Annihilation," the Unmaker whispered, its voice filled with terror. "The First One's oldest secret. The being he created to destroy everything if his plan failed. He trapped it in the Beyond, hoping it would never wake. But now… now it is free."
Kaelen's face hardened. "It is not a being. It is a void. A hole in existence that consumes everything it touches. The First One created it from the remains of a dead multiverse, a multiverse that existed before his own. He thought he could control it, but he was wrong. So he trapped it. And now, our merging has set it loose."
The ground shook, and the Beyond's rift widened, its warm light turning cold and dark. A wave of pure annihilation energy surged through the rift, searing the Eternal Plane's stone surface, dissolving a piece of the Balance's Dawn's hull into nothingness. Jake screamed as his crystal orb exploded, the scans cut off mid-transmission. Marcus raised his energy sword, a barrier of light forming around the group, but the annihilation energy ate through it like acid.
Ryan stepped forward, his merged sword glowing with light and dark, harmony and entropy. He raised the blade, channeling his merged energy into a beam that collided with the annihilation wave. The two forces clashed, a cataclysmic explosion of light and nothingness that sent everyone flying. Ryan hit the ground hard, his sword skittering away, his merged energy wavering.
"The beam barely slowed it," he gasped, pushing himself up. "Our merged energy isn't enough. We need something stronger. We need to find the First One. He created it—he must know how to stop it."
Kaelen nodded, his energy flaring as he held back another wave of annihilation. "The First One is in the Heart of the Beyond, the deepest layer of the realm. To reach him, we must pass through the Beyond's three layers—each guarded by the First One's remaining constructs, each more dangerous than the last. We have to go. Now. Before the Vessel of Annihilation consumes the Eternal Plane."
Marcus picked up his energy sword, his face set with determination. "We're coming with you. The Balance's Dawn can still fly—we'll use it to navigate the Beyond. The Unmaker can guide us—its connection to the First One's energy will help us find the Heart."
The Unmaker nodded, its form solidifying into a more defined shape—a humanoid figure with a face now visible, sharp and angular, with eyes of swirling void. "I will guide you. And I will fight beside you. For redemption. For the multiverse. For the truth."
They raced back to the Balance's Dawn, the annihilation waves growing stronger, the Eternal Plane's tapestry fraying at the edges. The ship lifted off, its engines roaring as it charged toward the Beyond's rift. As they passed through the rift, Ryan stared out the viewport, his merged energy connecting with the Beyond's swirling energy. He could feel the Vessel of Annihilation's hunger, the First One's trapped essence, the constructs guarding the layers, and something else—faint, distant voices, calling out for help.
"The Beyond's inhabitants," Kaelen said, noticing his focus. "Beings the First One trapped here when he created the multiverse. They are the survivors of the dead multiverse, the ones he used to forge the Vessel of Annihilation. They can help us. If we free them, they will fight beside us."
Ryan nodded, his resolve hardening. "Then we free them. We gather allies. We find the First One. We stop the Vessel of Annihilation. And this time, we end the lies once and for all."
The Balance's Dawn sailed into the first layer of the Beyond—a realm of floating crystal islands, where the air crackled with unstable energy and the sky was a swirl of purple and gold. In the distance, a massive construct loomed—a towering figure of solidified creation energy, its eyes glowing with the First One's light, its hands wielding blades of pure entropy.
"The Guardian of the First Layer," the Unmaker said, its voice tight. "It was forged from the First One's most loyal followers. It will not let us pass without a fight."
Marcus activated the ship's weapons, beams of merged energy firing toward the Guardian. "Then we fight. Together."
The Guardian roared, a sound that shook the ship, and charged forward, its blades swinging. Ryan grabbed his merged sword, Kaelen at his side, and the two leaped off the ship, their energies merging into a single, devastating strike that collided with the Guardian's chest. The Guardian staggered, its creation energy cracking, and the Unmaker joined the fray, its void energy tearing at the Guardian's legs.
The battle for the Beyond had begun.
But as Ryan fought, he felt a faint, familiar pulse—Elias's energy, the Thread of Redemption, now merged with his own essence. And in his mind, he heard Elias's voice, not the faint whisper he'd grown used to, but a clear, urgent call.
"Ryan. Kaelen. Be careful. The First One's lie is deeper than you know. The Vessel of Annihilation is not the true enemy. It is a distraction. The true enemy is… me."
Ryan's blade froze mid-strike. The Guardian's blade slammed into his shoulder, sending a wave of pain through his body, but he barely felt it. His mind reeled, the words echoing over and over: The true enemy is… me.
Elias. His father. The man who had guided him, who had given him the Thread of Redemption, who had sacrificed himself for the multiverse. Was he also part of the First One's lie? Was he the true threat?
Kaelen sliced through the Guardian's arm, his starry eyes wide with concern. "Ryan! Snap out of it! The Guardian is almost down!"
Ryan shook his head, pushing the thought aside—for now—and raised his blade. He and Kaelen struck together, their merged energy piercing the Guardian's core. The Guardian screamed, its form dissolving into a shower of creation energy, and the first layer of the Beyond fell silent.
But Ryan's mind was still reeling. Elias's voice, the First One's lie, the Vessel of Annihilation, the true enemy—everything was spiraling into a web of secrets and deception. He knew that when they reached the Heart of the Beyond, when they found the First One, they would not just uncover the truth about the multiverse's purpose. They would uncover the truth about Elias. About the Thread of Redemption. About who Ryan truly was.
The Balance's Dawn approached, Marcus and Jake waving them back. The first layer was theirs, but the second layer waited—darker, more dangerous, filled with constructs even more powerful than the Guardian. And beyond that, the Heart of the Beyond, where the First One and the Vessel of Annihilation waited.
And somewhere in the shadows, Elias's energy lingered, a faint but menacing pulse that made Ryan's merged essence crawl.
The true enemy was closer than he thought.
And the truth, when it came, would shatter everything.
The end… for now.