The Nameless Heir-Chapter 41: A Memory,or a Vision?

As he was training, Kael paused—something caught his attention.

He looked back.

Liz stood in the doorway, arms folded. Her shadow stretched long across the floor behind her.

"So..." she said, slowly. "What are you doing in the private hall at this hour?"

Her voice wasn’t sharp—but it wasn’t soft, either.

Somewhere between teasing and testing.

She tilted her head, watching him like she already knew the answer.

Kael blinked.

His grip on the sword loosened just a little.

No excuse came to mind. So he went with the first thing that did.

"I was sleepwalking," he said, straight-faced.

Her eyes narrowed. "You were sleepwalking with a sword?"

"Yes," he said again, flat and confident—like it made perfect sense.

She stepped closer. Her boots tapped lightly against the stone floor.

Kael’s voice jumped out—louder, strained.

"Don’t come any closer."

The moment she crossed the threshold, her legs gave out.

Her knees slammed into the stone. A sharp breath caught in her throat—then vanished.

The gravity was still on 200x.

Kael’s eyes widened. He turned it off instantly and ran to her side.

Liz coughed, eyes dazed. "How...?"

"I’m sorry, sunshine," Kael said quickly, voice tight. "I didn’t expect anyone to be here."

He stepped forward and offered his hand. She hesitated, then took it.

He helped her to her feet, his grip firm—but careful. Like he felt guilty just for touching her.

Without saying a word, he turned and began unclipping the weighted bracelets on his arms.

Each one fell with a dull metallic thud. The sound echoed in the quiet hall.

Liz’s eyes widened.

They sat down on the bench nearby.

Liz leaned forward, elbows on her knees, watching him in silence for a moment.

"So..." she said, slowly. "The past few weeks, you’ve been sneaking in here?"

Kael gave her a half-shrug, still catching his breath.

"Yap," he said, casual—but his squint gave him away.

"But how did you find me?"

"I kinda knew earlier..." she shrugged. "Since your physique, your body’s changing in rapid rate."

Kael instantly covered his chest with both arms. "I feel violated."

"Oh, shut up," Liz said with a roll of her eyes—but her lips curved slightly.

She glanced down at his hands, then back up—eyes narrowing slightly.

"What is this training?" she asked, her voice quieter now.

She placed her hands gently over his forearm.

A soft glow spread from her palms—golden light, warm and slow, like sunlight sinking into his skin.

Kael wasn’t hurt. But her healing...

It soaked into his muscles like warmth after cold rain.

His soreness faded. His joints loosened. It felt like hours of pain melting in seconds.

His eyes flicked to her hands.

A thought clicked.

If she healed him every time...

He could train longer. Harder.

"Oh, sunshine... will you help me?" he asked suddenly—then dropped to one knee, hands clasped like a child begging.

She blinked down at him, caught off guard. "Only if you tell me why you’re doing this extreme training that could break you."

Kael looked up at her.

Then down.

He let out a breath—long, slow.

This was the time.

"Do you remember when I went to the Underworld?"

Liz nodded once. "Yes." Her voice sharpened, attention focused.

"You see..." he said slowly, "I didn’t go there for vacation."

Liz raised an eyebrow. "Kael, do I look dumb?"

He smiled weakly. "No. So I went there to find answers.

When I did... Hades was missing.

He went to Tartarus," he said, his voice growing softer with each word.

Liz’s expression darkened. Her arms lowered. "Why?"

"He was preventing Kronos from coming through... and I chased after him.

I tried my best..."

Kael’s voice broke. His breath hitched.

Tears welled in his eyes—then spilled.

"I fought my way there... and he was waiting for me."

He turned toward her, eyes red, glistening.

"He looked like shit. He didn’t look like a god.

Kronos broke through the door... and we ended up fighting him."

Liz’s fingers wrapped around his tightly. "What happened to Kronos? Hades?"

"He sacrificed himself... to send Kronos back," Kael whispered.

He swallowed.

"I was forced to strike them down."

His voice cracked again. The words collapsed.

He started to sob.

Liz didn’t speak.

