Hope

Irwyn watched the empty spot in the desert. There he had once birthed a Star, the very shell which now dwelled overhead. After many years Souled and watching… He never would have guessed it would be one of the last to be born as such. His Edict had since shifted. Perhaps there would never be another Empyrean born because of that, another notch to add to his guilt.

So it was only appropriate to choose that place as the entrance. There where he had once stood, so naive. With joy and benevolence still thriving in his heart.

Irwyn watched the empty spot in the desert. There was nothing there, yet he felt with unerring certainty. It was neither magic nor even Fate. But a reminiscence. There could not be anything at the spot he stared at, yet he recalled otherwise. The sheer weight of that memory overlapped with reality and revealed the secret as old as the Great Crusade. He took a step forward.

Irwyn's brother placed the complex mechanism in the determined spot as his own mind was overtaken with stifling reminiscence. He understood it like few ever could, and tried to cling to that. Grasp on to anything that would keep his thoughts away from the still raw grief. But in quiet moments like those, with nothing before him, they surged into his mind much as a plague would. Until that single spot in his gaze twisted into a symbol and reminder. Of what had already been lost and what yet might still be.

Voices, talking, clamoring… distracting. He stepped forward and they followed. Someone grabbed his hand, so he turned and…

"...go, it does you no good to just stare on with gloom," his brother advised, arm on shoulder. The scouring agony of that simple touch brought Irwyn's mind back into focus. And still, he could not tear his eyes away from the invisible monolith. It would not be found, not even by the worst of the Rot. Only revealed to a fated one or a few at the very end of a rope, if at all. Third a tomb, third a trap, and third a rope reaching down to a bottomless pit - asking if anyone dared drag themselves all the way up. He tried to stand, but could not bring himself to. Not yet. What was willpower before the mighty spiral that dwelled within his Soul?

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"Are you alright?" she asked. Of course Irwyn was, even if he couldn't put it to words. Though she still clung to him, he took another step forward.

He wished he could have had a greater part in the building. His younger brethren had been forced to step up instead. He had directed the best it could be done, and his brother was kind enough to hold back such that their parts would be practically equal in execution. They were not. Could likely never again be. But it was close enough to almost feel that way. A kindness he appreciated.

And most importantly, what had been done was good enough to serve its purpose. The hardest part had been to make the place unfindable. The rest could afford less refinement, given who was and wasn't meant to stride within.

"I don't think he is snapping out of it," a familiar voice announced. Irwyn had heard it before, but the body it belonged to had no real shape that warranted association, which confused him. "Like a man possessed."

He tried to take a step but was held back. Tendrils of meager magic blocked him, so they were burned away. He knew it was there. Had to touch it. Had to.

"It's out of our hands now," his brother repeated. He always did when they were leaving places like that. Deep down, Irwyn still wished it would never be used, one way or the other. Even deeper, he knew it was inevitable across the whole stretch of eternity.

Wistfully, he stood up and approached.

"The rest of you, step back. Too dangerous as you are," a familiar, pleasant voice. Commanding, but not towards him. A gentle hand touched Irwyn's shoulder, but it did not try to hold him back. Another step, then yet more magic bared the way. He was losing patience, obliterating it in a breath.

No further attempts were made to halt him. Just the two hands, one on arm and other the shoulder. They walked along, clung to him, as Irwyn closed the last bit of distance. The world narrowed until he knew only of those hands and his goal… And a whisper in his ear, warming his smoldering chest.

"I am standing with you, wherever it is this leads. Don't for a moment think otherwise."

Irwyn touched the nothing and could only ruefully smile. A habit he afforded himself without any emotion behind it, as if he was no longer even sure why he did it.

Irwyn touched the nothing and could only ruefully smile. It was strained and not his own, as if he was no longer even sure why he did it. The world slipped away just as the expression did from his lips.