The cherished figures sat high atop an elevated podium, isolated from the world below. The grand, single stretch of red carpet ran from the bottom of the steep staircase to the black, metal doors afar. No knights, or other aides were at their side, as they humbly sat on their embellished chairs, patiently waiting for their prized guests in isolation.

It was past midnight, but they were keen for the off chance that they would arrive in this time frame. If not, then they would repeat tomorrow with higher hopes of their arrival.

Truebirth’s king sat upon a humble throne of pale marble. His elegantly long, white beard reached down to his chest as the blue robes he wore ran as far as his feet. Their light blue eyes swept across the room before they turned to the man beside him.

There, the king of Pathfist sat in a dark-cloth uniform, his black throne made of slate. Unlike Truebirth’s monarchy, Pathfist was ruled with an iron fist and a thirst for battle. The king was only as strong as their men was a saying, but Pathfist pursued to beg the differ.

He too, was an aged man – trimmed, grey facial hair and a body that wasn’t like his old self, most notably his right eye which was covered with a black eyepatch. However, he was no pushover.

He was a king who fought alongside his men in battle.

Earlier, they were about to rest and leave waiting for the Exrenity for tomorrow, but a knight had come in and informed them that Inkshard had entered the Capital with an unknown party. Surprised by the timing, their fatigue suddenly disappeared as they kept themselves glued to their seats, patiently waiting for their arrival.

“Inclark. I came all the way here with my commanders, and left my wife and family back at the kingdom. I trust that you weren’t lying about the Exrenity.” The old king of Pathfist spoke amidst the humbling silence surrounding them.

The king of Truebirth, Inclark, continued to stare at the door as a deep, low voice left him.

“You doubt the word of the priestesses?”

“Not at all. I just find it hard to believe that an Exrenity would appear at such a time.”

“Indeed. First the Maiden of Time disappears, then the otherworlders appear in large quantities. And now, the threats from Di-Lock. I hope your men are doing fine out there.”

“They’re doing well.” The king of Pathfist, Ectarod, beamed in satisfaction to his men and their prowess in combat. “All thanks to my Commanders.”

Inclark showed a strange face at the mention of the Commanders. Their goals were ambiguous as best, even to king Ectarod, but their strength was much needed by the kingdoms to postpone the threat of an all-out war with Di-Lock.

In the distance, behind the metal doors, muffled patters and clunky footsteps approached. The kings silenced and drew their attention to the door, anticipating the entry of the main priestess and the Exrenity. It seemed like they weren’t alone, prompting the king Inclark to briefly remember the contents of the letter.

Frostbitten. There’s no telling just what is going on anymore.

The footsteps came to an abrupt stop. Only the door stood between them and the Exrenity. The silence was like a thick fog, suffocating the kings as they waited for the group to enter their presence. Inclark held his breath.

A thunderous roar erupted from the doors as they slowly part and fold open, revealing the young priestess. She stood momentarily at the doorway before entering their chamber with an unyielding gaze. The kings returned it with faint smiles.

But that was short lived – as their eyes immediately sank into the three figures that followed her in suit.

Exrite, unlike when he first entered the chapel, paid no heed to his surroundings. Everything was drawn towards the kings that sat atop their mighty podium.

They were unarmed and stripped entirely of their armour, save for Frosty who still wore her long, dark-blue robes. Khaos walked with glittering eyes that sought to search every inch of the room, while his sister managed to maintain an unceremonious face. As much as she wanted to ogle the surrounding beauty, she could not dismiss her doubts, no matter how miniscule they were.

As Inkshard approached the bottom of the staircase, she immediately dropped to her knees, and not a second later, the others swiftly followed.

“King Inclark, and also his majesty king Ectarod – I, Inkshard Balance, have brought to you the Exrenity and the Frostbitten.” Her voice was louder than normal, and its clarity surpassed even the clearest of nights.

Inclark threw his hand forwards and spoke with his kingly voice. “Please, don’t be like your mother. There is no need to drop like that, nor to speak so formally to me.”

