Chapter 268: The Endou Warning

The enormous chamber remained silent after the Guardian’s memory disappeared. Arthur looked at the carvings covering the walls, the Endou symbol appearing everywhere, on pillars, across the floor, around the enormous circular platform at the center of the room.

Luna walked forward slowly. "I know this place."

Athena glanced at her. "You’ve been here before?"

"No." She shook her head. "But I’ve seen these symbols my entire life." She touched one of the carvings. "This is Endou writing."

Arthur looked toward the center of the room. "So this place belonged to them."

"Not just belonged." Her eyes moved across the chamber. "It was important."

He stepped onto the circular platform. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the Endou symbol beneath his feet began glowing, golden light spreading across the floor.

Mithra moved closer immediately. "What is it?"

"I don’t know."

The light climbed the walls, and twelve golden figures appeared throughout the chamber. Everyone raised their weapons at once, but the figures didn’t react, simply walking, some carrying scrolls, some holding tablets, others wearing long ceremonial robes covered in Endou symbols. They weren’t frozen images. They were moving, speaking, arguing, living inside an ancient moment preserved for thousands of years.

Athena lowered her hand slowly. "It’s another memory."

Vedas stared at the figures. "They’re talking."

A golden man walked toward the center table. "The eastern chamber must remain sealed."

Another figure answered immediately from across the room. "Again?"

"We have already sealed it twice."

"And twice someone opened it."

A third Endou stepped between them. "Then improve the seal."

The first man shook his head. "That isn’t the problem." He placed a tablet on the table. "The problem is the Mirror itself."

Luna’s expression changed. "The Mirrors..."

Arthur watched closely. The twelve Endou gathered around the table, and they weren’t warriors, they were leaders, some older, some younger, but all of them carrying themselves with authority.

Athena whispered, "They were deciding what to do with the Mirrors."

Vedas nodded. "So the Endou weren’t merely guardians."

"No." Her eyes followed the figures. "They were the ones making the decisions."

One of the younger Endou slammed his hand against the table. "We cannot keep hiding them!"

An older woman answered immediately. "We absolutely can."

"For how long?"

"For as long as necessary."

"Until another city dies?"

The room went quiet. She looked at him. "Choose your words carefully."

"I am choosing them carefully." He pointed toward the Earth Mirror symbol carved into the table. "That thing destroyed everything around it."

Another Endou shook his head. "The Mirror didn’t destroy the city."

"The Mirror was there."

"Being present isn’t the same as causing it."

He scoffed. "And what difference does that make to the dead?"

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. This wasn’t a simple disagreement. They genuinely didn’t know what the correct answer was.

One of the Endou women stepped forward. "We have already decided."

He turned. "No. You decided."

"We are the council."

"And I am part of this council."

"Then respect the decision."

"Respect?" He laughed bitterly. "How many more people need to die before you admit you’re wrong?"

Another Endou slammed his palm onto the table. "Enough!" The chamber fell silent, and he looked around. "We are not destroying the Mirrors."

The young man glared at him. "Why?"

"Because we don’t know what happens if they are destroyed." He continued before the man could answer. "We know what happens when they are used incorrectly." He pointed toward the records. "We know what happens when corruption reaches them. But we do not know what happens when one of the Mirrors is destroyed."

Another Endou nodded. "We could trigger something worse."

The young man shook his head. "Or we could prevent it."

"That is speculation."

"So is your fear."

The two stared at each other. Luna watched silently, and Mithra glanced at her. "You okay?"

She nodded, but she didn’t look away.

Another Endou stepped forward. "There is another option." Everyone turned. "Move them."

The elder frowned. "Move them where?"

"Somewhere no one can reach them."

He laughed. "You’re suggesting we bury them?"

"Yes."

"And then what?"

"Guard them."

"For centuries?"

"If necessary."

He shook his head. "You don’t understand." His voice grew quieter. "We cannot guarantee that future generations will protect them."

An older Endou answered. "Then we teach them."

"And if they refuse?"

Nobody answered. He looked around the room. "That’s the problem." He pointed toward the Mirror symbol. "As long as these things exist, someone will eventually want them."

Another Endou spoke. "Then we make sure no one can find them."

He stared at him. "You really believe hiding something makes it safe?"

"No." The older man looked toward the others. "I believe it makes it harder to misuse."

