They crossed into dead land where nothing breathed
The trees were pale and hollow like statues left behind by a god who forgot how to sculpt
The map burned in Aya's hand each step warping reality
By the fifth mile Azel saw three suns in the sky
By the tenth he saw none
The Forgotten Capital rose slowly
Not from the ground
But from memory
It stitched itself from lost records and erased ink
Columns formed from broken timelines
Doors made of sealed choices
Aya whispered
This city shouldn't be here
Azel nodded
It never was
That's why we're here
They stepped inside
The sky folded
A wave of glitch swept across the mountains
Birds blinked into smoke
The stars rearranged themselves
Far away kings and mages dropped to their knees
Some screamed
Some wept
Because the capital returning meant one thing
The first system was waking
In the heart of the ruins lay a tower that spiraled upward and downward at the same time
On its walls the laws of magic were written in reverse
Aya touched one rune and her arm vanished for a second
Then returned
The tower tests truth
If your truth is weak it deletes you
Azel walked forward without pause
The runes lit up but none attacked
Aya followed slower eyes locked on him
You don't fear being erased
He looked back once
I've already been erased once
This time I write back
At the top of the tower a door waited
Behind it the archive of the first system
Azel placed his hand on the lock
The door breathed
And opened