(2000 years later after the end of all thriving existence within the realms of Asterisk.) (By the sound of a creaking door opening, Ronin abruptly opens his eyes to see the bonfire still sitting in front of him with a small flame of life within. Turning his head to look behind where he heard the sound of a door opening, Ronin notices the steel door that could not be opened when he first arrived now cracked open slightly. Getting up from his sitting position in front of the bonfire, Ronin dusts off his clothes and slowly walks over to the door, legs sore and body feeling weak from his time asleep.) (Leaning up against the door as he reaches it, still trying to wake up his body to full strength, Ronin grabs the handle on the door and pulls it open with all the strength he can summon. On the other side of the door is a small tunnel cave that by the looks of the ground, leads up somewhere.) (Looking back to the bonfire down the hallway, Ronin takes a deep breath and tries to remember his past and Artemis, trying to hold on to any kind of humanity possible. In frustration of being unable to picture Artemis in his mind, Ronin punches the steel door beside him to let off some steam.) (Shaking his head, Ronin decides to ignore his memory of humanity and sets off to head up out of the underground. As Ronin approaches the exit of the cave after walking for a few minutes uphill, Ronin begins to see the bright sunlight rays from the outside world. Holding the side of the cave wall as he walks, Ronin steps out into the sunlight to the outside and holds up his hand over his eyes to block the sun's bright shine.) (As his vision adjusts, Ronin slowly opens his eyes to see a rocky shore below a large grassy cliff with the sun setting along the horizon out in the ocean. A top the cliff, Ronin notices a female like figure sitting on a rock next to a shrine of some distorted entity, dressed in a long brown cloak, gloves and shoes on, with a hood over her head. As Ronin takes a step forward to try and get a closer look to this female figure, he notices more detail of her. Pale white skin, medium wavy red hair that covers the right side of her face.) (Slowly approaching up to not startle her, Ronin softly and with a weakened voice speaks out to her.) Ronin: "Um....hello...?" (Slowly lifting her head up to get a clear look at Ronin, the unknown female speaks with a low and timid voice as if she is shy.) ???: "Oh.....hello. I see you've woken from your slumber and aren't too weakened, that's good. I've been waiting here for you for some time." (Still feeling weak from his state and needing to recover with time, Ronin sits down on the grass in front of the female and rubs his cold hands together.) Ronin: *looks around at the location he is in further*. "So, where are we?" ???: "We are somewhere, and nowhere at the same time. The cycle of old has ended and the cycle of the new has been born into existence." (Due to the unknown female's words, Ronin's memory begins to come back and he remembers the singularity and all life from the past reality.) Ronin: *looks down at his hands*. "It's fine, I shouldn't bother you with pointless questions. I know what I need to know, I know enough...." ???: *stares at Ronin longingly with her emerald eyes*. "You should take a look around when you are able to walk properly. There is a house just a few hundred feet back near the cave where you came from, I'm sure it will answer the questions you seek of this new place you find yourself in." Ronin: *nods as he glances over to the large wooden house in the distance*. "Yeah, I guess I should." (Pushing off the ground to help himself back to his feet, Ronin shakes his legs and stretches a bit as his strength slowly returns to him. Looking back to the female as if he wants to ask a personal question to her, Ronin decides to himself not to and starts walking over to the wooden house.) (Approaching the door to the house, Ronin grabs the handle and slowly opens the door to a well lit single room with candles for the light and a carpeted floor. Stepping inside and breathing a sigh of relief, Ronin walks over to a wooden dusty table with a large open book in the center and many other books on shelves above the table.) (Sitting down on the chair in front of the table, Ronin blows off the dust from the large book and looks at the details within to try and find any information of where he is. As he reads as much as he can, Ronin finds out that the name of the location he is currently in is called Firelink and that the female is there to guide people with anything they require assistance with.) (Closing the book and leaning back in the chair, Ronin places his hand against his mouth as he tries to think about how exactly some thing like this could have come to pass. Getting up from the chair, Ronin quickly walks back over to the female that is still sitting on the rock and looking out into the ocean.) Ronin: *sits down on the rock beside her*. "How did this new cycle you say begin? I know about the old and it's obvious to me how that all ended but, this new thing doesn't make any sense." ???: *points up to the distorted shrine*. "There is a man behind the curtain, Caius was the creator of old but, someone created him without him ever having knowledge of this someone. The old has died through a vicious end, now the new has been born just as the old once was." Ronin: "Hm, someone is there to make sure everything continues even if it all ends. Strange as I never heard of anything like this.....Caius was always the one to be the creator." ???: *glances back to Ronin*. "I feel I should introduce myself now. My name is Aleah, I am the keeper of the fire in this land." Ronin: *looks at Aleah with great interest*. "You mean that bonfire that I touched in the cave? Is that the fire?" Aleah: *looks down, away from Ronin*. "...." (Concerningly staring at Aleah as she has become unresponsive, Ronin touches her shoulder and gently shakes her but, she seems to have stopped speaking.) Ronin: "Hm, weird...." (Looking up at the distorted shrine above for the first time, Ronin takes a closer look as something seems oddly familiar about it. The entity carved into the shrine strikes a strange similarity to the soul of cinder boss enemy that always seems to appear in certain areas from the past.) Ronin: *rubs his eyes and looks out to the horizon as the sun is about to completly set for night to fall upon this new land*. "I guess I'll figure out more tomorrow. Suppose I'll rest for now." (End of Part 1.)