It began with the wind.
Not outside—but inside the house.
A slow current, pulling downward. Through hallways. Under doors. Into the basement. It whispered as it passed. Not in words, but intent.
The spiral was no longer confined to the field. Sarah saw it in the grain of the floorboards, in the frost on the windows. It curled across the ceiling of their bedroom in faint condensation. A symbol burned into the air itself.
Ace didn't sleep.
He stood by the mirror, unmoving.
Sarah approached him slowly, eyes wary.
"Ace," she whispered.
His voice came distant. "It's not pain. That's the problem."
She swallowed. "Then what is?"
"It's peace."
She flinched.
"I don't want to fight it anymore," he said. "It's older than fear. Older than love. It's the only thing that's ever known me."
Sarah reached for him, gripping his face in both hands. "I know you."
His eyes searched hers—but there was something else behind them now. Something listening.
By the time they reached the chamber again, the crack in the stone door had widened.
A breath seeped through.
Thick. Damp. Hungry.
Sarah stepped back.
But Ace didn't.
He dropped to his knees and placed both hands on the stone.
The spiral mark on his chest began to glow—faint and golden, like fire caught in amber.
The door shuddered.
A seam formed down the center.
And slowly—impossibly—it began to open.
Sarah screamed his name.
"Ace!"
He turned to her with tears in his eyes.
"You have to go," he said. "Now."
She shook her head. "Not without you."
"If I don't go down there, it'll find someone else."
The door opened wider.
A darkness billowed up—not smoke, not shadow.
It had weight.Form.
It reached toward Ace, not with malice, but with recognition.
Sarah ran to him, grabbed his wrist.
"You can fight it," she whispered. "You're stronger than this."
He closed his eyes.
And for one second—
Just one—
She saw him.
Not the Anakeion.
Not the Chosen Below.
Just Ace.
He pressed something into her hand.
A piece of paper. Torn. Faded. A sigil she didn't recognize.
"Close it after me," he said.
And before she could stop him—
He stepped inside.
The door slammed shut behind him.
The chamber fell silent.
Sarah stared at the stone.
The spiral mark on its surface dimmed.
And then—began to crack.