An idiot. Those were the two words that vibrated in Shirei's mind, before the world began to contort into a distorted vision and he completely lost consciousness.

The boy found himself immersed in an unreal quiet, standing in the narrow, damp alleys of a city he didn't recognize. The walls were illuminated by a vibrant, bluish light that seemed to be cast from nowhere, while above him the night sky was a blurry void. The streets were deserted, and only the distant sound of invisible water broke that unnatural silence.

The divine path? he rhetorically asked himself.

It was then that he noticed a figure advancing towards him with a calm step. The boy in front of him didn't seem to be in the slightest hurry: he moved with an almost supernatural calm, his steps didn't produce any sound and his gaze exuded a disarming serenity. Shirei recognized it immediately, after all it was practically like looking in a mirror. The Calm Sovereign tilted his head and took a deep breath, a sign of a compelling sense of dissatisfaction.

“It was you,” Shirei stated, his voice barely a whisper.

“Certainly.”

“Why did you do it? I was so close to finding out something about my past.”

The Calm Sovereign approached him, “I already told you, you are better off without those memories.”

“Are you saying that Samara could have given me my memories back?”

Shirei cursed himself and felt the anger towards his double rising to the top of his head, he had come so close.

He took a series of breaths to suppress the emotion. The Calm Sovereign had called him there, perhaps he could manage to extract vital information even without regaining his memories.

His counterpart sighed. “Yes, your memories are tied to the old name we bore. The moment you hear our old name, every memory will be unlocked.”

“I didn't know Uchia worked like this…”

“Because it doesn't, but this is a special case.”

The sovereign gave him a faint smile. Then he looked at him with intense eyes and made a gesture, as if he knew the next question perfectly.

“Don't continue with the questions. It's for your good... our good. Some truths must come only when you are ready to bear the weight of them.”

Shirei slowly clenched his fists, feeling great frustration. He knew he wouldn't get more, yet something inside him wanted to keep looking for answers, to understand what eluded him.

With a silent pop, the scene changed. Suddenly he found himself suspended in the void, in front of the entrance to the divine path: it was a body that seemed to float in an endless abyss. The invisible barrier, which he had crossed in the past, was there to stop him once again.

This time, between him and the entrance, there was his own reflection staring at him motionless. Shirei advanced, but the lookalike raised a hand, stopping him.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“You can't pass, that's not the reason why I moved you here,” he said, his voice the same as his, but with a solemn tone.

“From now on you will have to find a way to access the divine crossroad on your own. The path will no longer open to you until you are able to walk it without my guidance.”

“Divine Crossroad?”

It was the first time Cragar's son had heard that term, he believed it was a synonym for the Divine Path.

“Ask your dear friend, Ien's daughter. She'll be able to explain to you what it's about.”

So they are not synonymous, he concluded.

“You seem to have no desire for responsibility.”

The Calm Sovereign lowered his gaze. “Maybe so, but you will have to trust my advice. Talk to the demigoddess about it, not anyone else.”

Shirei remained silent, his reflection before him like an impassive guardian. That would have been a path he would have had to travel alone, but perhaps Marina could have given him a hand.

“We're running out of time, good luck with the next fault.”

Shirei woke up slowly, before he could even thank his alter-ego for the tip, his eyes still heavy from exhaustion. As the world around him became clearer, he found himself face to face with a pair of bright eyes staring intently at him from behind a red, elongated and sharp mask with a prominent and almost menacing nose: the mask of a Tengu.

“Oh, look who's finally woken up!” said a voice that exuded a light and biting irony. The god of travel, Ammir, tilted his head, letting the reflection of his mask cover Shirei's face. “I thought I was going to have to drag you all the way to Lilies Park in pieces, one at a time.”

Shirei tried to lift his head, but his muscles were still stiff and his vision went blurry. Barely turning his gaze, he realized that he was in a tent set up in the courtyard of the Colorno hospital. Beside him, Havel still lay asleep, his complexion warmer than when they emerged from the fault. A faint ray of light filtered through the walls of the tent, illuminating the face of the leader of the Equinox Flowers and the clean bandages that covered his wounds.

Ammir watched him, amused, with a smile that Cragar's son couldn't see, but guessed from the mocking intonation of his voice.

“So, the great hero of the Equinox Flowers is back in one piece… more or less. Well, son of Cragar, I'd say I've missed you, but I'm not the type to lie so shamelessly. There are those who hoped for your sudden demise up there, in the Celestial World.”

“I see,” Shirei rolled his eyes, as if contemplating the gods directly. “Is there a reason for this visit?”

Ammir laughed, the sound booming from inside the mask. “Your calm never disappoints, boy. Okay, I'm here on Aena's behalf anyway, but I'll leave your broken body to rest for a few minutes. I'll wait for you outside in a bit, but know that we don't have all the time in the world.”

As soon as the god left the tent, Ada, who had been standing aside, came forward with a slight embarrassed smile and sat down next to Shirei. For a moment they remained silent, until she looked down and, in a serious voice, said: “I wanted to thank you for what you did... and at the same time, also scold you. You risked too much in there, Shirei. You didn't need to sacrifice yourself for us. Neither Havel nor I did anything to deserve it, but thank you.”

Shirei shook his head. “We were all together in the time rift, as a group. You would have done the same for me.”

Ada nodded, but her gaze did not lighten. She didn't know if the words of Cragar's son would be true and this tormented her. She stared at her companion for another minute, feeling guilty for how they had treated him thus far.

Marina… maybe you are right.

She glanced at Havel, hoping that her thoughts were shared by the demigod.

“I also apologize for how I behaved. Inside the fault… I wasn't myself. I thought I could do it, but those places… the lion…” she took a shaky breath. “I have my limits. I'm ashamed that you had to see me like this.”

“There is nothing shameful about this. We all have weaknesses and dealing with them is never easy.”

She looked into his eyes, trying to find some peace in his words. “You have traumas too, don't you Shirei?” she asked, her voice small.

He looked away, getting lost in the void.

“I… I don't know, that's the problem,” replied the demigod. “I don't remember anything about my past… it's just a guess.”

“Ah, sure… Sorry.”

Ada lowered her gaze, but said nothing else. The two remained silent, a tacit understanding that needed no further words.

“Maybe I'd better go and find out what Admir wants.”

Rutia's daughter nodded, “I'll stay here and wait for Havel to wake up.”

“All right.”