Deep in the forest, two children made their way up the mountain path.
"Did you really see it?" the younger one asked, his voice filled with doubt.
"You keep asking that," the older one snapped. "Do you think I’m lying?"
"Even so... seeing an immortal’s body..." The younger one sounded unconvinced. "Are you sure it’s not just..."
"Hmph. You’ll see," the elder one retorted.
The two continued climbing, pushing through brush and stepping over roots until they reached a certain opening.
They stopped.
The sight before them was unlike anything they had ever witnessed.
The greenery of the forest slowly receded toward the center of the clearing. The vibrant colors of leaves and grass gradually faded, draining away until only a grayish shade remained at the very center.
And there, a woman stood.
She was motionless. Perfectly still. Her robes hung around her without a single flutter. Her hair was suspended mid-drift, frozen in time.
Around her, falling leaves hung in the air. Dust particles glittered, caught mid-descent, unmoving.
Expanding outward from her, the colors slowly returned. The leaves and dust seemed to be moving, but so slowly it was almost imperceptible.
The children stared, their mouths hanging open.
"So... pretty," the younger one muttered.
"Do you believe me now?" the elder one asked, a hint of pride in his voice.
Still, he felt that something had changed since he had first seen her. The frozen area seemed larger. The woman’s expression seemed... different somehow.
The children slowly crept toward the immortal, drawn by curiosity and wonder.
But suddenly...
An energy pulsed outward from the woman.
It slammed into them like a wave, knocking them off their feet.
They scrambled upright and instantly broke into a run, their feet pounding against the dirt as they fled down the mountain.
...
Inside the so-called immortal...
Maya found herself floating in a place she didn’t recognize.
She was in space. Endless, infinite space.
Golden clocks drifted all around her. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Each one moving in a different direction, spinning at different speeds. Some ticked forward. Some ticked backward. Some didn’t tick at all.
Strange numbers and symbols floated past her, swirling in patterns that made her head throb. They weren’t numbers she recognized. They weren’t symbols from any language she knew.
She looked around in confusion, her vision shifting from one clock to another.
Her gaze landed on one of the clocks, and suddenly she was seeing through it.
A desolate world stretched before her. Ruined. Abandoned. Cities crumbled to dust. Skies choked with ash. No life. No sound. Nothing.
She clutched her head in pain and looked away.
But her gaze met another clock.
Another vision.
A meteor descending from the sky. Falling toward a familiar figure. Toward Cipher.
"Nooo!" she screamed, tearing her eyes away.
Another clock. Another vision.
Cipher, trapped in the same space as her, surrounded by golden clocks, screaming in agony.
She looked away.
Another clock.
Cipher talking to... Cipher?
"No, not like that. I mean, come with me... to my world," one of them spoke. "This world is already dead."
"No it’s not..." The other retorted.
She screamed in pain, her mind fracturing under the weight of it all. Everything was overwhelming. Too much. Too fast. Too real.
She closed her eyes.
But it was strange.
She was sure they were closed. She could feel her eyelids pressed together.
Yet she could still see.
Only the scene was different.
This time, she stood before a massive bird.
No - a phoenix.
It was covered entirely in flames. Golden and crimson fire danced across its feathers, illuminating the endless void around them. Its eyes burned like twin suns.
It gazed directly at her.
And she remembered something.
"Cipher," she muttered. "Brother. I have to save little brother."
Her eyes glowed golden.
Recognition flickered across her face, followed immediately by rage.
"It’s you..." she screamed, her eyes beginning to bleed. "Leave me and my brother alone!"
Energy pulsed from her body, crashing against the massive phoenix.
But the phoenix remained unaffected.
It stared at her with its crimson eyes, utterly unmoved.
"He is not your brother," the phoenix spoke in a melodic yet terrifying tone. "He is just a failed project."
Then it laughed.
"But you... you are my masterpiece. I can feel it. Your mental fluctuations... they’re just like the Lady."
The phoenix turned its head slightly, gazing into the void.
"It’s a pity. I managed to somewhat recreate the Lady, but I can’t make the Lord."
It let out a curse.
"Well, no matter. You’ll do for now."
The phoenix spread its wings.
Maya felt herself being pulled forward.
"No..." she struggled against the force. "I don’t want to... I want to stay with brother!"
But the phoenix didn’t stop.
The pull grew stronger.
"No! I don’t want this!"
Maya began to break down. Her composure shattered completely.
"I wanna stay with brother! I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!"
Tears streamed down her face.
"I don’t want this! I didn’t ask for this!"
The phoenix chuckled, the sound echoing through the void.
"That’s not how the world works, kid. Things don’t just go your way because you want them really hard."
Its voice softened, just slightly.
"I learned that the hard way."
Maya continued spiraling, her mind collapsing under the pressure, her screams growing more desperate...
And then, suddenly, a golden light began emerging from her body.
"What?" The phoenix’s eyes widened in surprise.
It tried to pull back...
But it was too late.
Maya and the phoenix collided.
A massive explosion of golden light erupted, swallowing everything.
...
In the real world, Maya opened her eyes.
The frozen world around her slowly resumed. Color bled back into the trees and grass. The suspended leaves drifted downward, finally completing their fall. Dust settled to the ground.
Time moved again.
Maya clutched at her head, wincing.
"What happened?" she asked in confusion.
Fragments of memories flickered through her mind. Clocks. Visions. Fire. A phoenix.
What did it all mean? She couldn’t make sense of any of it.
That’s when she remembered something.
"Ah... Cipher. I need to find him..."
She took off into the sky.