“But- “

“No one greets like that in Pathfist. We’re all warriors at heart there – and no one’s greeting is different. Not even mine.” Ectarod chuckled lightly with his thick voice as he stroked his trimmed beard with a gloved hand.

As they brought themselves back to their feet, he spoke again, but this time – with a far deeper voice.

“No one should ever bow down to another mortal.”

The air seemed tense again, but his charismatic smile said otherwise. A long sigh left Inclark as he stared at the figures behind Inkshard.

“You three – please tell us your names.”

Frosty was slightly confused. Rather, she was not used to the treatment they received from the kings. It was different from when the Children of Balance asked them, as they ensured that saying otherwise would be an immediate death. But here, the kings sounded like normal people, just with louder voices. Although – they certainly did look their part.

Exrite, unlike the siblings, wore a more serious face as he looked up at the king.

“Frost Extrial.” He stated clearly with a loud voice.

The kings sent side-long glances at each other upon hearing his name. Afterall, his name perfectly matched with the rumours spread from Enthile’s airship traders.

“Frosty Eccent.” She proudly claimed.

“Khaos Eccent.” He folded his arms and smiled.

A small smile was shared by the kings. Now that they had been introduced, there was only one thing left. Inclark slowly rose from his fine, marble seat and asked but one simple question:

“Now my friends – which of you is the Exrenity?” His voice reached the depths of their heart, as he patiently watched with his gentle-blue eyes.

Silence followed. The eager Exrite suddenly choked on his own words as Inkshard turned to face him, offering a warm smile.

“Don’t worry. We’re on your side, Exrite.” She assured with a soft, quiet whisper.

She truly meant it. But Exrite was still uncertain. Even though they had come so far, and reached the kings, he couldn’t easily spit it out. A resurging memory of his life spent in Enthile caused numerous uncertainties to sprout from the depths of his heart.

What if I’m used again?

What if they betray me?

Can a king be trusted?

There was no real way to figure out than to blindly trust them. From the start, he was sure that Talia, Inkshard and the Heroes had convinced him that their king was righteous and progressive. But now, he was suddenly filled with doubt.

“I… I want to ask something before we answer you.” His voice was shaky, as if his nerves got the better of him.

But his eyes told a different story.

When Pathfist’s king gazed into his eyes, they instinctively darted away. A silent gasp escaped his lips as he nearly threw himself from the black throne. Every hair on his body sharply rose.

It was his intuition – his body’s natural response to a threat.

“Do you plan to send me back?”

Inkshard’s smile morphed into a frown.

“Exri- “

“No. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Looking at you, and the Frostbitten, it seems like you left that place on your own.” Inclark cut her off and stood atop the podium, unmoving.

“How can we trust you? Every king’s like that – luring people in with sweet words before claiming them as their own. What makes you different?” Exrite grew spiteful, his words almost becoming as sharp as a blade.

This wouldn’t be the first time – nor second, not even fifth time a king had tried to lure him into a false sense of security.

“… What do you want?”

“… Huh…?”

“I asked, what do you want?”

For a split second, Exrite snapped out from his trance of hatred before relapsing – then, he swiftly snapped free from the trance entirely. His left eye seemed to whisper something in that moment of time.

“The eye is the embodiment of despair – and also the consumer of it.”

It was Hope’s voice.

It was faint, and beautiful.

But it sounded like a false memory.

A dumbfounded Exrite stood before the king as his eyes mellowed with the rest of his body.

“S… Sorry… Something just came over me.” He brought a hand to his forehead as Inkshard closely watched over him.

Khaos was uncertain of what had just happened, and Frosty was no better. In the four months they’d been together, Exrite had never shown such spite to anything. It rendered them speechless.

“That eye, Frost. That’s the eye they left you as proof of being the Exrenity.” Inclark spoke, immediately garnering Exrite’s attention in full. “But that eye, will also inevitably drive you insane.”

His heart sunk.

Huh…?

“T… That’s a lie, right!?” Frosty was fast to react, wildly swinging her arm to the side in fit of rage.

“M-my king! What are you saying!?” Inkshard also found it hard to believe, turning to the king with broadened eyes.

