The expansive warehouse sprawled out before me, a labyrinth of towering shelves laden with crates and stacked shipping containers. The air hung heavy with the scent of aged wood, rust, and the distant memories of cargo long departed. Dust particles danced in the muted sunlight filtering through the high windows, creating an otherworldly ambiance. Phanes and I stood in silence as we watched the only scene that appeared in my memory lane.

I was, in all appearances, alone. This version of me looked so alive. She exuded an unmistakable air of self-assurance. Her posture was a testament to confidence. Her hair was styled and waved, and she wore a wide-legged, high-waisted pair of trousers and a loose-fitting blouse adorned with intricate Art Deco embroidery. A sleek, longline blazer completed her ensemble. Although we looked similar, this felt like a completely different person to who I am today.

Every step echoed in the warehouse; She was carrying around a long and thick crowbar, leaving behind a trail of barely opened and destroyed crates. She was looking for something, and her face lit up a little every time she got a crate opened. Unfortunately, her actions weren’t very quiet as they had attracted what I thought was an unwanted visitor. A man started to approach her; he was rushing her. I couldn’t distinguish his face, and my memory was blurry. It was like looking through water deep in the ocean.

All we could hear before the man left was, “Hurry, they are coming.” He vanished through the warehouse door. Closing the door behind him. Whatever she or, rather, I was looking for must not have been worth the risk because not too long after the man left, she followed. Except that, unlike the man, I wouldn’t make it out of this warehouse.

The doors were locked. She pushed and pulled, but the door wouldn’t move.

“You must have been looking for the artifact,” said Phanes not taking his eyes off the past version of me, as if he was taking it all in.

“What artifact?”

“It was your last mission, it was the-” The loud sound of a Crash interrupted him, and two men and a woman showed up, one going right through me as I was standing admiring the scene before me. I felt it, it gave me chills down my spine. We looked for their point of entry, they came through the windows; they looked like regular people except that their eyes were bloodshot, and their teeth seemed sharper, more like animal fangs than humans.

They Cornered her. I seemed to have put up a fight. Exchanging swift blows and dodging with deft agility. As the confrontation intensified, one of them grabbed a piece of wood breaking it off from one of the half-destroyed crates, and used it to take her off her feet. A nearby attacker took the opportunity to use his blade while I was down stabbing the dagger into my heart over and over again. I felt the pain all over again, and so did Phanes; he wasn’t only seeing my memories with me. He was living them. He bit down on his lip to stifle the groan escaping from his throat. As the pain spread through our bodies, the memory ended.

We woke up back at the library. Phanes groaned in disbelief. What we saw affected him more than me. His fist clutched as he stood up. “IT WAS NYX. That BITCH” he growled. “I suspected it in the past. I just never had tangible evidence that SHE did it.” – He was pacing rapidly around the room, enveloped in a conversation with himself.

While he was busy debating with himself, I was deep in thought; I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. Not everyone gets to say that they have seen themselves getting killed by supernatural beings in an out-of-body experience with a god. I was petrified. They didn’t even seem to attempt to speak to me; they knew what they were doing, and they were going for the kill. The man who was hurrying me to leave was the only one left who could tell me why they were chasing me and what I was looking for. If he was still alive, that is.

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He wasn’t wearing anything revealing. Whether he was part of the Golden Race was the best alternative; if he were human, he would be a very elderly one. Milo did mention that I left journals, but with Phanes summoning me, I hadn’t had the chance to explore them or even find them yet. It is hard to tell how much information they will contain about that night. And that still left my parents; I hadn’t had the chance to address where they would be or if they were okay.

Phanes wouldn’t stop pacing back and forth. I could hear him grinding his teeth with every step; the lights around us began flickering, cueing the people nearby that perhaps it was time to leave. In the distance, I could hear Eliza yelling to return the books to the library before they left. His majesty stood before me. His anger burned like a relentless wildfire, consuming everything in its path. The warmth that his body emanated became too hot to handle, the room candles melting at his presence.

“Find HER,” He said sharply. “Find the Artifact. Return to me then.” he let out a loud roar, and he disappeared into the air.

The room temperature slowly returned to a more bearable one. My hands were shaking, and my throat was dry. I couldn’t concentrate as the sounds of my heartbeat filled my brain; it felt like it would pop out of my chest any second now. I took a deep breath, determined to pacify the fear in me. With a new objective in mind - find George; he will surely know what to do from here. And how would I find Nyx or the Artifact?

I left the library, took the left stairwell back to the main lobby, and looked back again to admire the damage that The Lord of Creation had done. It wasn’t much, but it was clear something happened here. Eliza would be happy her precious books were safe from the destruction. I went through the big golden doors just to find Milo waiting for me at the entrance.

“So, how did it go?” he inquired with genuine curiosity. His hands full of what appeared to be Red Vines. He must have seen me staring at them because he added, “Phanes’s favorite snack. We keep it around in case he is in a mood.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Well, we could have used those in there; the room is practically scorched.”

“Scorched? That’s new — Did he say anything you might find useful?”

“Yes, we went through my memories. well, memory, I only had a single one on the day of my death. He seems to think Nyx is behind it all. We need George; he might know what to do from here.” I said firmly, looking into Milo’s Blue ocean eyes, he didn’t dare to look away, he then nodded.

“If Nyx is behind all this, we all might be in trouble.” he took a deep breath. “This place might be in trouble too.”

Who was this Nyx woman, and why is she of such importance to put an end to what has been millennia in the making? Milo threw the Red Vines into a nearby trash can and started taking giant strides towards a wooden door nearby; he grabbed me by my arm and pulled me towards it.

A big sign above the door engraved with “The Office” made it clear we were in the right place. Before I could even open the door, Milo stopped me, placing his hand over my arm in a pushing motion. He turned his gaze toward me, adopting a stance as unyielding as a sentinel.

“Wherever you go, I’m going with you,” he declared with a resolve that echoed through his words.

“Milo, I just don’t think this is a good idea. You are mortal and so young. I want you to live many lives and get to tell those stories.” I could hear how worried I was about him.

I barely knew him, yet I knew how smart and strong he was. I could see it in his eyes, in the way that he talked. He belonged here, safe at the library, not out there fighting these monsters that were trying to end us. At least I had a chance out there. I had seen what my healing abilities could do for me earlier.

Milo then looked deeper into my eyes. And what had been a mere touch became a strong grip around my arm.

“I’m coming with you, and that is the end of that. You cannot stop me. You need me; you need someone who understands this world,” the determination in his voice made me feel unsettled. But he wasn’t wrong; I do need him, or at least someone like him, someone who could guide me through the history of this place and understand better what I was fighting.

“Fine,” I said reluctantly. “But at the first sign of trouble, you must be out of the way.” He nodded and opened the door to the office