The city stretched out before them, damp streets gleaming under flickering streetlights, neon signs humming faintly in the distance.

  The world felt too still, as if reality itself was holding its breath.

  Maybe it was just the Pawn Shops lingering in Elias’ mind, twisting the edges of his thoughts.

  Maybe it was something else.

  Either way—

  Elias wasn’t about to let his guard down.

  —

  They walked for a while without speaking.

  Not because there was nothing to say.

  But because neither of them wanted to be the first to break the silence.

  Sera was the one to finally do it.

  “Tell me.”

  Elias exhaled slowly, leaning against a crumbling brick wall. “Tell you what?”

  Sera crossed her arms. “Don’t play dumb.”

  Her eyes were sharp, searching.

  She wasn’t just curious—she was testing him.

  Elias met her gaze, careful. Controlled.

  Because even now, even after everything—

  He couldn’t be sure who was listening.

  Or what.

  —

  “I want to know about the record. What did you see?” Sera’s voice was steady. “And don’t lie. I want the truth.”

  Elias thought about that for a moment.

  She wasn’t asking who he was.

  Not yet.

  But she was circling the truth. Getting closer.

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  He would have to tread carefully.

  —

  “It was about the first lie,” Elias said finally.

  Sera didn’t speak.

  She just waited.

  Elias exhaled, his breath curling in the cold air.

  “No one knows what it was,” he admitted. “Not exactly. Just that it was powerful enough to change everything. It was a lie that should’ve broken the world, but instead—”

  He hesitated.

  Sera’s voice was quieter now. “It became truth.”

  Elias nodded.

  “And the one who spoke it?” she pressed.

  “The first Lie Seller,” Elias murmured. “The one who learned how to sell lies like currency. The one who made the first deal and never stopped.”

  —

  Sera studied him.

  Elias could tell she was looking for something in his words.

  Some missing piece.

  Because there were missing pieces.

  She could feel it.

  The pauses in his sentences. The careful way he avoided certain words.

  But after a moment, she let it go.

  For now.

  —

  “What about you?” she asked instead. “What are you going to do now?”

  Elias hesitated.

  He wasn’t willing to be a pawn.

  Not to Valen.

  Not to the system.

  Not to anything.

  And if he was ever going to change that—

  He had to figure out what he really was.

  He had to find the stories of all his past selves.

  But he wasn’t about to tell Sera that.

  Not yet.

  Instead—

  He tilted his head. “Are there places where I can find more secrets? Uncover truths about my origin?”

  Sera narrowed her eyes. “You’re being vague.”

  Elias smirked. “It’s a bad habit.”

  Sera sighed, shaking her head. “There are places. But they aren’t safe.”

  Elias shrugged. “Nothing is.”

  Sera studied him for another long moment.

  She still knew he wasn’t telling her everything.

  But for now—

  She chose to leave it at that.

  And just like that—

  The conversation was over.

  For now.

  —

  Sera glanced over her shoulder before continuing, her voice quieter. “There’s a place I know… not far from here. A temple, though most wouldn’t call it that anymore. It’s tied to an old god—one people have mostly forgotten. But it’s still there.”

  Elias raised an eyebrow. “Which god?”

  Sera’s gaze flickered with hesitation before she spoke. “Dolos.”

  A shiver ran through Elias. He had heard the name before.

  Dolos—the Greek spirit of trickery and deception. The apprentice of Prometheus, the one who created a false version of man, a statue so perfect it was indistinguishable from the real thing.

  A lie so well-crafted that even the gods were fooled.

  Sera continued. “There was a sect of worshipers who believed Dolos wasn’t just a deceiver, but the keeper of hidden truths. That lies weren’t just illusions, but reflections of truths waiting to be uncovered.”

  Elias frowned. “That sounds… familiar.”

  Sera gave him a knowing look. “It should.”

  She shifted, glancing toward the darkened streets ahead. “There’s a place in the old district, near the river. A forgotten shrine. People don’t see it unless they know to look. It’s said to hold echoes of the past—whispers of things even the Pawn Shops can’t erase.”

  Elias felt something stir in his chest. A pull.

  Not magic. Not fate.

  Something deeper.

  Like an itch at the edge of his mind, a memory he had never known he had.

  He looked at Sera. “And you think I’ll find answers there?”

  She tilted her head. “I think if anyone can find them, it’s you.”

  Elias exhaled, rolling his shoulders.

  It wasn’t much.

  But it was a start.

  “Then let’s find out if the forgotten god of lies still has something left to say.”

  —

  They had barely taken two steps when Elias’ vision blurred.

  His legs buckled.

  The pavement lurched beneath him.

  A sharp ringing filled his ears, muffling Sera’s voice as she called his name.

  The world tilted sideways.

  Then everything went dark.

  —

  Sera caught him before he hit the ground.

  “Elias?!”

  He didn’t respond.

  Sera cursed under her breath.

  She had forgotten.

  He wasn’t like her. He wasn’t like Valen.

  For all the secrets he might hold, for all the things lurking in his past—right now, he was as human as human could possibly be.

  And he looked terrible.

  His breathing was shallow, his skin pale. How long had it been since he last ate? Slept?

  Sera hadn’t noticed before.

  Because everything had moved too fast.

  Because Elias had kept pushing forward.

  But now, in the quiet aftermath, she saw it.

  The exhaustion.

  The weight.

  And something else—

  Something beneath his skin, barely perceptible, like a thread of something tainted winding through him.

  Had the Pawn Shops left a mark on him?

  Had he already changed?

  A sinking feeling settled in her chest.

  Was this just exhaustion?

  Or was this the Pawn Shops taking something from him, and neither of them had noticed?

  Sera clenched her jaw.

  They were about to go on a journey with no food, no rest, no preparation.

  And if she didn’t do something soon—

  Elias might not make it.

  Her grip on him tightened as she sighed.

  “Your recklessness is rubbing off on me.”

  The temple could wait.

  Right now, Elias needed sleep.

  She looked down at him, scowling.

  “You better wake up soon, idiot.”

  Then, with quiet determination—

  She lifted him with ease and carried him into the night.