“No. Inclark does not lie, I’m afraid.” Ectarod slouched forward and held his hands intertwined, as if in a prayer. “The previous Exrenities went through the same thing, many never making it past the Gods themselves. And that’s because that eye, is only of despair.”

“That can’t be!” Khaos yelled with a mighty roar as he vividly remembered the procedure.

But Inclark could only shake his head. There was one thing they had all forgotten, or rather, missed entirely.

“Did the Child of Hope also grant her eye?” He simply asked.

But simple was an understatement to the suffering the realisation caused to the three below.

Khaos found an urge to destroy everything around him suddenly swell within him, while Frosty repeatedly swore at the Gods with utmost contempt. But their eyes were glued to Exrite.

“I… I was tricked…?” He whispered to himself as he held his palms below his face. His vision swayed, threatening to suddenly cut off for good. “So I’m… what's going to happen to me?”

“Exrite! Snap out of it! If all the Exrenities died so quickly, then why are you still standing here!?” Inkshard sandwiched his face in between her small hands as she yelled at him from mere inches away.

Indeed. Why hadn’t he already succumbed to madness?

He wanted to ask, but he became helplessly lost in the girl’s sky-blue eyes.

“Mother probably knew this as well! If she knew that you were going to die or lose yourself, then she would’ve been here with us! I think she knows something about why you’re still alive!”

He felt his heart beat.

A beat that was far from normal.

It was like a clock.

Or rather, the gears of a clock.

Then he remembered – the fragment of time was within his heart, as well as the shard from the chapel.

His rational judgement slowly recouped from his emotional fit. While not completely recovering, it was enough for him to realise something.

It was linked to the existence of the fragment, rather than the curse. The curse had barely decreased since the last few days and twice already he found himself lost in a trance of madness – the first was when he stood above Acacia with a crossbow in hand.

Exrite imagined that the insane trips would only get worse over time. Frankly, he was on an ambiguous clock with no real way of knowing how close or far away he was from reaching the end.

His eyes soften at the girl in front of him who worriedly stared back. Slowly, a warm smile formed across his face before he placed a hand on the girl’s head and rubbed her hair.

“H-hey… are you feeling better?”

“A bit better. Can’t say I’m happy, though.” He tried to joke, only further worrying the girl. “Sorry… yeah. I think I need to talk to Talia about this… and take some time to figure this out.”

Khaos placed a hand onto Exrite’s shoulder and loudly sighed. “I honestly hope we become strong enough to kick their asses when we go back to them.”

“Maybe we can toy with them this time.” Frosty brushed past him with a soft frown as she looked up at Exrite. “I think we can trust these kings.”

He didn’t want to question her.

With a warm gaze, he looked up at the kings with sincere eyes and spoke from the bottom of his heart.

“Sorry for the trouble… I just… got a bit worked up. We planned on trusting you from the beginning. The people in this kingdom wouldn’t be smiling with a bad king otherwise.”

There was no intention to doubt them from the beginning, but the resurging memories clouded his judgement. It was as if he was projecting the past kings on the kinder ones before him.

“No warrior ever agrees to anything blindly. I would’ve been worried if you did.” Ectarod said with a warm smile as he pushed himself back against the throne. “We aren’t entirely sure of what the Gods set you up to do, but I’m certain that you won’t be able to go anywhere with the war in the west. Tomorrow, we want you to meet with my Commanders – Black and White. I’m sure you’ll find some common goal.”

Inkshard, while facing Exrite, made a rather peculiar face at the mention of the Commanders.

“Indeed. We are only kings to help our people live their lives in peace. All external matters are entirely out of our hands. But please, don’t be reckless like them.” Inclark sent a side-long glance at the other king, who loudly laughed in return.

“But you can’t deny that they’re much needed, no matter how absurd they are!” He brought his laughter back down and smiled. “I hope that they can aid you in your goals. Just… don’t get on their bad side. Even as their king, I have little control over them, so don’t come complaining to me.” Every word that came out, Inkshard’s face became more and more distorted, to the point where she was almost at the verge of tearing up.

It didn’t help that Ectarod was staring at the young priestess the whole time while he spoke.

