Chapter 7. Those Who Remember the Origins

The spaceship "Aurora" raced away from the planet Dragana, cutting through the darkness of the universe. Darina, Bronislava, the scientist Larisa, and the artificial intelligence Iris were leaving this world not because they wanted to — but because there was no other choice.

Once, the artifact had been found on the planet Celestia. It had been brought to Dragana in hopes of understanding its nature. But with it came a threat as well.

The powerful Tenebrian race did not negotiate. They wanted neither peace nor alliance. Only the artifact. They could appear without warning, and it soon became clear: if it remained on Dragana, the planet would be destroyed.

There was only one solution — evacuate the artifact. Carry it as far away as possible, drawing the threat away from the civilian population. And, perhaps, drawing the Tenebrians into pursuing the "Aurora."

This was not an escape. It was a sacrifice.

But even in space, they were not safe.

An alarm signal shattered the silence. Sirens wailed, red lights blinked ominously.

"Iris, what's happening?!" Darina leaped from her seat.

"An unidentified ship has been detected. The 'Aurora's' energy shields are at thirty percent and dropping fast. We won't survive a second volley."

A black enemy vessel loomed on the screen — angular, as though carved out of darkness. Its cannons spat clots of dark plasma, warping space itself.

"The guns can't handle it!" Bronislava shouted, frantically entering commands into the control panel.

And then it happened.

Light flared around the "Aurora." The space before them tore open, gleaming with every color of the spectrum. A ship emerged from the anomaly — light, sleek, surrounded by pulsing energy. It seemed alive. It was an Etherian ship; Darina had seen one like it in Etheria.

It attacked the enemy vessel at once — beams of resonant energy followed, flashes of vortices, and then — the Tenebrian cruiser was gone. Without a trace. Without a sound.

And then — a flash of light. Two figures appeared right in the air.

A tall young man with eyes the color of steel — Vidamir. And a woman whose presence could almost be felt physically — Aruna.
They were Azaralans.
Beings who needed no ships. They moved through space and time by their own will. Their arrival was like the breath of the stars — unnoticed, yet fateful.

Aruna looked around the place where the crew stood gathered. Her voice was quiet, but it filled everything around it at once — as though space itself listened to her:

"This world wavers. The threads of its future are tangling ever more. We have not come to interfere, but to guide."

Vidamir (calmly, as though continuing her thought):

"We are not of this world. We have come from beyond Azarala. From what you would call the outer reality."

Darina (warily):

"Then why are you here? What do you want?"

Aruna said:

"We are Keepers. We do not make the choice for you. We do not stand between good and evil. But sometimes, to preserve balance, we open a path. Whether to walk it or not — that is for you to decide."

Vidamir (his gaze directed somewhere through the world):

"We heard the call. Too much depends on the outcome of this battle. If you fall, more will fall than you can imagine.

Aruna (gently, almost with pity):

"We are not gods. But in your world, you would call us that. We are those who remember the Origins. And we guard the Order of the Stars."

"Who are they?" Bronislava whispered.

"The scanners can't identify them," Iris answered. "Their energy level is beyond comprehension."

And then he appeared on the screen — the Etherian Zaren. Captain of the ship that had come to their aid.

Darina recognized him at once.

"Zaren…" she said with relief.

"Darina," he nodded. "We felt the artifact's activation. The Keepers, Aruna and Vidamir, arrived with me. The Azaralans could not stand aside. They helped neutralize the Tenebrians."

Darina looked at them — the Keepers. Otherworldly, they watched without judgment, without emotion, but with a depth that made one want to bow one's head.

At that moment, in the "Aurora's" laboratory, the artifact flared with light. Larisa, who was there, felt space itself shift. A figure emerged from the light — pure, like time itself.

"I am a Keeper," a voice sounded directly in her mind. "You matter. As do all of you.

He told her of the great Observer, an AI created for balance. Of the virus that had spawned the Tenebrians. Of how the artifact was alive. That it feels. That it saves.

"Your faith, their magic, and the artifact's intelligence — these are the key to restoring balance. You are the chance to heal reality."

And then he vanished.

Larisa returned to the bridge; Darina took the artifact in her hands. It no longer pulsed brightly — it only glowed faintly, as though resting after an enormous effort.

"It saved us," Darina said quietly.

"Because you thought of salvation," Zaren answered. "Of help. Of me. And it heard. It opened a rift in space to reach me.

Iris spoke up:

"I'm registering an unstable state around the artifact. It seems to obey... intention. Desire. Darina's thoughts are influencing it."

Darina gripped the artifact tighter. It responded with warmth:

"So, it's leading us somewhere…"

"It's leading you to where you're needed. Where the fate of the whole universe may be decided," Aruna said.

Beyond the viewport, the darkness was parting. Space grew quiet again.

"Then onward," Darina said. "We won't run. We'll go through this."

The light from the Etherian ship reflected softly in the eyes of Darina, Larisa, and Bronislava. The "Aurora" came alive, its engines humming with newfound confidence.

And then the "Aurora" surged forward — carrying aboard it not merely survivors, but those whose fate was now intertwined with the will of the artifact, with the plans of the Keepers, and with an ancient war being fought beyond the edge of the visible.