Mason’s first thought was that he had died.

Honestly, after the day he had been having, that felt statistically reasonable.

The battlefield was gone.

The screaming sky was gone.

No Tribunal. No giant cosmic eye. No Draca pulling him away from divine disasters every ten minutes.

Just darkness stretching endlessly in every direction.

And one woman standing several feet away wearing Athlian’s face.

She isn’t physically older, gods apparently ignored normal aging entirely.

This version looked tired, exhausted in a way that settled deep into the eyes.

She watched him quietly while silver fragments drifted slowly through the darkness around them like broken pieces of mirrors.

Mason immediately pointed at her.

"No."

The woman blinked once.

"No?" she repeated calmly.

"No mysterious alternate goddess nonsense. I’m at capacity already."

To his absolute shock, she laughed not elegantly or divinely but real laugh.

Short and genuinely amused.

"That sounds exactly like him."

Mason froze. "...Who?"

"You."

Okay. That answer immediately made everything worse.

Mason took several cautious steps backward.

"Alright. New question. Where am I?"

The woman tilted her head slightly.

"Between truths."

"That is the most unhelpful location description possible."

"You’re inside the Gate."

Mason stopped moving.

Cold dread settled into his stomach instantly.

"The Judgment Gate?"

"Yes."

"Nope." He turned immediately and started walking.

There was absolutely nowhere to walk toward because the darkness stretched endlessly, but principle mattered.

"I reject this entire experience."

"I noticed."

He kept walking anyway.

"This is exactly why people don’t trust cosmic entities. Nobody explains anything normally."

Behind him, the woman sighed softly.

"You really are different."

That stopped him.

Athlian’s voice had been absent since the white flash.

Completely absent, the silence inside his mind felt horrifying.

He turned sharply. "Where’s Athlian?"

The woman studied him carefully for a moment before answering.

"She cannot enter this space fully."

"Why?"

"Because this place separates identities."

That was not reassuring, not even slightly.

Mason rubbed both hands over his face.

"Okay. Let me summarize my current situation to make sure I understand."

The woman waited patiently.

"I got dragged into another world, trapped inside a goddess, hunted by Heaven, threatened by ancient sky monsters, emotionally adopted by a knight commander, and now I’m trapped inside a magical interrogation dimension with somebody who looks exactly like my roommate."

The woman blinked slowly. "...Your

roommate?"

"I don’t know what else to call her at this point."

To Mason’s shock, the woman laughed again.

Definitely not normal goddess behavior.

That somehow unsettled him more.

"You truly changed her," she murmured.

Mason immediately narrowed his eyes.

"No. Stop doing the cryptic sentence thing."

The woman finally stepped closer.

Silver fragments drifted around her feet with every movement.

"You want direct answers?," she asked.

"Yes."

"You may not like them."

"At this point I would settle for something understandable."

That earned him another faint smile.

Then the woman stopped directly in front of him.

Close enough now that Mason noticed something strange.

Her eyes.

Athlian’s eyes were usually gold, warm, bright and alive.

But this version’s eyes looked fractured.

Like cracks running through light.

"You are not Athlian," He said quietly.

"No."

"You’re someone else using her appearance."

The woman hesitated.

Then answered softly.

"I was Athlian."

Silence followed.

Mason stared at her. "...Absolutely not."

"It’s true."

"No."

"Mason..."

"Nope."

He pointed at her aggressively.

"Athlian is currently inside my head making terrible decisions and emotionally tormenting me with ex-boyfriends."

The woman actually looked confused for a

second. "...Ex-boyfriends?"

"Long story."

She stared at him another moment before shaking her head slightly.

"That sounds exhausting."

"You have no idea."

A faint smile touched her face again.

Then slowly faded.

"The Athlian you know is real," she said quietly. "But she is not whole anymore."

Mason’s stomach tightened. The battlefield revelation echoed inside his thoughts again.

You were not the first fracture.

He looked at her carefully now. "...What happened?"

The woman finally looked away. And somehow that tiny action carried more pain than any dramatic reaction could have.

"Heaven happened."

Silence stretched briefly.

Mason crossed his arms. "That answer explains almost nothing.

"It explains everything."

"Not to me."

