"Then it is nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand.
Xeron chuckled softly and reached forward to take it. His grip was firm, far stronger than his hunched frame suggested. For a moment it was nothing more than a simple handshake between two people meeting for the first time.
And then it happened.
The moment our hands touched, a sudden flash tore through my mind.
A memory.
It came with such force that the present vanished for an instant, replaced by an image from far in the past.
I saw Dante again.
His body was already failing when that moment happened. I remembered the exhaustion written across his face and the effort it took for him to even lift his arm. Slowly, with visible strain, Dante had raised his right hand and pressed it against his forehead. His fingers trembled violently as he forced something out of himself.
A faint blue glow had emerged from his head. A small orb of light, pulsing softly like a fragile heartbeat.
When he opened his right eye again, it had met mine directly.
"These are my memories," he had said, his voice weak but steady. "Store this in your mind."
A faint smile had appeared on his lips.
"Don’t read it yet... there are some embarrassing moments in there."
He had tried to laugh, but it had turned into a rough cough.
"One day," he had continued quietly, "it will help you."
The small orb had floated toward me slowly. I remembered hesitating for just a heartbeat, unsure whether I should accept something so personal.
But the sincerity in his gaze had settled the matter. I allowed the orb to merge into my mind.
It had sunk deep into my soul space, settling beneath the runes of Time where it remained dormant.
"Thank you, Billion," Dante had whispered as his strength faded.
"I’m glad I met you three. Vaythos will have a bright future ahead."
The memory ended as abruptly as it had appeared.
Reality returned.
I was still standing above Base Thirty-Four, my hand still clasped with Xeron’s.
But something had changed. Deep within my soul space, the dormant fragment Dante had given me began to tremble. Before I could even react, the fragment surged upward like a living thing. The small cluster of sealed memories burst free from its resting place and shot outward through my consciousness.
In the next instant it left my body completely. A faint blue spark flashed between our joined hands. The fragment of memory rushed directly into Xeron’s mind.
Xeron’s eyes widened for the briefest moment.
Then they closed. His grip on my hand tightened slightly as his entire body went still.
Xeron’s eyes remained closed as the memory fragment merged into his mind.
For a few seconds nothing moved around us. The void remained quiet, the two Naga ships hovering nearby, their crews still tense from the brief clash that had almost erupted. Behind Xeron, the soldiers who had caught Xebec watched carefully, uncertain whether they should intervene or simply wait.
I did not move either.
My hand was still clasped with his, but my attention had turned inward.
The moment the fragment left my soul space, something else had followed it. Not the whole memory Dante had given me, but a tiny splinter of it, something that had remained hidden even from me until now. It drifted upward through my consciousness like a sealed letter finally opening.
The world around me dimmed as the fragment unfolded.
A figure appeared.
He stood alone in a pocket space. The man wore flowing white robes that moved gently as if stirred by a slow wind. His face was hidden behind a smooth black mask, the kind that revealed nothing of the person beneath it.
Yet the moment I saw him, I knew who it was.
Dante.
He tilted his head slightly, as though looking directly at me through the veil of time.
"Billion," he said calmly. "This is for you."
His voice carried the same quiet humor I remembered, but there was something heavier beneath it now.
"If you are seeing this, then that means the Dante you knew is no more."
For a moment he paused, then let out a soft chuckle.
"But Dante is just one," he continued. "It is not me."
He clasped his hands loosely behind his back and began walking slowly across the empty space.
"You see, I am being hunted by the Prime Galaxy," he said in a conversational tone. "I have made some very powerful enemies there."
Another short laugh escaped him.
"So I used an ancient technique."
He lifted one hand slightly.
"I split my soul and scattered my clones across the universe."
He turned slightly toward me again.
"The Dante you met was one such clone."
There was no regret in his voice when he said it.
"Each clone carries a fragment of my soul and a part of my memories. Most of them will live their own lives, unaware of the others. Some will die. Some will grow powerful. A few might eventually find one another."
His masked face tilted again.
"And I hope that one day you will meet another one."
The space around him dimmed slightly as the memory began to reach its end.
"The memory I shared with you carries more than just information," he continued. "It contains a small fragment of my soul."
"That fragment will recognize another fragment if one is nearby."
He raised one finger.
"When that happens, the memories will awaken and help that clone understand who you are."
Another soft chuckle escaped him.
"You can treat that person as another Dante as well."
The memory began to dissolve.
"And these memories will help him... or her... or whatever form I take next..."
His voice faded slightly.
"...become familiar with you."
The vision vanished. I was once again floating above Base Thirty-Four, my hand still holding Xeron’s. Across from me, the old Naga’s eyes slowly opened. For the first time since we had met him, the playful confidence in his gaze was gone.
Instead there was recognition. And something dangerously close to disbelief.
He stared at me for a long moment before speaking.
"Well," he said quietly, a faint smile slowly spreading across his face, "that explains a few things."
Behind him, Xebec was still glaring at me, unaware of what had just happened.
But Xeron’s eyes remained locked on mine. And now I understood why the old Naga had felt familiar the moment I saw him. Another fragment of Dante’s soul had finally found me.