And then came the voice.
"… Dragon of The Beginning… Basukhi, you've returned... Brother"
The voice was not loud but felt.
Like pressure on the spine. Like a thought you didn't think, whispering in your skull.
The voice answered, slow and deliberate.
The tentacles did not move.
The eye remained open.
And yet, it felt like the sea itself was exhaling.
"I am the one left behind. I am what endures when the World was Overwritten, a memory of what was not allowed to be; I was bleeding, chained by an unseen force, and the sky was shaking as I tried to reach you, but I failed... I'm Lembuswana, or what remains of me"
A silence fell, not empty, but crushing.
As if reality itself was trying to deny the words it just heard.
No one spoke. Not at first.
Even Basukhi, ancient and prideful, lowered his head slightly as if the weight of that voice pressed on something deeper than thought, an echo from a world long buried under time and rewritten truths.
Kaela whispered, barely audible.
"Lembuswana? But… He's right here"
She glanced at the small figure in Alice's arms, whose golden eyes now seemed dimmed by confusion.
Taufik's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing at the writhing, monstrous silhouette before him. The sea churned unnaturally around it as if reality itself were uncertain of its form. Tendrils of shadow and scaled limbs twisted in and out of shape, part ancient beast, part memory, part something else entirely.
"…System?" he muttered, his voice low. "What is this thing? I don't remember the Moving Tr- no, the Kraken I faced when I first went to Draco... That thing wasn't "
[There is nothing wrong, Master. The Kraken is indeed Lembuswana… or rather, a fragment of Lembuswana's soul, from before the world was rewritten by The Fate]
[If we consider your past actions, then this world has already been rewritten three times. The first was the original history created by the Creator, which was later erased by The Fate. The second was the version shaped and maintained by The Fate itself. And the third occurred when you revived Basukhi, at that moment, you unknowingly rewrote the world once more]
[This Basukhi is a fragment of the original world, a memory, a piece of the first timeline. He, and this Lembuswana, should not exist anymore. Both were meant to be erased when The Fate rewrote the Creator's original "Script"]
[This Basukhi… is the Basukhi of the original Script. And so is this Lembuswana]
A weight settled on Taufik's chest, heavier than the pressure of the deep. His gaze flicked between the Kraken's luminous eyes, which seemed to shimmer with forgotten stars, and the unnatural stillness that surrounded it, as though time hesitated around the creature.
"…So that's what 'erased' really means," he said, more to himself than to the system. "When I revived Basukhi... Bringing him back without affecting his descendants was basically impossible. So instead… The world made a compromise, pulling the original Basukhi from the first Script into this rewritten one. Is that what you're saying?"
His heart thudded. The truth settled in like a cold tide.
"So… This thing is the Original- no," he corrected, his voice tightening, "what remains of the Original Lembuswana?"
[Yes, Master. You must remember… Lembuswana and Basukhi are two Aboriginal Beings born on the same planet. They are inseparable, bound by origin, by essence]
[When you brought the Original Basukhi into this world, Lembuswana followed by necessity. Though his form is incomplete and fractured, he still exists... A fragment torn from the original timeline. A remnant… One that now seeks a host to stabilize, to survive]
Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the shape again. For a moment, Taufik saw more than just a monster, he saw something ancient, regal, broken… A god lost between worlds.
Taufik steals a glance toward Lembuswana.
The beast floated in the churning waters like a monument of myth, its body flickering between forms that belonged to different realities. One moment, it bore the majestic scales of a celestial guardian; the next, it shimmered like an echo lost in time.
Despite its fractured form, a strange gravity radiated from it, powerful, ancient, and incomplete.
"…Then," Taufik murmured, eyes narrowing, "if our Lembuswana… The one of this world… Absorbs this Fragment from the Original Script... What would happen?"
Taufik asks the system again. His voice is firm, but the question carries a weight deeper than curiosity. It was the kind of question that hinted at a consequence, a change that could not be undone.
