Inside the Archive, Rive stood motionless.
The Archivist's final words echoed through his mind.
Someone opened a door before you were born.
"Who opened it?" Rive demanded.
The Archivist turned away.
"That answer is not recorded here."
"Then where is it recorded?"
"In a moment that no longer exists."
Rive glanced at Vikram.
His mentor looked troubled.
More troubled than Rive had ever seen him.
"Vikram?"
"Not now."
"No. You've heard something like this before, haven't you?"
Vikram didn't respond.
Rive stepped closer.
"You know something."
"I know rumors."
"About what?"
Vikram looked toward the black book.
"Before the current Laws of the Dead were established, there were stories of souls capable of crossing every boundary. Souls that could return to the living world without a ritual. Souls that could enter places even Reapers were forbidden to visit."
"Tri-Vessels."
"Possibly."
"And what happened to them?"
Vikram's voice lowered.
"They disappeared."
Rive stared at him.
"All of them?"
"According to the records."
The Archivist suddenly turned.
"Not all."
The black book opened once more.
A final page appeared.
There was no name on it.
Only a date.
A date from sixteen years ago.
Rive recognized it immediately.
It was the year he had been born.
Beneath the date was a small drawing.
A door.
Three circles.
And a hand reaching through from the other side.
Rive felt something stir inside his soul.
Not the cold power from the portal.
Something older.
Something familiar.
He reached toward the page.
The Archivist seized his wrist.
"Don't."
Rive froze.
The figure's porcelain mask was cracked now.
Through the crack, a pale light shone.
"Listen to me carefully, Rive. Your awakening has attracted attention from beings that existed before the In-Between. The Reapers will not protect you from them. Your mentor cannot fight them all. And your friend…"
The Archivist paused.
"…may already be connected to the thing hunting you."
Rive pulled his hand away.
"Then I'll find Arin before it does."
Vikram stepped beside him.
"And what if Arin is helping it?"
Rive didn't answer immediately.
He remembered the battle.
Arin's expression.
His words.
I've been getting stronger. Waiting for you.
Rive lowered his eyes.
"Then I'll stop him."
He looked up again.
"But I'm not giving up on him without finding out the truth."
For the first time, the Archivist seemed satisfied.
It handed Rive the silver key.
"One warning."
Rive took it.
"What?"
"The next time your power awakens, do not trust the first memory you see."
Rive frowned.
"Why?"
The Archivist leaned closer.
"Because something has learned how to wear the faces of the dead."
TICK.
The tower shuddered.
Every clock began spinning backward.
Vikram immediately grabbed Rive's shoulder.
"We have to go!"
The Archivist raised its hand.
A doorway appeared between the shelves.
Beyond it lay the ruined chamber.
The Reapers were waiting.
The portal was still open.
And the enormous creature was still trying to enter the In-Between.
Rive stepped through with Vikram.
The instant his feet touched the broken floor—
Everything snapped back into motion.
Stone exploded overhead.
Silver light flashed.
The creature roared.
The lead Reaper turned toward Rive.
"You have returned."
Rive gripped the silver key.
"Yeah."
He looked up at the monster.
"Sorry. Had to visit a library."
Vikram stared at him.
"You went to an impossible archive inside a missing second, lost a memory, discovered your friend might be connected to an ancient entity, and your response is a library joke?"
Rive swallowed.
"I'm coping."
The Reaper raised its weapon.
"Then cope quickly."
The creature forced another enormous hand through the portal.
But this time, Rive saw something the others didn't.
A symbol burned across its palm.
Three circles.
Connected by a silver line.
The same symbol that had appeared in the black book.
The same symbol hidden inside his soul.
Rive stopped smiling.
The creature lowered its head toward him.
And a voice entered his mind.
Not the voice from before.
A familiar voice.
A voice he had heard a thousand times.
A voice that belonged to someone who should have been nowhere near this place.
"Rive…"
His heart seemed to stop.
Because the voice sounded exactly like his mother.
"Why did you leave me?"
Rive couldn't move.
Vikram shouted his name.
The Reaper raised its weapon.
But Rive heard only that voice.
His mother's voice.
Calling him from the other side of the portal.
Then the creature whispered one final sentence.
"Come home, my son."
And Rive took one step toward it.