She moved closer, slowly.

She wrapped her arms around him.

Pulled his head into her chest.

Her hands stayed there, steady—one on his back, the other behind his neck.

She held him like she was holding together broken pieces.

"Now I need to get stronger... to kill Iapetus," he said after a while, voice muffled against her.

She pulled back just enough to see his face. Her own twisted in disbelief.

"What? Are you stupid?" she said, brows furrowing. "You’ll die."

"I need to do this," Kael said.

His tone was lower now. Resigned.

"If I don’t... I won’t be able to bring Hades back."

Liz’s tone dropped. "How will you bring him back?"

"When he died... he infused himself with the gate.

And now the gate is breaking. So I need to prevent that from happening," Kael said.

Liz narrowed her eyes. "What does that have to do with killing a Titan?" Her voice edged toward panic.

"You see, Thanatos is being held by him. I need to rescue him... so he can protect the gate until I find a way."

Liz went still.

Her eyes searched his face—then fell.

"You want to go after him?" she whispered. "Kael... you don’t even know what’s waiting for you out there.

It could be a trap."

"I know, sunshine," he said.

"But if I don’t try, Hades will never come back.

The gate falls. The world breaks."

Liz took a step back.

Her shoulders shook.

"Don’t," she said.

Her voice cracked. "If you do, you will die."

Kael looked at her, silent.

"I’ll be okay. Trust me."

"No you won’t."

Her voice broke completely.

"I’ve seen you... and me... die. Over and over."

Tears ran down her cheeks now—freely.

Kael stared, stunned. "What are you talking about?"

Liz looked down at her own glowing hands.

The light pulsed gently.

She breathed in once. Then let it go.

"The first day we met... do you remember when we first met?" she asked.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Best day of my life."

She smiled through her pain.

"After we met, I would have the same dream.

But it didn’t feel like a dream—it felt real.

Like I was inside someone else’s body. Watching through their eyes.

And I saw us."

She inhaled sharply, her chest rising.

"We were different people. Older. Stronger.

But it was still us.

And we would be dying. Over and over.

Different places. Different times. But the same ending."

Her voice started shaking.

"We would be hunted by the same person over and over.

We tried to hide—he would find us and kill us."

Kael didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

"Sometimes it’s you first. Sometimes it’s me. But we always die," she whispered.

"And the worst part... is that I always feel it.

Like it’s a memory. Not a vision."

She looked up.

"I don’t know what it means.

I think... we keep coming back."

Kael slowly reached for her.

Held her tight.

She pressed her forehead to his shoulder.

"Don’t go," she muttered. "Please."

He looked down at her.

"I promise, Liz... it’s just a dream.

I won’t let anything happen."

But deep inside, he wasn’t sure.

He remembered what the old man said—

That someone would take everything from him.

That strength alone wouldn’t be enough.

As he held her, he gently patted her head.

She lifted her chin. Her voice was soft—but firm.

"Since you won’t listen... then I guess I’m helping."

He blinked. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me," she said. "If you’re going to do stupid thing, then I’m going to make sure you do stupid thing safely."

A breath of laughter slipped from him.

"Well, I guess then we will die together like in your dream," he muttered.

"Shut up," she snapped. "Don’t say dumb things."

He leaned in—resting his forehead against hers.

"I mean..." he murmured.

"In your dream, it seems like every time we die, we always end up finding each other.

So it ain’t too bad."

She let out a small, fragile breath.

"Yeah... I guess we do."

Neither of them moved.

The space between them narrowed.

Kael’s voice dropped to a whisper.

"So maybe this time... we don’t lose."

She didn’t answer.

Slowly... they both leaned in.

There was no rush. No words.

Just the space between them—disappearing.

Their lips met.

Soft. Warm. A little unsure at first.

Kael’s breath caught for a second.

Not because of the kiss—but because of the way it felt.

Like something forgotten... suddenly remembered.

And in that moment, something shifted.

It was like a key turning in a lock.

A door opened inside him.

Everything came rushing back.

He knew who that old man was.

But then—

A voice broke the silence.

"Am I disturbing something?"

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel