Chapter 20: The Awakening Crystal
The black crystal opened like an eye.
A wave of strange energy spread through the chamber.
Evan stepped backward.
His Fourfold mark burned beneath his glove.
Kaela immediately moved beside him.
“Evan, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
But he wasn’t completely sure.
The crystal continued to glow.
Fire appeared around it.
Then water.
Lightning.
Darkness.
The four energies circled one another without touching.
Aurelion watched silently.
Evan looked at him.
“You knew this would happen.”
“I knew the crystal would react to a Fourfold.”
“Why?”
Aurelion didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked directly at Evan.
“Because Elias awakened it once.”
Evan froze.
“Elias?”
Aurelion nodded.
“Years ago.”
“What happened?”
“Elias tried to understand what was inside.”
Evan stepped forward.
“And?”
“He failed.”
Aurelion’s voice remained calm.
“The crystal showed him something he wasn’t prepared to see.”
Evan looked at the crystal.
“What did it show him?”
Aurelion’s expression became unreadable.
“That is something you must discover yourself.”
Kaela frowned.
“You’re hiding something.”
Aurelion looked at her.
“Everyone hides something.”
Suddenly, the crystal released another pulse.
The chamber changed.
For a moment, Evan saw something that wasn’t really there.
A vast black sky.
Thousands of glowing doors floating in the darkness.
And a lone figure standing before them.
Evan couldn’t see the person’s face.
“Elias?”
The figure turned.
Before Evan could see who it was, the vision disappeared.
Evan staggered.
Kaela caught his arm.
“Evan!”
“I’m okay.”
Evan looked at the crystal.
“Doors.”
“World Gates?”
“Thousands of them.”
Silas stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because we’ve only discovered a few dozen.”
Evan looked at the crystal.
“Then the records are incomplete.”
Aurelion remained silent.
Evan noticed.
“You knew.”
Aurelion looked toward the crystal.
“I suspected.”
Evan’s expression hardened.
“You know more about the Gates than you’re telling us.”
Aurelion gave a faint smile.
“Of course.”
He turned away.
“But knowing something and understanding it are different.”
The crystal suddenly became unstable.
The four elemental energies began moving faster.
Ronan shouted,
“Everyone back!”
Evan looked at the crystal.
Something was wrong.
“If it keeps doing that, the chamber will collapse.”
Kaela grabbed his arm.
“Then we need to leave.”
Evan shook his head.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“The crystal is reacting to my Fourfold.”
Evan stepped forward.
His natural red eyes began changing.
Fire.
His eyes became a fiery orange-red.
Then water.
A deep blue.
Lightning.
A bright golden color.
Finally, darkness.
A violet-black shade.
The four changes happened rapidly.
Evan felt pain spreading through his body.
His breathing became heavier.
Kaela noticed.
“Evan, stop!”
“I can control it.”
“You don’t have to!”
Evan closed his eyes.
He remembered what the archivist had told him.
The power is not the answer.
The choice is.
The elemental energy around him faded.
The crystal became still.
The chamber stopped shaking.
Everyone remained silent.
Evan opened his eyes.
They were red again.
His natural color.
Kaela looked relieved.
“You stopped.”
Evan nodded.
“I realized I didn’t need to overpower it.”
Silas looked impressed.
“Elias made the same choice.”
Evan looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Elias eventually learned that the Fourfold wasn’t about controlling every element at once.”
Silas looked at Evan’s hand.
“It was about knowing when not to use them.”
Aurelion walked toward the crystal.
Evan immediately became cautious.
“What are you doing?”
Aurelion stopped.
“Leaving.”
“You’re not taking the crystal?”
“No.”
Evan was surprised.
“Why?”
“Because it isn’t ready.”
“Ready for what?”
Aurelion looked at Evan.
“For you.”
Before Evan could respond, Aurelion turned away.
Kaela raised her weapon.
“You’re just leaving?”
Aurelion paused.
“I came here to confirm something.”
“What?”
Aurelion looked back.
“That the second Fourfold has truly awakened.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Evan stared after him.
Ronan lowered his sword.
“We should go.”
Evan nodded.
But before they left, he looked at the black crystal one last time.
A tiny image appeared on its surface.
A man standing beside a World Gate.
Evan couldn’t see his face.
But he recognized the clothing.
The same clothing shown in the old records of Elias.
Then the image vanished.
Evan whispered,
“Elias…”
The crystal became completely dark.
For the first time, Evan understood something.
The path he was following wasn’t simply leading toward Elias.
It was leading toward the truth about the World Gates themselves.
And somewhere beyond those Gates was an answer that had been hidden for generations.