The True Ascension
Chapter 26: Echo of a Feeling

Chapter 26: Echo of a Feeling

"Am I really going to die here?!"

Aziz’s thought exploded in despair. He tried to call the system, but... nothing. No response. No sound.

This was the end.

And then... darkness.

But not for long.

"Hahaha, calm down, you’re not going to die, dear. Hahaha, you should’ve seen your face!"

The voice came from the void — soft, melodic, mocking.

Clapping.

With the rhythmic sound of claps, the monstrous creature vanished as if it had never existed. The void around him became pure again — no screams, no smell of blood, no stench of corrupted flesh. Only the ancient silence... and her.

"Jokes aside... oh, and you can move now."

And, as if by a snap, he could.

His fingers obeyed, so did his arms. Still trembling, he slowly turned, heart pounding and cautious as one who stares into the unknown. And then, he saw her.

The figure before him had no discernible face.

Or rather — no ordinary body. Her silhouette was made of silver and starlight, pulsing gently like a miniature universe. And her eyes... oh, the eyes. Two liquid suns, reflecting galaxies spinning endlessly, as if each blink revealed entire eras of creation.

But despite her inhuman appearance... there was a hypnotic femininity about her.

"Hehehe, don’t pout like that. You’re still too weak to see my true form," she said, laughing as she noticed the indignant look Aziz didn’t even know he was making.

He took a deep breath — confused, furious, fascinated.

"Who... who are you? How did I get here? And... what the hell was that thing that devoured me?!"

The questions escaped like arrows, fired straight from his soul.

The entity sighed, like someone listening to an impatient child.

"So many questions... Well, who I am doesn’t matter — for now. This place? It’s my domain. And that ugly little thing from before... was just an illustration. A fragment. A minion of... ’Him’."

Aziz frowned.

"’Him’? Who is he?"

The glow in her eyes flickered.

"Shhh... Don’t ask who he is. Don’t even think his name out loud. It wouldn’t be good... if He turned His eyes toward us now."

Aziz took a deep breath, ready to insist, to ask more. But the entity raised one of her hands — or something that resembled one — and silenced him with a simple gesture.

"No more questions for now. We’re running out of time."

Her voice was no longer playful. Now it was firm. Serene. But carried an urgency that pressed against Aziz’s chest more than any physical power.

"You need to get stronger. Much stronger. Faster."

She approached slowly, with the weight of an absolute truth behind every word.

"You’re wasting the precious time you have. I know it’s confusing, and I know not everything depends solely on you... but you need to go beyond. You’re still stuck in comfort. Still holding back."

Aziz tried to argue, but she interrupted him before any sound could leave his lips.

"It was good that you lost to Sofia."

He widened his eyes. That... hurt more than he expected.

"You’ve never lost before, have you? Not even in your past life. Winning was part of your essence. But behind that constant victory... something was born that you didn’t want to see."

She got closer. Her eyes — cosmic mirrors — locked onto his.

"Arrogance. Not explicit. Not malicious. But... real."

Aziz felt his throat go dry.

"Don’t blame yourself. It’s natural for someone who has always been above. But that won’t take you where you need to go. What’s coming... doesn’t bow to pride. Nor to perfection."

He tried to take a step forward, to ask if she had been watching him all this time. But before his voice could emerge, the light ahead flickered.

The entity’s figure disappeared from a distance and appeared immediately in front of him, as if she had bent space itself between them. He barely had time to recoil.

A finger made of light, warm and comforting, touched his forehead.

"It’s time to go back. If you take any longer, your family will start to worry."

The word "family" struck Aziz like lightning. He opened his mouth, trying to ask what she meant by that — why would they be worried? Why couldn’t he stay a little longer?

But there was no answer.

His body began to be pulled. Or was it pushed? It was impossible to tell. Gravity inverted, the void dragged him back with urgency, as if the plane where he had been was just an echo — and was now fading.

As she vanished from his sight, the voice returned one last time:

"Ah... almost forgot."

She laughed softly, sweet like a memory that hurts.

"You’re going to forget everything that happened here, okay? It’ll feel like a distant dream... The only thing that will remain is the feeling — that you need to become stronger. Sorry, love. It’s for your safety."

Aziz tried to scream, to hold on to any remnant of her, of the voice, of the touch. But it was too late.

His body plunged into darkness.

And then...

---

...he opened his eyes.

Wide, gasping. His heart pounded like war drums inside his chest.

He was... lying down. In bed. In his room.

The window was open — and the morning light came through the open curtains, exactly as before.

"I... I’m back?"

He shot up. His hands trembled. Sweat dripped down his neck. Something inside him said something big had happened. Something... important.

And he remembered. He remembered everything.

For an instant.

But then... it began to slip away.

Like sand between fingers.

Fragments vanished. Phrases. Sensations. Images.

First, the whisper. Then, the cosmic eyes. The light. The creature. The terror.

He tried to force his mind to hold on.

But it was useless.

Like leaves in the wind, each memory dissolved.

Until only the warmth of the embrace remained. The touch of a finger on his forehead. A nameless presence.

And even that... faded, like a whisper swallowed by the breeze.

Aziz sat there, on the bed, in silence.

His eyes instinctively turned to the window. The sky was clear, serene. But a part of him... wanted to search for something up there. As if something was missing. Something he should remember.

Aziz stayed there, lying down, motionless. The silence of the room was broken only by the soft sound of the breathing of two other presences — warm, close, familiar.

He felt a slight movement in the bed.

"Dear... are you awake?" — Astrid’s voice came softly, full of concern.

"You slept through the entire night... and almost all day," said Isis, turning toward him, her tone more serious than usual. "We were starting to get worried."

He took a few seconds to respond.

As if still searching... for something.

As if trying to remember a name, a voice, a truth that was slipping away.

At last, with a small sigh, he forced a smile, without much conviction — but also without weight.

"I’m fine. I was just a little too tired, that’s all."

Astrid, now more awake, gently ran her hand through her son’s white hair.

"That’s okay, my son. We’ll stay in bed as long as you want."

And in that moment, even without knowing why, Aziz felt... the absence of something. Of someone.

But he didn’t know who.

Nor why.

He just... felt it.

And the sky, on the other side of the window, remained silent.

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