Fragments Of Truth

Sleep had become a cruel jest. Kaelith closed his eyes, but the stars still waited for him. Even after returning from the chaos, their presence lingered, a shadow behind his thoughts, threading through the silence like an unfinished melody. The pull in his chest was gone, but something else had replaced it—a strange, disquieting stillness that felt heavier than any burden he'd carried before.

Kaelith sat upright in bed, the sheets twisted around his legs, his skin clammy with sweat despite the chill of January. The air felt wrong. Familiar, yet… off. The ticking of the clock on his wall sounded faint, like it had been submerged underwater. His breathing was loud in his ears, yet the room itself was quiet. Too quiet. As if the walls of his world were thinning, leaving him exposed to something vast and unknowable.

He rubbed at his sternum out of habit, but there was no ache. No pull. Just that calm, eerie stillness, as though something had shifted permanently. His eyes darted to the window, where frost curled in intricate patterns over the glass. Beyond it, the stars burned bright and vivid, brighter than they had any right to be. They looked closer now. Closer than they'd ever been before.

The faint glow beneath his skin caught his attention. He held up his hands, watching the delicate veins of light pulse faintly in rhythm with his heartbeat. It wasn't as intense as it had been during the battle in the chaotic realm, but it was there—a lingering thread of the power he had wielded.

"What have you done to me?" he whispered, staring at his hands as though they belonged to someone else. The stars offered no answer, their silence as oppressive as their light.

Kaelith spent the next day moving through the world as though it were made of glass. Every sound was muted, every motion delayed, like the earth itself was struggling to catch up with him. His body felt heavier than it had in the chaotic realm but lighter than before he crossed the veil. There was a strange dissonance in his movements, a sense that he didn't quite fit within his own skin.

He avoided Mikael's calls, letting his phone buzz incessantly until the notifications became a dull hum in the background. He didn't have the words to explain what was happening to him—or the courage to try. Mikael wouldn't understand. How could he? How could anyone?

Kaelith leaned against the kitchen counter, staring at the faint flicker of his reflection in the microwave door. His eyes lingered on the veins of light that pulsed faintly beneath his skin. He clenched his fist, watching the glow flare briefly before fading again.

The pull was gone, but the stars were still there. Watching. Waiting.

By evening, the tension became unbearable. The walls of his apartment pressed in on him, suffocating and sterile, and the faint hum of the heater felt like static grating against his thoughts. Kaelith grabbed his coat and stepped outside, the cold air biting at his cheeks as he walked aimlessly through the city streets.

Kaelith's footsteps crunched against the thin layer of frost that clung to the pavement. He didn't know where he was going. He just knew he had to move. The streets were quiet, the usual hum of the city dampened by the icy stillness of winter. Kaelith shoved his hands into his coat pockets, his breath visible in the frigid air.

It wasn't long before he found himself at the edge of the park. The expanse of snow-dusted grass stretched before him, bordered by skeletal trees that swayed gently in the breeze. The city lights faded here, leaving the sky darker, clearer. The stars above seemed to burn brighter, their light spilling across the heavens in vivid streaks.

Kaelith stopped at the center of the park, tilting his head back to stare at the constellations. Their patterns had shifted subtly, though he couldn't say how. He only knew that they felt alive—watching him, studying him. A faint hum resonated at the base of his skull, barely perceptible, but impossible to ignore.

The pull wasn't there anymore, but the stars still felt… connected. As though the thread between him and the cosmos hadn't been severed, only loosened.

The calm shattered when the air shifted.

Kaelith stumbled, his hand flying to his chest as his pulse spiked. The stars above burned brighter, their light pulsing in rhythm with the glow beneath his skin. The hum in his skull grew louder, and the ground beneath him seemed to ripple, distorting like the surface of a pond.

"No," he muttered, his voice trembling. "Not again."

The stars didn't answer. The pull wasn't there, but something deeper, something raw and alien, filled the void it had left behind. The air thickened, charged with a static energy that made his skin crawl. Kaelith fell to his knees, clutching his chest as the world around him bent and twisted. The snow-dusted grass stretched and warped, the skeletal trees bending at impossible angles. The stars seemed to descend, their light growing brighter and sharper, until they consumed everything.

Kaelith closed his eyes, but it didn't help. The light burned through the darkness, searing its presence into his thoughts. His body felt weightless, the world spinning around him in a chaotic blur. He reached out, desperate for something to hold onto, but his hands found nothing.

And then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped.

Kaelith opened his eyes and found himself back in the park. The cold ground pressed against his knees, and the distant hum of the city returned, faint but steady. The stars above were silent again, their light no longer pulsing in time with his heartbeat.

Kaelith staggered to his feet, his breath visible in the frosty air. His hands trembled as he looked down at them, half-expecting the glow beneath his skin to have disappeared. But it was still there—faint, but undeniable.

The stars had returned him to his world. Or, perhaps, he had dragged himself back.

Kaelith exhaled shakily, his breath clouding the air. The stillness in his chest was heavier now, tinged with something he couldn't name. His fingers brushed against the faint lines of light beneath his skin, and he clenched his fists tightly.

He wasn't the same. Whatever the chaotic realm had done to him, it hadn't left him untouched. He could still feel the hum of the cosmos deep within him, the faint whispers of the stars threading through his thoughts.

They weren't done with him yet.

Kaelith straightened, his gaze lifting to the sky. The stars had called him once before, pulling him into their world and testing him against the chaos. Now, they watched in silence, their light a reminder of the power he had touched.

"Fine," he muttered under his breath, his voice steadier than he felt. "Let's see where this goes."

And with that, he turned and walked away, the glow beneath his skin pulsing faintly with every step.