Beneath a sky clouded with silence, the third seal opened at the heart of an unknown land, a place named in legend as _Nidavellir_ — homeland of the dwarves and capital of divine craftsmanship, lost to the shadows of time for thousands of years.
But when Xiao entered... there were no landmarks. No paths, no walls. Only a gray expanse that held nothing... except his shadow.
Yes.
Xiao's shadow stood before him.
But this shadow was breathing... and speaking.
> "I am you… before you were born. Before you chose. Before you bled for anyone."
This being embodied the "Primordial Xiao," one who had never borne the weight of family, guilt, or destiny. A pure force… without a heart.
Xiao said:
> "What is this? Another test?"
The shadow replied:
> "Not a test, but a revelation. To continue your journey, you must kill who you _were_… not just who you are."
Suddenly… the land shifted, transforming into memories… into scenes Xiao had never seen before. Visions from before his birth.
---
*Birth Before Birth*
He saw a woman named Elena, her face much like his own, but scarred. She was in a burning room, screaming amid war… carrying a fetus that emerged not from her womb, but from her vein.
This was no human birth.
> "Is that... me?" Xiao whispered.
Then he heard another voice — his mother's:
> "He... is the fruit of my blood and the fallen god's blood."
Then Loki appeared, in his true form — not the guise he usually wore. He laughed and said:
> "Chaos blood... made you."
---
*An Impossible Choice*
Xiao suddenly found himself standing in a black void, and faced a choice:
1. Kill the "primordial" version of himself… which would erase all remnants of his original power.
2. Or embrace it… and lose his emotions.
> "Choose, Xiao. You now stand between shadow and light. Between what the world wants… and what you want."
He then remembered the words of the masked stranger:
> "Power alone doesn't rule worlds."
So Xiao said, in a calm voice:
> "I won't kill you… but I won't become you either."
Then he drove his sword into the shadow's heart — not to destroy it… but to imprison it.
And the third seal exploded… but it didn't burn or shatter.
Instead, it was replaced. With a new seal… bearing this symbol: ∞
*The Seal of Possibility.*
---
*The Encounter After the Seal*
Xiao emerged from _Nidavellir_ to find a girl with white hair, wearing a tattered cloak, holding an ancient book.
She said quietly:
> "Did… you see who you are?"
Xiao replied:
> "I saw who I was… but I don't know who I will be."
She smiled and said:
> "When the sixth seal breaks… I'll be there."
Then she vanished.
And the sky of the fourth seal began to burn… with an emerald green flame.
But Xiao murmured:
> "I need… the truth. Not just power."
And he moved forward.