Chapter 215: The Vault of Ages
[Music recommendation: Sam Tinnesz X Tommee Profitt X brooke - Forbidden Fruit Instrumental]
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Both Caleb’s and Alex’s eyes snapped open, and the first thing they saw was the translucent boots of a man, glowing softly with pale blue light. Their eyes widened, then Alex, narrowing his gaze, slowly lifted his head to see who stood before them. The moment recognition struck, his crimson eyes widened even further.
Before them stood a man he had only ever seen in portraits across this castle, Dartmouth’s first king, King Zevran Kaine.
Speech left Alex entirely as he stared at the apparition in disbelief.
Zevran’s spectral eyes softened, and he spoke gently, "It seems....he heard you."
Both Alex’s and Caleb’s eyes widened even more if it was possible. A shard of debris suddenly shot past, fast as an arrow, and before either could react, it flew straight through Zevran’s translucent form as though he were nothing more than air.
Caleb, unable to restrain himself any longer, blurted out, "Heavens! Am I looking at a ghost?!"
Zevran’s wise pale green eyes shifted toward him, "A ghost? Not quite," he replied gently. "You may call me a fragment of a soul that remained behind."
He turned back toward Ivan, his expression softened, "A fragment....a wish that lingered. One that wished to see him again before I finally faded into nothingness."
His hands folded behind his back as if in habit from a life long from the past, with his posture serene despite the raging world around them. Though he faced Ivan, there was a faraway look in his eyes...as if he were standing in another century entirely. "It has been a long, long time," he murmured. "After all, centuries have passed."
Alex swallowed hard, shock still clouding his thoughts, but he latched onto the words that stood out most. "Meet him again?" he echoed. "Are you speaking about Prince Ivan?"
Zevran nodded slowly.
"Prince Ivan in this life....the divine one in the last."
Caleb and Alex froze.
"The divine one?" Alex managed to speak in a rough voice filled with disbelief. "What do you mean? You lived thousands of years ago...are you saying Prince Ivan existed even then?"
Zevran fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"He did....an exact copy of this form....though under a different identity then. Different, yet the same."
Caleb frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Zevran did not answer immediately. Instead, his gaze returned to Ivan, watching the faint golden shimmer crawling up his shoulders, inching toward his heart.
"From here onward, everything rests on him....and her."
"Her?" Alex echoed.
"Yes....her," Zevran replied softly, his eyes easing into something almost nostalgic. "For she is the only one he ever truly listened to."
...
After passing through the golden veil, Evelyn was consumed by blinding, warm lustre, like nature itself reached out to embrace her. Her eyes fell shut, her long brown hair streaming weightlessly behind her as though the very air caressed each strand. Peace seeped into her deep chest after so much chaos, as if she were weightless, gently suspended between worlds. Her torn gown drifted around her like pale petals in water, swaying as the golden light drew her deeper within.
Then, after a few moments, she felt her feet touch solid ground once more. Her thick lashes fluttered open, and her deep blue eyes gleamed like fresh ink under light. A soft breath escaped her lips as wonder rushed through her. What lay before her was beyond anything she’d imagined.
Evelyn slowly turned, her gaze sweeping across the landscape. ’Was she even on the same plane anymore?’ For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had stepped into heaven itself. When she’d heard of the Vault of Ages, she’d imagined old texts and endless shelves, a grand library built to withstand time.
But this....this was nothing like anything she had ever imagined.
Her wide blue eyes swept across the grand ivory chamber that was circular in shape, supported by towering white pillars trimmed with gold. There were no books, no staircases, nowhere to climb or descend. Only one thing stood at its centre: A colossal, ancient tree glowing with bright golden light.
Its branches stretched outward like the rays of the sun, and its roots curved into the polished marble floor, where the luminous leaves above reflected like stars scattered across still water. Everything about it felt divine, like the Tree of Life planted at the heart of a celestial realm.
Eve’s heartbeat began to quicken as she took shaky, blood-stained steps toward the tree. Her lips trembled with an emotion so overwhelming she couldn’t put it into words. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she continued forward, exhausted yet determined, praying with every step that this sacred place would give her the answers she sought.
She had held herself together for so long....through every storm, every wound, every moment her world had broken around her. She didn’t know if she could keep going if she left this place without what she came for.
Slowly, as she reached the centre of the place, her skin tingled with the ancient power emitting from the tree, the soft humming resonating with her own magic.
"Please..." she whispered through trembling lips, "Please....I wish to know how to save him."
She drew a shaky breath and swallowed a lump in her throat that was tightening with the overwhelming urge to cry. It was difficult to hold herself together. This place was so warm and comforting, but she didn’t want comfort, not when the love of her life was suffering outside these walls.
Every minute counted.
Every second mattered.
Gathering herself, she breathed in once more and poured her heart into her desperate plea. "Please, tell me how to save Ivan. My Ivan..."
With that, she reached out and placed both her shaky hands against the bark of the massive golden tree.
As soon as she did, Eve felt an electric jolt run through every single cell in her body. The golden tree glowed with a brilliant light and engulfed her once more.
Eve shut her blue eyes, and the tears she had been holding back slid down her cheeks as flashes of images came crashing into her mind like waves one after another, like her life rewinding right before her eyes.
She saw herself as a teen.....suffering.
As a ten-year-old....suffering.
At four....her mother was alive beside her, and she smiled like a child should.
And then even further back, to the moment of her birth...
Her father held her tiny, glowing form in his arms, and he was so happy. This was the first time Eve had ever seen him look at her with so much love in his eyes.
But then the scene began to slow....
And soon she heard a voice echoing through the vivid, clear vision, as though she were standing in the memory as a silent witness while life unfolded before her eyes.
"Septimus, my daughter is glowing like a star. Do you have any idea what this means? Solan asked.
Septimus raised his head and fixed his wise silver eyes on the child cradled in King’s arms.
"I do, Your Majesty." He said. "Before you summoned me, I was already on my way here. The Goddess has spoken to me. The birth of the princess is not an ordinary event, as she carries the light of the goddess within her."
He paused, his voice lowering with reverence as he recited a prophecy,
"When shadow falls, and light grows dim, The twin divine flames shall rise again. Born asunder, bound by fate, Heavens shall blaze anew to guide the world once again."
He continued, "This means that the princess has a twin flame out there who carries the will of the gods. They are destined to meet, for only together can they save the world when darkness threatens to consume us once more."
The revelation struck her like lightning, splitting her heart open with truth too large to contain.
"The prophecy....?" she whispered in shock.
"A Twin Flame? My.....soulmate?" her breath trembled, her pulse roared in her ears, and she stared frozen while her past.....her entire existence rearranged itself around this single, devastating word: soulmate.
King Solan was overjoyed upon hearing the priest’s words, but dread quickly overtook him as the weight of the revelation sank in. He exclaimed, "We must not let this leave this room, Septimus. If word gets out that the princess carries the powers of the Goddess and poses a threat to those vile snakes who work in shadow, they will come after her life! No! I cannot let that happen! She must remain hidden until the time comes."
It was then she witnessed Septimus gently place the amber locket around her infant neck, the same locket that had concealed her powers and chained her to a life of misery....until the day she finally shattered it.
The vision didn’t stop; she expected it to move forward, to show her life beyond her birth, but instead, it rewinded further behind until everything dissolved into blinding white.
Eve blinked and looked around for anything to make sense of, but the whiteness thickened before slowly turning into a dense, rolling fog.
Her eyes then slowly widened as realisation struck her....she was back in the realm she often drifted to in her dreams, where she had often seen that man. Kai, who looked exactly like Ivan!