The woman sighed softly before walking past him through the darkness.

"This world once allowed gods to change," she said quietly. "To grow. To evolve beside humanity."

Silver reflections flickered around them as she moved. "But Heaven feared change."

Mason followed cautiously behind her.

"Why?"

"Because evolving gods become unpredictable."

Honestly? That sounded believable.

The Tribunal certainly seemed obsessed with control.

"The old gods resisted," she continued."Some were erased. Some submitted. Some broke."

Mason’s chest tightened slightly. "...And Athlian?"

The woman stopped walking. "She tried to survive."

Something about the way she said it hurt.

Not defensive or proud...just tired.

Mason looked at her carefully.

"You keep talking like you are and aren’t her at the same time."

"That’s because both are true."

Wonderful, identity paradoxes. Exactly what his mental health needed.

The woman turned toward him again.

"When Heaven began restructuring divine existence, Athlian resisted longer than most."

"Because she hated Heaven?"

"No."

The answer surprised him. "She loved humanity."

Mason blinked.

That genuinely caught him off guard.

The woman continued quietly. "She refused to abandon mortal attachment. She kept interfering. Protecting. Loving."

Immediately Mason thought of Draca and Zereth.

And apparently half the emotionally unstable population around the capital.

The woman noticed his expression.

"Yes," she said dryly. "Athlian formed attachments irresponsibly."

"That might be the understatement of the century."

A faint laugh escaped her again..then faded quickly.

"Heaven punished emotional dependency on gods."

Mason frowned. "...That’s insane."

"Heaven considers emotion destabilizing."

"That explains so much about the Tribunal actually."

The woman nodded slowly. "Eventually Athlian began dividing herself."

Mason froze. "...What?"

"She separated memories. Emotions. Desires. Regrets."

The darkness around them shifted faintly as silver fragments drifted past.

"Piece by piece," the woman continued quietly, "until even she no longer understood what she had become."

Cold realization spread slowly through Mason’s chest.

"The fractures."

"Yes."

"You said I wasn’t the first."

"You weren’t."

Mason suddenly understood why Athlian had panicked earlier because this didn’t start with him.

It started long before he arrived.

"How many fractures were there?" he asked carefully.

The woman hesitated. "...Too many."

Not reassuring at all.

Mason ran a hand through his hair. "So what exactly are you?"

The woman looked directly at him now.

"I am what remained after Athlian abandoned parts of herself."

Silence followed.

Mason stared at her.

A discarded version.

A leftover identity.

That suddenly felt horrifyingly sad and lonely.

The woman noticed the shift in his expression immediately.

"Do not pity me."

"It’s a little hard not to."

"I am not helpless."

"Didn’t say you were."

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Then Mason quietly asked the question bothering him most.

"...Why do you know my name?"

The woman smiled faintly. "Because I have been waiting for you."

Nope, hr not like that answer.

"Again with the cryptic nonsense."

"You crossed worlds exactly as predicted."

"That sentence created six new problems."

The woman folded her arms calmly. "You think your arrival was random?"

Mason opened his mouth but paused.

Actually... yes. He had assumed cosmic bad luck.

The woman watched realization slowly spread across his face.

"Athlian searched for something beyond Heaven’s reach," she said quietly. "Something Heaven could not predict or control."

Mason’s stomach dropped. "A foreign soul."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"That is deeply concerning."

The woman looked almost sympathetic. "It was also desperate."

Mason suddenly remembered the giant entity’s words.

One soul died. One soul remained.

"...Did Athlian summon me?"

The woman went silent. Which was answer enough.

Mason stepped backward immediately.

"No."

"She did not intend this outcome."

"Nope. Absolutely not. I reject destiny plots entirely."

"You were never meant to merge completely."

"Well fantastic because the current arrangement is emotionally exhausting."

For the first time, genuine sadness crossed the woman’s expression.

"She was dying."

Mason froze. "What?"

"Heaven’s restructuring was slowly erasing her identity. The fractures became unstable. Memories collapsed. Emotions disconnected."

The woman lowered her eyes briefly. "Athlian feared disappearing."

That hit harder than expected because suddenly Mason remembered another moment.

I don’t want to disappear, not Athlian...but

him. And Draca promising to protect the person he became.

