Light.
Then darkness.
Then—
Heat.
Kai's eyes snapped open.
"..."
He was lying beside the cracked pedestal.
The orb.
Or rather—
What remained of it.
The once brilliant sphere had become dull.
Its faint glow gone.
Only tiny cracks covered its surface.
Silent.
Lifeless.
Kai slowly pushed himself upright.
His entire body ached.
His head still throbbed.
Fragments.
Countless fragments.
Different faces.
Different lives.
Different choices.
Different endings.
None of them complete.
None of them enough.
Yet all of them...
Were his.
"...I really did all that..."
He whispered.
His own voice sounded unfamiliar.
He looked around the chamber one last time.
The fossilized remains still rested beneath layers of dust.
Collapsed pillars leaned against broken walls.
Ancient magic circles had faded into little more than carvings on the floor.
Whatever this place once was...
It had fulfilled its purpose.
Kai quietly bowed his head.
"Thank you..."
He wasn't sure who he was thanking.
The orb.
The countless versions of himself.
Or perhaps...
Whoever built this place.
Then he turned around.
And walked back toward the surface.
---
The familiar desert sun greeted him from above.
He instinctively raised an arm to shield his face.
The desert wind greeted him immediately.