Chapter 36 – The Fall

The air shimmered, the past bleeding into the present, and we were there, in the heart of the Temple, witnesses to a forgotten ritual.

The chamber was cold, the stone walls towering above us, shadows flickering in the dim light, the patterns on the floor pulsing with a faint, ethereal glow. The black-robed figures stood in a circle, their faces hidden in shadow, their gazes fixed on a massive door that hung suspended in the air, a gaping void, a gateway to… nothingness. The door was etched with a shimmering pattern, like a constellation, a map, its destination… unknown.

“After the God is sealed… the door will be opened,” one of the figures said, their voice low, echoing in the vast chamber.

The others nodded, their movements slow, deliberate, their faces hidden in the shadows, their motives… unclear.

“This door… it leads to the end of the Abyss.”

“But be warned,” another figure said, their voice a chilling whisper. “Once this door is opened… there is no… return.”

Their words echoed in the silence, a heavy weight settling upon us, the air thick with anticipation, with dread.

What’s beyond that door? What will happen… when it’s opened?

One of the figures stepped forward, reaching out a hand towards the door, and the air around it shimmered, the pattern glowing brighter, brighter, until it was almost blinding.

And then, the door… opened.

Light exploded outwards, the space around the door cracking, splitting, the entire Temple shaking, the very foundations trembling, a cold wind whipping through the chamber, the sound of cracking stone echoing in our ears. This wasn’t just a door; it was a gateway, a passage to… something else.

And then, just as quickly, the vision faded, the light dimming, the ruins returning, the silence descending once more.

We were back in the present, the Temple walls still pulsing with a faint light, but now… we knew.

“Noah…” Yuri whispered, her voice trembling, “…the door… it’s real…”

“Yes,” I said, my gaze fixed on the wall, the patterns, the symbols, their meaning now… terrifyingly clear. “And someone… opened it.”

I reached out, my hand touching the wall, tracing the lines of the pattern, and the stone beneath my fingers… shifted. A crack appeared, widening, revealing a hidden passage, a narrow staircase descending into darkness.

A stairway, its walls etched with glowing, blue patterns, leading down, down, into the unknown depths of the Abyss. The path to the door.

We looked at each other, our faces pale in the dim light, our hearts pounding in our chests, the weight of our discovery… crushing.

“There’s no turning back now,” Yuri whispered, her voice barely audible.

I nodded. “We have to go.”

She took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on the darkness beyond the doorway.

“Let’s go,” she said, her voice firm, resolute.

We descended the stairs, one step at a time, the air growing colder, heavier, the light from the patterns on the walls growing brighter, the space around us shifting, twisting, becoming… something else. The Temple… it was… accepting us, guiding us, as if… it knew… we were coming.

The deeper we descended, the more distorted the space became, the stairs beneath our feet feeling less solid, less real, as if we were walking on air. The walls flickered, their shadows shifting, stretching, reaching out to us, yet… intangible. The air grew thick, heavy, a strange pressure building in our ears, a silence that… vibrated, a silence that… listened.

And then, the stairs… vanished.

“What…?”

The ground beneath our feet was still solid, but the Temple… it was gone. We were… somewhere else.

Darkness surrounded us, an absolute, all-encompassing darkness, a void where even space itself seemed to… cease to exist. The sound of our own breathing, faint, distant, as if… swallowed by the darkness. But we weren’t alone. We could feel it. A presence. Something… watching us, waiting.

And then we saw it.

A door.

Floating in the void, its form distinct, despite the absence of light, a black, swirling vortex, a gateway to… something. A tear in the fabric of reality. The door of emptiness.

I stared at it, mesmerized, my hand instinctively reaching out, my heart pounding in my chest. This wasn’t just a door; it was… an ending. A beginning. A choice.

What lies beyond? What will happen… when we open it?

“We… found it,” Yuri whispered, her voice hushed with awe.

