The Endless Balance of an Ancient Sorrow Volume 1 GC Chapter 6 and Final interlude

 Copyright © 2025 by Ryan Melrose 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the author. 

This is a work of fiction. 
All names, characters, places, organizations, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictional manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, real-world locations, corporations, or institutions is entirely coincidental. If you genuinely believe any character in this book is secretly based on you, you might be reading a bit too deep—or just hunting for a payout. Either way, this story isn’t about you. Maybe talk to someone about that. 

This is the first publication, written and illustrated by Ryan Melrose, and published in Australia. 

The Endless Balance of an Ancient Sorrow Gavern Codex (GC) Volume 1 

 CHAPTER 6 

The endless balance of an Ancient Sorrow 

The Mysterious Gavern House 

The night sky over the outer edge of Fraid City shimmered with an unusual brilliance. Moonlight spilled across the rooftops like silver paint, casting its glow on the quiet street that hugged the secret border between Fraid and Brisbane City. 

They called it Sanctuary Drive. 

A lone figure moved across the footpath—suit clean, blond hair wind-brushed. His gold-plated badge glinted faintly from his chest pocket. 

Detective Frank Gavern. Home at last. 

“Home sweet home,” he muttered. “Finally. That was a long day.” 

He stopped between two old buildings. The narrow space between them looked like any alley. But something was off—an obvious driveway sat there, clean and concrete—but led into nothing. No carport. No garage. Just the gap between two buildings. 

Frank smiled. 

He raised his left hand. The familiar golden glow of his energy pulsed from his palm. 

Reality blinked. 

From empty space, a mansion faded into view. Tall and thin, its silhouette stretched high with gables and latticework like something from a haunted fairytale. Gavern House. His ancestral home. But it wasn’t its age or gothic charm that made it special— 

It existed across multiple points of time, called into the current realm with a whisper of magic. 

Frank grinned. Never gets old. 

A home I don’t have to pay rent on. No mortgage. I can just drag it into this plane whenever I want with a flick of the hand. Yeah, I’ll take that over an apartment lease any day. 

He stepped inside. 

The interior? Nothing like the outside. Clean. Sleek. Cozy, even. Plush sofa. Flat-screen TV mounted above the fireplace. Staircase spiraling upward with soft light flowing across modern hardwood floors. 

“Welcome home, Frank. Looks like you’ve had a hell of a day. What else is new?” 

No one visible—but Frank didn’t even flinch. 

“Thanks, Selia,” he said casually. 

Selia—the voice of Gavern House, its guardian spirit and guide to the cosmos. 

“You’ve been reckless again, haven’t you? Getting involved in mortal affairs. You can’t fix everything. You know your realm is at war with the Four Realms. You don’t have time to babysit this world’s every tragedy.” 

“I know, Selia. I know,” Frank replied, slumping onto the sofa. “Still... I’m a cop first. An ancient entity second. I’m not just going to turn away when I can help the people who need it... It just isn’t me.” 

“I get it, Frank. I do. But you are the Endless Balance. You are Sorrow, reborn. I’m the spirit of this house—I can guide you. I can protect you. But I can’t hold the universe up when you break yourself trying to save everyone.” 

“I get that,” Frank said quietly. “I know I come from a long line of Sorrows. I understand what I’m supposed to be.” 

“Do you?” Selia asked, sharper now. “Sometimes I’m not so sure. You think you can save everyone—but you can’t. Your role is to defend this realm from the Four that would conquer it. Balance, Frank. Not salvation.” 

Frank ran a hand through his hair. 

“Then you’ll be pleased to hear I already stopped two breaches from the Oblivarge this week.” 

“What.” 

“First, they tried using a rock-bottom nobody named Aran—a broken mind, easy to corrupt. Made him kill someone who destined to do great things? Someone who was destined to do actual good. As you’ve explained killing someone of that kind of importance creates a gate for Oblivarge agents to come through, anyway I shut it down. Destroyed whatever freakshow tried coming through a Hollow Watcher named Squilly.” 

He stood and turned toward the darkened kitchen. 

“Oh—and I saw the Entity.”  

A pause. 

Selia’s voice dipped lower. “The Entity, Frank? Are you serious?” 

“In a vision. He gave some grieving kid—Silus Mikana—the Oblivarge magic of Binding Word. Tried to use him to spark a massacre, feeding off the city’s negative energy to increase the gateways. I put a stop to that also however they’re getting bolder.” 

Selia hissed, voice pulsing through the walls. “Frank—that’s why you can’t keep playing hero like this. You’re not ready to face the Entity. He’s the Oblivarge’s top servant. You don’t have the knowledge to face him. If he catches you on a bad day—” 

Frank shrugged. “Didn’t engage him. Only saw what he did in a vision and stopped his plan.” 