His chest tightened painfully.

The woman noticed immediately. "He matters to you."

He blinked. "...Who?"

"The mortal anchor."

Of course even cosmic soul fragments called Draca that.

"What does that even mean?" Mason demanded. "Everybody keeps saying anchor like I’m supposed to understand!"

The woman studied him quietly.

Then finally answered. "Draca stabilizes divine resonance."

Mason stared blankly. "That explained absolutely nothing."

A faint smile touched her lips.

"He grounds unstable divinity emotionally and spiritually. Certain mortals can do that naturally."

Mason blinked slowly. "So Draca is basically cosmic emotional support?"

The woman looked deeply confused by the phrasing.

"...Inaccurate. But close enough."

Honestly, Mason felt weirdly validated, of course Draca literally stabilized people by existing.

That tracked emotionally.

The woman stepped closer again. "He stabilizes you specifically."

Mason immediately looked away. "No he doesn’t."

"He does."

"He’s just... dependable."

"You calm whenever he touches you."

Mason pointed aggressively. "That is a biological stress response."

The woman stared at him then laughed outright.

"Oh," she said with genuine amusement, "you truly are human."

"That sounds mildly insulting."

"You hide emotions terribly."

"I absolutely do not."

"You are thinking about him right now."

Mason opened his mouth to protest further but the words couldn’t firm.

Annoyingly enough, she was correct.

The woman smiled knowingly. "Athlian would find this hilarious."

"...She already does."

That softened the woman’s expression instantly.

For the first time since arriving here, Mason saw something vulnerable cross her face.

"She still laughs?" she asked.

The question caught him off guard. "Yes."

"She still argues?"

"Constantly."

A pause.

"She still cares about mortals too much?"

Mason hesitated.

Then answered honestly. "Yeah."

The woman closed her eyes briefly.

When she opened them again, the fractures inside her gaze seemed softer

somehow.

"She survived longer than I hoped."

Mason swallowed slightly. This entire conversation suddenly felt much heavier than before.

Then the darkness around them trembled violently.

The woman’s expression changed instantly.

Serious now. "They found you again."

Mason frowned. "Who?"

Before she could answer...silver cracks exploded across the darkness surrounding them.

The Judgment Gate.

Something was breaking through.

The woman grabbed Mason’s wrist immediately.

"Listen carefully."

Her voice sharpened urgently. "Heaven cannot fully separate you from Athlian anymore."

"That sounds positive."

"It isn’t."

’Well that’s fantastic’ Mason thought inwardly.

"The merge evolved beyond their expectations," she continued quickly. "If they force separation now, both souls may collapse."

Mason’s stomach dropped hard.

"...What?"

The silver cracks spread faster around them.

Voices echoed faintly beyond the darkness.

Draca shouting.

Athlian screaming his name.

The woman tightened her grip.

"You must return before the First Judge identifies your original world."

"My what?"

"Your world carries conceptual differences. If Heaven traces it..."

A violent crack split the darkness apart.

Silver light burst through instantly.

The woman shoved Mason backward

hard.

"Go!"

"What about you?!"

For the first time...she looked afraid.

Not for herself but for him.

"I was never meant to remain."

The silver light engulfed everything rapidly now.

The woman’s body began breaking apart into glowing fragments.

Mason stared in horror. "No!"

She smiled sadly.

And suddenly for one brief second...

She looked exactly like Athlian again.

Warm, alive and whole.

"Protect her," she whispered softly.

Then the light consumed everything.

Mason felt himself falling violently backward through endless silver space while voices echoed around him again.

Heaven, Athlian and Draca.

Reality slammed back into existence all at once.

Pain exploded through his body.

Air rushed into his lungs sharply.

And the first thing he saw...was Draca kneeling beside him desperately, one hand gripping his shoulder hard enough to hurt.

"Mason..."

Relief flooded Draca’s face so intensely it almost looked painful.

Then Mason realized something worse.

Everybody around them had heard the name this time.

The battlefield had gone completely silent.

And above them...the First Judge turned its faceless gaze directly toward Draca.

Then spoke one sentence that made the entire battlefield freeze.

"THE ANCHOR HAS CONFIRMED THE FOREIGN SOUL."