“R… right.” She weakly answered through her teeth.

“Please, Inkshard, show them to their rooms above – it has become late now, and it’s best if you rest and think this through, especially you, Frost- sorry, Exrite.” Inclark spoke before returning to his chair.

“Many thanks!” Khaos yelled out with a small fist thrown into the air as Inkshard gave a weak wave back to the kings.

“I hope you’ll treat us well.” Frosty worded her ‘thanks’ differently than she hoped, but the smile on her face showed her gratefulness to the kings.

Exrite stared up at the king with glossy eyes and a much more welcoming face. He wholeheartedly believed in them, and he had Frosty to reinforce it. There was no point in trying to back out now.

The surge of emotions dwelling from the bottom of his heart could only be summarised with two, simple words.

“Thank you.”

* * *

There was little to talk about on Inkshard’s brief tour of the castle. She showed them to their rooms in one of the upper floors after they passed many grand hallways and staircases. The surrounding beauty was something Khaos admired, but for the others, it was of little importance.

Many rooms were left vacant a few floors above the throne room. This place was where they could finally call home. It was also shared by the Heroes, who were located on the other side of the floor, already fast asleep.

They found themselves tucked into the north-east corner of the floor, where Frosty and Khaos chose rooms across Exrite. A long, bright-yellow hallway split in between the upper and lower rooms, before reaching one giant hallway that led to a large dining area southward.

Frosty quickly found herself in love with the room and squirmed restlessly across the bed. It was nothing like she had ever felt before – the softness and the silky smoothness of the sheets – it was pure bliss.

Khaos too, loved the room, but made good use of it.

He actually slept on it.

As for Exrite –

A soft sigh left his mouth as a warm fog as he sat on a small patch of grass, staring out into the bright city below. Beautiful lights engulfed his vision as he smiled to the web-like structure the city roads seemed to create.

On the castle, there were few ledges that stuck out like the thorns of a rose. This one, was circular in shape, and was mostly filled with nothing but grass. Only a single, grown apple tree slept in the centre.

As he stared out in silence, the memories of earlier returned to haunt him. The king was right about his eye – only Despair offered hers. The magic Hope used caused him to falsely believe that the eye was from both Gods. But he didn’t complain. Rather, he was trying to come to terms with it.

The wind howled restlessly around him, coming from all sides. He chuckled and thought that it was quite like him – uncertain of where to go.

“Of course it’s like that, huh…” He spoke in a quiet voice.

The encroaching madness was something straight out of a nightmare. But the sooner he would wake up, the easier it’d be to cope with it. He wanted to find a definitive way to stop it before it was too late.

All he had was the fragment of time slowing down his inevitable descent to insanity.

Everything else was fine. His curse was finally being lifted, but at its expense, came another. He laughed quietly at the name of the Gods.

“Balance… Don’t make me laugh.” He chuckled again, and when he tried to stop, he just kept on laughing.

Shortly, he slowly came to a stop and stared out into the soundless city below.

The rate of the insanity was alarming, but the Gods wouldn’t give him such a goal if they didn’t believe it was possible. More than anything –

He was afraid of losing himself.

As a sigh threatened to leave his lips, faint scrunching approached from behind. He didn’t move however and just continued to enjoy the view.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see someone out here so late.” A voice said from behind, causing him to turn and look up at a man.

By their face, he could tell that he was middle aged. The creases in his forehead only made it obvious. But what stunned him more, was the man’s pure white coat which fluttered about in the chilling breeze.

“Hmm? Oh! Right, sorry.” He scratched the back of his head and awkwardly smiled. “I’m just a professor, and you?”

“Exrite.” He didn’t sound enthusiastic, but he honestly didn’t mind the company of the man. “Did you come to see the view?”

“No. Rather than that, look above.” He pointed up before falling onto the grass beside Exrite.

He turned on his back, laying flat as he stared up into the sky with a gentle smile.

“I used to be an astronomer- er… I mean- a person who studied the stars back on Earth.”

Interest sparked within Exrite as he stared down at the man with curious eyes.