The argument continued, some supporting sealing, others supporting moving the Mirrors, a few remaining undecided. Then one Endou stepped forward. "We should destroy them."

The room fell silent. Luna’s eyes widened.

"Every Mirror," the figure continued.

Another Endou shook his head immediately. "No."

"Why?"

"Because we don’t know what destroying them will do."

"Then find out."

"How?"

He pointed toward the Mirror symbol. "We have already seen what their existence can cause."

The elder stepped forward. "And you would risk destroying them without knowing the consequences?"

"I would risk it to prevent another massacre."

Arthur’s expression changed. There it was, the same belief Varka Endou had carried, the same belief that had eventually led him to tell Halburn to destroy the Mirrors.

Vedas stared at the golden figure. "That sounds like Varka."

Luna looked at him. "You think that’s him?"

He nodded slowly. "Maybe not literally. But that way of thinking..." He looked toward the arguing Endou. "That’s the same argument Varka made."

The memory shifted. The twelve Endou separated into two groups, one standing beneath the symbol of a sealed Mirror, the other beneath a symbol Arthur didn’t recognize.

Athena’s eyes narrowed. "They’ve split."

The Endou woman who had opposed destruction looked toward the other group. "If you insist on destroying the Mirrors, you will have to do so without the council."

The man stared back. "Then perhaps the council is the problem."

"You would divide the Endou over this?"

"No." He looked toward the Mirror symbol. "The Mirrors divided us."

Another Endou stepped between them. "Enough."

"No." He shook his head. "Not anymore." He turned toward the others. "You’ve all seen the corruption." Several lowered their heads. "You’ve all seen what happens when people become desperate." His voice hardened. "And you’re still willing to leave these things untouched?"

The elder answered quietly. "Because we are afraid of making the wrong choice."

He stared at him. "So am I." For the first time, his anger faded. "But I am more afraid of doing nothing."

Silence. Arthur watched the exchange carefully. That was what made the argument convincing. Neither side believed they were evil. Neither side thought they were betraying the world. They were simply terrified of choosing incorrectly.

The memory shifted again. A golden figure walked toward the center of the chamber, and Arthur recognized the symbol on his robe.

Endou.

Then another symbol appeared beside it, one Arthur had seen before, and his expression changed immediately.

Luna noticed. "Arthur?"

He didn’t answer. The symbol was the same one carried by the robed figures, the people who had attacked Luna’s village, the people who had used the purple corruption. It appeared on the opposite side of the ancient council.

Luna stepped forward slowly, her breathing stopping. "No..."

Mithra moved beside her immediately. "What?"

She pointed. "That symbol."

Athena looked, her expression hardening. "I’ve seen it."

Vedas tightened his grip. "The robed people."

Luna nodded. "They had it."

Arthur stared at the two symbols, the Endou symbol and the symbol of the robed figures. They had been connected before, long before Luna’s village had been destroyed, long before Jaku and Rokkaku ever appeared.

The memory began fading.

Luna whispered, "My ancestors knew."

Arthur looked at her. "Probably."

She turned toward him. "Then why didn’t they tell us?"

He thought about it. "Maybe they were afraid."

She lowered her eyes, and Mithra stayed beside her without saying anything. Vedas looked back toward the fading Endou figures. "I wish Halburn had told us this."

Athena sighed. "Or at least written it in his journal."

Arthur chuckled. "I have a feeling he thought it would be better for us to discover this." He raised his hands and looked at the King Mark. "Especially if he thought I would be looking for ways to unlock more of it."

Sun looked at him. "That old King really is annoying."

Kong huffed, then grinned, pointing around the enormous chamber and toward the city above them.

"I never thought he would explore so many places," Sun said.

Eden tilted her head. "Besides, it isn’t so bad! It just means the adventure has more surprises."

Arthur laughed. "I agree!"

For a moment, the tension eased.

Then—

GLOW.

The Endou symbol on the wall illuminated again, and beside it, the mysterious second symbol appeared. Luna’s smile disappeared, her entire body freezing.

Arthur turned toward the wall. Athena stopped writing. Vedas slowly raised his spear.

The symbol belonging to the robed figures remained beside the Endou symbol, not carved separately, not placed randomly. They were connected by a thin golden line.

Luna stared at it, her voice barely coming out. "They were connected."

Arthur’s expression hardened. "Looks like it."

And suddenly, the mystery surrounding the people who had destroyed Luna’s village had become much older than any of them had imagined.