For several long moments after the final image disappeared, neither Atheline nor Lilith spoke. The archive had once again become nothing more than an abandoned stone chamber.
The warm lanterns were gone and the bustling fairies had vanished, only crumbling shelves and countless years of silence remained.
Yet the weight of what they had witnessed lingered heavily in the air.
Atheline slowly exhaled.
"...So that’s how they survived."
Lilith nodded quietly.
"The sanctuary wasn’t simply hidden, it was paid for."
Her gaze drifted toward the doorway through which they had entered.
"The fairies living here have no idea what their ancestors gave up."
Atheline remained silent. They knew the sanctuary existed and was protected by an ancient barrier but they had never been told the true price.
Thousands of years had buried the truth beneath legend.
They began searching the archive carefully, unlike before, they weren’t looking for treasure but for history.
Every shelf they examined had collapsed beneath the passage of time. Books crumbled into dust the moment they were touched. Scrolls had become so brittle that even the slightest movement caused them to disintegrate.
Only fragments remained with names, symbols and pieces of sentences that no longer formed complete thoughts.
It was enough to remind them that this had once been a place of learning but not enough to answer any questions.
As Atheline approached the ancient desk near the center of the room, something caught his attention. Unlike everything else in the archive, one object remained perfectly preserved.
A single book.
Its cover was fashioned from a pale silver material unlike leather or wood. Delicate vines had been engraved along its surface.
Although dust covered it, there wasn’t a single sign of decay.
"It survived..."
Lilith walked beside him.
"It must have been protected by magic."
Atheline nodded.
"Strong magic."
He carefully lifted the book. To his surprise, iwasn’t heavy, it felt almost warm, as though someone had only recently placed it there.
The moment he opened the first page, faint runes shimmered briefly before fading away. Whatever enchantment had protected the book had finally recognized that someone had inherited the archive.
The pages were written in an ancient language, one neither of them had ever studied. Yet, as they stared at the symbols, the meaning gradually became clear.
It was probably because the same force that had shown them the memories quietly translated the intent behind each sentence.
Lilith looked surprised.
"So even the book..."
Atheline smiled faintly.
"The archive really wanted someone to remember."
The first several pages described the fairy civilization before the Cataclysm. They spoke of forests so vast that entire kingdoms could have disappeared beneath their canopies.
Of enormous flowers that bloomed only once every thousand years. Of beasts that lived alongside the fairies rather than hunting them.
It was a peaceful world, that no longer existed.
As they continued reading, the tone gradually changed with the arrival of the Corrupted. Entire regions were consumed overnight, cities swallowed by darkness and ancient races disappearing one after another.
Then, the decision to abandon their homeland.
Atheline slowly closed his eyes.
"So they really fled here."
Lilith nodded.
"They had nowhere else to go."
Several pages later, they reached the section describing the sanctuary itself. It recorded every stage of its construction, the creation of the barrier, the sacrifices, the names of those who willingly offered their wings and the names of those selected because their magical affinity was necessary for the ritual.
No distinction was made between them. The final line beneath every name remained identical.
May their sacrifice protect every generation that follows.
Lilith gently touched the page.
"They remembered everyone, no one was forgotten."
The following Chapter described the ritual itself in extraordinary detail. The barrier hadn’t merely concealed the sanctuary, it had separated it from ordinary space.
Time itself flowed differently along its edges. Countless defensive enchantments had been layered together.
Even powerful beings would unconsciously avoid approaching the sanctuary. Those who forced their way through would become trapped within endless loops until they abandoned hope.
Atheline thought back to the forest.
"The illusion..."
Lilith finished his sentence.
"...was only the first layer."
He nodded slowly.
The pages turned once more, near the end of the book, both of them became very still.
The orb.
Several pages described the mysterious artifact.
Where it had been placed.
How it was to be protected.
Its purpose.
Its duty.
Lilith looked toward Atheline.
"We can’t leave this."
He already understood. The modern fairies didn’t know the orb had ever existed. If they learned, curiosity alone might tempt future generations to search for another one.
Or worse, outsiders might one day learn that an ancient artifact had once rested within the sanctuary. That knowledge could bring endless disaster.
Without speaking further, Atheline carefully tore the relevant pages from the book.
He did so gently,making certain not to damage the surrounding text. Every page mentioning the orb, its guardian, purpose and future owner.
He removed them all. The remaining history flowed naturally, as though those passages had never existed.
Lilith gathered the removed pages, dark Aether gathering quietly within her palm. A moment later, the pages dissolved into fine black ash.
The ash scattered harmlessly across the floor before disappearing completely.
Atheline closed the book.
"What remains..." He looked thoughtfully at the worn silver cover. "...belongs to the fairies."
Lilith smiled.
"They deserve to know, how their ancestors suffered."
He nodded.
"And how this sanctuary exists."
The sacrifices... Those deserved to be remembered.
Before leaving, Atheline looked around the archive one final time, his gaze swept across the broken chamber.
He bowed respectfully. Lilith did the same. This was respect to those who had preserved its history across thousands of years.
Without their determination, the fairy race would have vanished long ago.
As they stepped back through the great stone doorway, a deep rumble echoed behind them. Both turned immediately.
The enormous stone doors slowly began closing on their own, until the two halves met once more.
A soft pulse of silver light spread across their surface, then, the carvings disappeared and the seams between the doors faded.
Within moments, the entrance looked exactly like an ordinary stone wall, as though no chamber had ever existed beyond it.
Atheline placed one hand against the cold rock but nothing happened. The archive had sealed itself once again, perhaps forever.
Neither of them tried to reopen it, its purpose had been fulfilled. The history it had protected now lived within those willing to remember it.
With the preserved book secured safely inside Lilith’s spatial storage, the two quietly made their way through the remaining tunnels toward the sanctuary above.
The whispers still lingered in the darkness, but they seemed different now. As though the ancient cave itself had finally laid down a burden it had carried since before the Cataclysm.