The Void Cycle

Neo opened his eyes.

The spiral was gone. Nothing was left but damp earth beneath his palms, a grey sky above, and an unnatural silence. But it wasn't empty. There was no fear either. It was something else — a feeling he had never experienced before: clarity.

He stood up. He didn't feel the need to understand everything. He just felt he had to continue. Not because he would find answers, but because every step was part of the answer.

The Shadow awaited him.

He no longer saw it as an enemy. Nor as salvation. He felt it nearby, like a part of himself — a mirror that no longer frightened, but challenged.

"Did you step out of yourself?" it asked, its voice now resembling his own.

"No. I returned to myself."

For the first time, the Shadow smiled. It was hard to tell if it was a real smile or just an impression in his mind. But Neo understood: you cannot destroy darkness. You can only acknowledge it... and walk alongside it.

On the path, nature was different. Or perhaps it was him. Details that once escaped him now stopped him: a flower growing among ruins, a heart-shaped stone, a bird singing alone in a burnt tree.

The world hadn't become more beautiful.

But he... had become more attentive.

He reached a forgotten village, nestled among the mountains. It was deserted. Only empty houses, doors creaking in the wind, strange messages written on the walls:

"Time is a guest."

"Loss keeps us alive."

"Those who forget... start again."

Neo felt that this place had once been alive. And that it was waiting for him.

On an old door, there was a symbol: the spiral. Now inverted — as if it were closing.

"Something is brewing," the Shadow whispered.

"Or repeating," Neo replied.

But in his eyes, there was no longer fear.

Only curiosity.

End of Chapter 10