"Wait, wait, how did this happen!?"
Nayomi's trembling voice echoed in the silence.
Slowly, her panicked eyes met with his.
"....What have you done?"
Akamir didn't respond immediately.
He was too busy studying the crimson thread...the one linking his heart to hers.
It glowed faintly, vibrating with something terrifying, like a pact etched beyond death itself.
Nayomi looked at it too, her face pale, sweat forming on her brow.
"What is this...?" she whispered, scooting back as if distance could cut it.
"That wasn't supposed to happen! I wasn't even... I didn't mean to—!"
"You died," Akamir said flatly.
"You exploded. Turned yourself into light. Burned everything down. And now—what? You're back?"
"I wasn't supposed to return !" she snapped, glaring at him.
"I...I gave everything to that crown! My legacy! My soul! And now it's—you!"
Akamir tilted his head as her trembling eyes focused on something above him.
There it was, the Hollow Crown of Extinction floating just inches above Akamir's head.
"You bound yourself to it," Akamir said slowly, realization dawning in his eyes. "And when I accepted it—"
"It bound me to you," Nayomi finished, her voice hollow.
Silence stretched between them.
The tension hung heavy, broken only by Nayomi's shallow breathing.
Akamir slowly stood. "Looks like we're stuck together now."
She glared at him like she would skin him alive.
"Do you think I wanted this? I sacrificed everything for power and look at me now! Bound to a boy who doesn't know what he's holding!"
Akamir had no words to reply.
"This is a nightmare." She grumbled, rubbing her puffy eyes. "How did things turn to this?"
Akamir sighed as he looked around the empty place.
From a corner of the place, he felt a small wind, making him squint his eyes.
He slowly walked towards the woman sitting on the floor.
"Well, it seems like we are going to be stuck together," Akamir said, extending his hand towards her. "Why don't we intro—."
She slapped his hand away, glaring at him. "Stay away from me, mortal!"
'...Well, she's got personality.'
Sighing once again, Akamir began to move, walking in the direction of the wind.
The place was still plunged in darkness, but the glowing crown over his head provided some light.
After a while, he felt a presence floating behind him.
'So, she did come along.'
He thought, making way into the darkness.
"For the trial." Akamir mumbled, glancing back at her. "Why did you choose me?"
A silence lingered between them.
Nayomi refused to speak even a single word.
'Well, it seems like it will take a lot of time to make her talk.'
In silence, one walked and the other floated behind.
They pushed through a final archway and stepped into a vast chamber.
Akamir looked around as the pillars lined the walls, each carved beautifully.
Between them lay heaps of treasure.
Chests spilling coins, broken items, and ancient weapons... some rusted to dust, others surprisingly sharp.
"...What is this?" Akamir wondered aloud, keeping his composure.
He'd seen a lot of treasure in his previous life, so it wasn't much shocking to him.
"My lifelong treasure," Nayomi grumbled from behind.
"... I see." Akamir mumbled as he started to move along the treasure. "Mind if I take them?"
Nayomi refused to speak once again as she pouted and looked away.
As Akamir moved through the hundreds of different chests, something caught his eye.
At the center of the place rested... an egg, nearly the size of a football, its shell mottled black and silver, veins of crimson pulsing beneath the surface.
"What is that?" Akamir mumbled, walking closer. "A... dragon egg?"
Akamir crouched, running a fingertip across the shell.
"Feels warm," he said. "Like it's alive."
Nayomi panicked. "Wait! Don't touch that—."
But it was already too late.
Akamir jerked his hand back, watching a single droplet of blood seep into the shell.
The egg pulsed, glowing faintly in response—first crimson, then a deep violet, then black.
For a moment, nothing happened.
A faint line split the surface of the egg, followed by another.
Nayomi floated beside him in disbelief, her face drained of color.
"No. No. You idiot!" she hissed. "Do you have any idea what you've just done!?"
"...Touched an egg?" Akamir blinked, standing slowly. "It was just sitting there."
"That's not an egg!" she snapped, hovering just inches from his face.
"That's the Void fox—the only thing in this realm that was never supposed to hatch—!"
Nayomi's words halted as she took a closer look at his face.
Her hand moved, squeezing his face like she was seeing it for the first time.
"....Wait, are you Asher?" Nayomi asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
"Huh?" Akamir was equally stunned by her words. "You know me?"
Her fingers stretched his face like she was trying to peel back a mask.
"No... no, how can you be here? It's not... how?"
"What are you saying?" Akamir grumbled, stepping away from her.
Nayomi mumbled uncorrected words under her breath that made no sense.
Her head suddenly snapped towards Akamir. "You! What year is it?"
"...1568 W.R." Akamir replied, tilting his head in confusion. "...Why do you ask?"
Nayomi turned still as if time had stopped for her.
Akamir frowned. "Would you tell me what's happening?"
She didn't answer. She simply floated back, away from him.
'Of course she knows me. Why wouldn't the ghost of a dead goddess know my name?'
Akamir let out a sigh as he looked back at the egg.
'What should I do about this?'
He wondered, rubbing his chin.
'Well, I guess I'm going to keep it.'
Akamir began to walk around the place once again.
Even though he was interested in the egg, there was a lot here for him to ignore.
'...I need to relocate all of this.'
Akamir thought, picking up one of the gold coins in his hand.
It was of the past era, something that was thought of as a relic now.
'...Even if I sell the coin, it will give a decent amount in return.'
"Don't even think of touching my treasures."
Nayomi returned to his side, glaring at him.
"And what if I do?" Akamir replied, smiling at her. "It's not like you can haunt me."
Nayomi stared at him, her mouth agape for a second like she couldn't believe what she just heard.
Then she floated forward until their faces were inches apart, her expression twisting.
"I was a god-queen once, you insufferable rodent," she hissed. "I buried kings for looking at my vault the wrong way."
Akamir raised a brow. "And now you're a floating... roommate."
A small arc of lightning popped at her fingertips, but it didn't harm.
"Oh, don't smirk like that."
"Are you going to tell me what is happening or not?" Akamir asked as he moved past her.
Once again, Nayomi turned silent, refusing to speak.
Akamir sighed as he began to walk once again.
The chamber narrowed into a jagged bridge of obsidian, leading to a cliff.
At the end of the path stood a throne... made of pure obsidian metal.
Akamir slowly walked towards the throne.
His hand touched the throne that felt smooth and familiar to him.
'Is this my destiny?'
Akamir wondered as he slowly walked in front of the throne.
Nayomi also floated close to him, looking at him without a word.
Akamir slowly sat down on the throne like the king he was.
The crown hovering over his head pulsed to life.
Below the cliff, the darkness moved...then thousands of monstrous eyes opened at once.
One by one, all those monsters began to kneel in front of him.
Akamir also found a few familiar faces in them, like the monster of trials.
"...What are they?" Akamir asked, glancing back at Nayomi.
Nayomi whispered, looking at them.
Her eyes shifted towards him.
"....Are now their ruler."