[If the Lembuswana of this rewritten world absorbs the fragment of the Original, two possibilities arise, Master]
A pause, brief, but heavy, as if the system itself hesitated.
[One: Integration. If the fragment is accepted, the Lembuswana of this world will transcend its current form, becoming something greater, an echo of the Original, but shaped by this world's fate. He would gain memories, power, and essence that were never meant to survive]
[Two: Rejection. If the fragment is incompatible or if the rewritten world itself resists the presence of an Original being… Collapse may occur. Either the fragment will be destroyed, or Lembuswana, both of them... May cease to exist entirely]
[In either case, the balance of this world will shift. The presence of an Original threatens the stability The Fate has enforced. Be warned, Master… Such actions do not go unnoticed]
Far above, the storm rumbled, not with thunder, but with a strange, trembling silence. The kind that comes before a choice that rewrites destiny.
"That's a risky gamble, but... It's sound interesting"
Alice clutched Lembuswana tighter in her arms as the wind howled around them. Basukhi, the Dragon of The Beginning, soared high above the storm-churned ocean. Beneath them, something impossible stirred, vast, ancient, and wrong.
Alice's lips wobbled, but she didn't cry.
Lembuswana in her arms, soft fur, glowing eyes, sharp little teeth, watched silently. No fear in him. Just stillness. Oldness.
Then the voice came. Deep. Echoing through the clouds and into her bones.
"Return me… Return what was lost"
The voice was not loud, but it echoed with a haunting weight, like a ripple through still water, brushing against something ancient and broken.
It came from the fragmented Lembuswana, its eyes glowing faintly, not with malice, but with longing. A voice caught between worlds, between what was and what should never be.
Taufik opened his mouth, ready to respond.
But a softer voice cut through the heavy air.
She stood just behind him, her expression pale and uncertain, her eyes locked on the creature as if seeing something only she could understand.
The winds tugged at her coat.
Her voice was small, almost fragile, but it carried an uncanny calmness.
Taufik turned to her, startled by the sudden interruption, by the look on her face, one filled not with fear, but sorrow.
Seeing Alice was something new for Taufik.
So he didn't stop her. He let her be. He wanted to see what she was seeing, to understand what held her so still.
And when he glanced around, he realized the others were doing the same. No one moved. No one spoke. They, too, seemed to sense that whatever Alice was about to do... Mattered.
"...You're not him... You and Lembuswana... You're different"
Alice looked down at the sea monster again, then at Lembuswana in her arms.
"My Lembuswana's not scary. He's kind"
The giant paused, its mouth unmoving but its words thundering:
"I am what he was before the world changed. I am the guardian that shattered with time. You hold a piece. I am the rest. Incomplete. Empty"
Alice glanced at Lembuswana.
Lembuswana blinked once, slowly. Then said, in a voice too calm for the usual him:
"I remember him. He was me. Once"
She looked at him, wide-eyed.
"So... He's like your shadow?"
"No," Lembuswana said gently. "He's what I left behind"
The original being stirred again.
"You hold what remains of truth. I am only the pain"
Alice frowned, face scrunching like she was thinking super hard.
"So... You're lonely?"
The creature didn't answer, but the wind softened.
She looked down again, standing up slowly on Basukhi's back, wobbling but determined.
"You can't just take him back! That's not how it works! He's here now. With me! We're family!"
[Master, Fragment is approaching collapse. Emotional instability detected]
Alice turned to Taufik, her voice small again.
"Daddy... I think he's hurting. Like... Really bad. He's not a monster. He's just... lost"
She looked back down at the Original with her big, serious eyes.
"I don't wanna destroy you," she whispered to it. "But you can't have him back. You're not his home anymore"
Alice's words hung in the air like fragile glass.
For a heartbeat, the sky held its breath.
A sound like shattering stars cracked through the clouds. The Original Lembuswana's eyes flared, no longer ancient or sad, only wild, chaotic, and breaking.
"If I am not his home... THEN I SHALL BE HIS GRAVE!!"