The heart of the Estuary was out there, in front of them, looming in the boundless darkness like a black monument to the harrowing battle Ariel had once fought against the Stone Titan.

The first time around, Sunny had simply been drawn here by the currents after following the Guiding Light through the mist. The sacred relic of the sybils could guide its owner anywhere — or rather, to anyone. As long as one knew their True Name.

The True Name that allowed Sunny to reach the heart of the Estuary had been placed in Cassie's memories by Torment, and then erased from Cassie's mind as soon as she channeled it into the Guiding Light. It had to be erased because Cassie could not have withstood knowing it for more than a few seconds... not back then, at least.

During the Nightmare, neither Sunny nor Cassie knew whose name Torment had bequeathed upon them. But come to think of it... it had to have been the True Name of the Cursed Terror who had made its nest in the heart of the Estuary — of the Thieving Bird.

Merely knowing the name of a Cursed Terror would plant a seed of Corruption into the soul of an Ascended, as long as they remained aware of it for more than a few seconds. In fact, even enduring it for those seconds had been a miraculous feat on Cassie's part.

‘Torment...’

Although the harrowing Plague was long dead — or had never existed at all, rather, just like the Mad Prince had only ever existed in the Nightmare — and could not come back to haunt him, Sunny still felt uneasy when thinking about her.

Torment had known countless things that even he did not, and took them all with her to the grave.

In any case, today, Sunny did not need the Guiding Light to find the heart of the Estuary. The mist was gone, after all, and so were the turbulent waters. So, the stone edifice of the Great River's source was revealed in all its daunting immensity, hidden in the darkness, and all they had to do was steer the ship towards it.

Because of that, Sunny could get a much better look at the heart of the Estuary than he had in the Nightmare.

All three of them — Sunny, Nephis, and Ananke — remained silent, looking at the colossal black sphere in subdued silence.

‘...Huh.’

The Estuary was irregularly shaped and could only roughly be called a sphere. In truth, it resembled an ellipse more, or perhaps even an inverted pyramid with rounded edges. Several tall, strangely shaped mountains protruded from its surface, their peaks gaping with dark openings like volcanic craters.

It was a shape that seemed difficult to describe, but could actually be easily relayed with one word.

The heart of the Estuary — and therefore of the entire Tomb of Ariel — was shaped... like a heart. It was a titanic heart made of black stone. The mountains were the aortae, and the Great River used to flow through them like blood.

Which it had been, once.

Sunny had assumed that the Estuary had been fashioned out of the heart of the Stone Titan, but never thought that the resemblance would be so literal.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Ariel, the Demon of Dread, had really just ripped out an Unholy Titan's heart and used it to create his impossible River of Time in the pyramid built from the Titan's corpse.

“We are here.”

His voice echoed in the darkness, making Nephis and Ananke shift uncomfortably. Ananke remained silent for a long while, and then smiled bitterly.

“So this was where Aletheia came searching for truth. This was what she found... where the curse that haunted and destroyed my people was born.”

Sunny looked at her, lingered for a bit, and nodded.

“Yes. But it is not that simple, either.”

He looked ahead, at the dark immensity of the dead Unholy One's heart, and sighed.

“Aletheia was not searching for just any truth. She was searching for the truth of how to slay the gods — and she found it here, in the graveyard of secrets that Ariel had chosen to bury. So, it was not just the curse that destroyed your people that was born here... it was the great curse that destroyed the entire world.”

He paused for a moment, and then added solemnly:

“This was where the Doom War truly began. Where its seed was planted into fertile soil.”

And where his personal curse had taken hold as well.

A bitter smile appeared on Sunny's lips, too.

“I am a child of their transgression, and thus their Flaw...”

The daemons were dead, leaving no offspring — only the heir of Weaver still walked the earth.

So, in a sense, Sunny was the Flaw of existence now.

Looking at Anake, he shrugged.

“This is the truth of who the Unknown you've been mentioning is. Make sure not to think about him aloud, though. The gods erased the truth of his existence from the fabric of reality for a reason, you know.”

Sunny used to think that the gods had erased and forbidden the knowledge about the existence of their seventh sibling out of shame, or perhaps not to be reminded of their painful loss. But now he knew that there had been a very practical element to their prohibition, as well...

They were simply ensuring the safety of their creation, since the more people knew and worshiped the Forgotten God, the closer the day of his awakening became. And when the God of Corruption awakened, all the hard work the gods had put into creating the universe would be undone. Sunny looked away from the runes and moved past them.

“We are getting closer to the burial chamber. So, keep your guard up.”

The continued forward and eventually reached the labyrinth of jagged rocks that protruded from the water, connected to similar stone pillars that hung from the roof of the gigantic cavern somewhere far above. This used to be the point where the waters of the lake were connected to the rapid currents outside the heart of the Estuary. It was a labyrinth of time — by following a certain path, a person could emerge at any point in the past or in the future. One could even travel to a different cycle of the Great River, invading it like a foreign guest.

But now, the water was still. There were no rushing currents roaring as they flowed between the cliffs, and no twisting maze of time for them to navigate. Only the jagged rocks were left, creating a different kind of maze — quite a mundane one, albeit elaborate.

One could spend an eternity wandering its twisting paths, even if they could walk on water...

Unless they already knew the correct way, of course.

Fortunately, Sunny had already found the way to the inner lake once with the help of the Guiding Light. He did not have the sacred staff with him this time, but he still remembered where he went, which turns he took, and how long it had taken him.

So, he had a good chance of making it through the maze without losing his way.

It was just that the Estuary was a treacherous place, and there was no telling how it had changed after Cronos broke the Great River. That was why Sunny wanted to err on the side of caution.

“Ananke, if you will...”

Nearing the cliffs, he allowed his six shadows to separate from him and assume corporeal forms. Ananke, meanwhile, raised her hands and moved her slender fingers faintly — a moment later, seven silver threads appeared out of thin air, which the avatars of Sunny then used to tie around their waists.

The silky threads were not Memories, and neither were they an enchanted item Ananke carried in the sleeves of her mantle. Rather, they were a manifestation of her Aspect.