The door wasn’t large, not imposing like the Temple doors, not ancient and weathered like the city gates, but… perfect. A simple, circular opening, its height barely taller than a man, as if designed for… a single passage. Its surface was smooth, flawless, the curves precise, deliberate, as if… carved from a single piece of… something. But it wasn’t just a door. It was… a boundary.

As we approached, the air around it shimmered, distorted, the space itself seeming to… bend, to… breathe. This was a place between worlds, a nexus of reality and… something else.

I reached out, my hand brushing against the door’s smooth surface, the familiar pattern of dots and lines etched into its frame, not glowing, but… vibrating, humming with a hidden energy. The same pattern we’d seen throughout the city, the same pattern that had led us here. Not a decoration, but a… a key. A warning.

This is it. The point of no return. If we open this door… we’re not just exploring ruins anymore. We’re crossing a threshold. Entering… the truth.

At the center of the door, a small, palm-sized indentation. A place for a hand. A keyhole. The door was waiting. Waiting for us.

“…We have to… open it, don’t we?” Yuri whispered, her voice trembling.

I looked at the door, at the darkness beyond, the unknown, the unknowable, and knew… there was no other choice.

I reached out, my hand sinking into the smooth, cool surface of the door, as if… into water, a strange resistance, yet… a yielding, a… welcoming.

My palm touched the indentation, and the door reacted, a faint tremor running through its surface, a light spreading outwards, slowly at first, then faster, brighter, the patterns on its surface glowing, the dots and lines connecting, forming a complete circle, a key, a lock, a gateway.

And then, the space around us… shifted.

The door opened.

A low, resonant hum filled the void, the air vibrating, the darkness swirling, light and shadow colliding, merging, the light fracturing, the darkness expanding, consuming everything.

And then… nothingness.

Our senses vanished, the world dissolving around us, the darkness, the light, the very feeling of our own bodies… gone. We were… adrift, suspended between existence and… oblivion.

And then, I opened my eyes.

The city. Not the peaceful, bustling city we’d seen before, but a city in chaos, the sky above tearing open, black cracks spreading across its surface, something… dark… something… powerful… seeping through. Buildings rose into the air, then crumbled, falling, their foundations dissolving, the pillars twisting, the walls warping, the very ground beneath us buckling, cracking, the streets rising, falling, the city… collapsing.

People screamed, their voices filled with terror, their forms fleeing, running, but there was nowhere to go, the darkness, the chaos, consuming everything.

“Noah… what’s… happening…?” Luna whispered, her voice filled with fear, her eyes wide with horror.

I took a step forward, a cold wind whipping past us, not the cool breeze of the forest, but a wind that… burned, a wind that… consumed.

This isn’t just destruction. This is… annihilation.

“It’s… not just… falling apart…” Yuri whispered, her gaze fixed on the chaos unfolding before us.

“What?”

I pointed towards the center of the city, towards the square, where the cloaked figures stood, their faces still hidden in shadow, their eyes… empty, yet… watching. Watching the city fall, watching the people flee, watching… us.

And before them… the door. The door in the void, now open, a swirling vortex of darkness, the source of the chaos, the destruction, the… end.

“They opened it!” a voice cried from the square, a voice filled with despair. “We opened the door!”

“The void… it’s consuming us!”

“Stop it! Close it! Please!”

“It’s too late!”

People screamed, their voices rising in a chorus of despair, their bodies flailing, their hands reaching out, grasping at… nothing, their forms dissolving, consumed by the encroaching darkness.

This wasn’t just a collapse. This was… the end. The city was being devoured by the Abyss, its very essence unraveling, its existence… ceasing.

I turned to Luna, to Yuri, my heart pounding, my mind racing. We have to… we have to get out of here.

“…it’s not just… destruction…” Yuri whispered, her eyes wide with horror, her voice barely audible above the screams, the roars, the sounds of the city’s final moments. “…it’s…”

I pointed to the square, to the cloaked figures, to the open door, the swirling vortex of darkness, and knew…

This is what happens… when the door is opened.