“The stars? You studied them in your world?” He moved his gaze from him and into the night sky.

Thousands upon thousands of stars glittered the night sky high above. The void that space was supposed to be was all a lie. In that void, there were so many beautiful puffs of smokes which featured every colour imaginable. They were so many yet served little purpose for their world, Corozin. So beautiful, but so insignificant to their existence.

“Yeah. Wanna know why?” The talkative professor asked, sounding like he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Exrite was humoured by him and smiled.

“Sure.”

“Cause it’s so vast that it’s actually absurd. Take us for instance – look at how insignificantly small we are compared to this castle. We’re all just people, with problems and the like. But it’sthose that really draw you in. Those clouds that look like an explosion- or, the giant coloured clouds that look like they have an eye in the centre.”

Exrite remained silent and found himself entranced by his story.

“Those amazing things happen after one of those stars explodes, or dies. They become something so beautiful after their death.”

He thought of himself like the stars in that moment. Maybe, he thought that he too could leave something beautiful when he inevitably succumbed to his madness.

“Or you know, sometimes those stars end up growing red and super massive then just eat everything around them before they die.”

The thought was frightening. But for Exrite, it was something closer to reality. He couldn’t help but to imagine the slippery slope of descending down into insanity, to the point where he’d end up harming those closest to him.

“But after all that, they become more… humbler? Yeah. They’re not as apparent in the sky, but when you see them from up close, they’re the most beautiful things in the universe. Humble white dwarf- I mean tiny pale suns and pulsars- or stars that are like beacons or lighthouses.”

Exrite silently sat, eyes broadened to reflect the stars as he found himself lost in wonder. Could there be some sort of salvation in the pits of chaos? He wasn’t like the stars high above, but he couldn’t help but to imagine himself in their state.

“Stars are kinda like us – we’re both affected by what surrounds us and the time that passes by. But our biggest difference is that we can control our surroundings.”

“Yeah…” He unconsciously reached a hand for the man’s head but stopped midway. Exrite chuckled to himself, realising what had almost happened before venting out a loud sigh.

The man’s words reached him. While the end still seemed uncertain, he faintly hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would get by with not only his strength – but also with his closest friends. Frosty had been his moral compass ever since they left Enthile, and Khaos was always there to keep the mood bright, even when they thought all had been lost.

A part of him believed that this was probably a trial in itself – to combat the despair and persevere. But that was all just a thought of a single man, amongst the many others in this world.

“Don’t get me started on black ho- “

“Professor. Thanks.” Exrite cut over him and expressed his sincerest gratitude.

A strange silence lingered between the two as the lightly black-bearded man looked up at him with a hint of confusion.

“Did I do something?”

Exrite laughed for a moment.

“A lot. I realised that I’m not as bound to fate as I thought I was.”

“Haha! You thought of it like that!?” The man failed to contain his laughter. “Sorry, sorry. I’m just glad that you guys in this world are willing to listen to the ramblings of an old man like myself.”

A silent sigh slipped from Exrite’s mouth as he softly smiled.

“Ahh… Yeah… Sorry, it’s been a while since I could get something off my chest. Not long ago, I was brought to this world with so many others, and we don’t really know if we can call this place ‘home’ just yet. But when you look up into the night sky, it feels just like we’re back in our world.”

Exrite hummed and briefly glanced down at him before returning his sight to the majestic sky.

“The sky’s the same in your world?” He curiously asked.

“No. Not exactly, especially for me. But for others, I imagine it is. It’s the closest thing here to mimicking our world. Anyway – I’ve gone on long enough. It’s far too late to be up in the first place.”

He groaned as he pulled himself back up to his feet. While softly dusting himself, he spoke with his back turned to Exrite.

“Thanks for listening to me there, Exrite. If we meet again, I hope I can listen to your rambles.”

“Yeah. I’ll be counting on it, professor.”

The quiet scrunching slowly became distant. Exrite held his gaze into the sky with a soft smile across his face. While he had no closure for the future, he still wouldn’t give up on hope.

With the many stars in the reflection of his moist eyes, he clenched his fists and hoped for a better future.