“You idiot. That’s not good enough. You need more than good intentions if he or his legion get their claws into you before you are ready you.....” 

“I get it, Selia,” Frank muttered. “But if I have a shot to help as many lives in the process? I’m going to take it. After all I’m only human.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINAL INTERLUDE 

 

The Endless Balance of an Ancient Sorrow 

Frank Gavern is the latest reincarnation of a force far older than his badge, his city, or even his universe. 

He is the current vessel for The Endless Balance of an Ancient Sorrow—a being not born, but forged, at the dawn of creation itself. 

Long before human history, before planets formed and stars ignited, the Four Realms—Oblivarge, Seraphel, Vitrias, and H.P. Threnody—warred endlessly for dominion. Their hatred was pure entropy, their power uncontained. And in their futile effort to destroy one another, they unleashed an explosion so vast, so catastrophic, that it birthed a new plane of existence altogether: 

The Big Bang. 

From that cataclysm, a single anomaly was born. 

Sorrow. 

Not aligned to any realm. Not created by design. A mistake. A contradiction. A soul woven from all four realms’ essence, yet loyal to none. 

Where the others craved conquest, Sorrow was horrified—by the chaos, by the devastation, by the blood-soaked obsession over a single prize: Total conquest over the others 

Over time as the human race developed on Earth along with all other civilization in our universe the new fifth realm was formed a perfect realm for the 4 warring realms to conquer and one of them gain dominion and advantage in the cosmic conflict. 

It wasn’t the planets they wanted more specifically they 

Wanted humanity  

No not just land or resources, but influence. Souls. Humanity’s capacity for choice, belief, emotion—it’s fuel. Each realm seeks to claim Earth and sway mankind to tip the universal war in its favor. 

But Sorrow would not allow it. 

He dedicated his immortal existence to maintaining the balance, standing as the singular defense between a vulnerable humanity and its would-be puppet masters. 

But there’s a cost. 

Because eventually… Sorrow always fails. 

Each time the balance teeters, each time the war spills too far into Earth’s domain, the Endless Balance is struck down. The body is killed. The identity is erased. The host destroyed. 

But Sorrow cannot truly be erased. 

Thanks to Gavern House—the arcane sanctuary that exists in multiple temporal planes—his essence is preserved. The house stores the knowledge, power, and purpose of Sorrow until Earth needs him again. When imbalance stirs and danger breaches, he reincarnates. Always different. Always mortal. Always cursed. 

Because that’s the truth of it: 

Gavern House is humanity’s last safeguard. 

And being Sorrow? 

It’s not a gift. 

It’s a burden. 

 

1. Oblivarge 

The Realm of Negation and Consumption 

 The dimension of The Entity—where corruption feeds on pain, and memory rots on contact. It doesn't conquer through armies, but through unraveling meaning, whispering dark power to the broken. Its goal? Unmake reality. 

 

 

 

2. Seraphel 

The Realm of Righteous Dominion 

 The “heaven” humanity romanticizes—but behind the divine glow lies control. Seraphel seeks to sway humanity not with kindness, but order through obedience. Their agents offer miracles, but each gift comes with invisible chains. They wage a passive crusade, aiming to make Earth a satellite of their celestial order. 

 

 

3. H.P Threnody (Howling Parallax)  

The Realm of Unreality and Cosmic Insanity 

 this realm is where physics go to die. A symphony of madness written in black stars and shifting laws. Entities here have no concept of good or evil—they only hunger to be known, to drive minds into fractal spirals of revelation. Their breaches appear as migraines, déjà vu, or “missing time.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Vitrias 

The Realm of Living Flesh and Wild Will 

 The primal realm—neither truly evil nor noble. It represents instinct unchecked. Passion without conscience. Evolution without end. Vitrias believes in survival of the fiercest. Those it empowers become avatars of raw impulse, creation and destruction tangled as one. 

 

 

 

CLOSING THOUGHTS 

OF RYAN MELROSE 

Absolutely, Ryan—here’s your final thoughts, polished for clarity, flow, and impact, while keeping your voice and heart fully intact: 

 

I’ve had these stories in my head for a while now—Agent-EYE and Sorrow—trying to bring them to life through comics. But things always got hard, inconsistent, especially with the art style. Still, the stories were always there. The characters were there. The world was there. That’s why I decided to take the light novel approach—a way to finally get the full story out, build the world properly, and bring these memorable characters to life. 

Writing this first volume has been an amazing and fun experience. From longtime characters like Frank and Vincent, to newcomers like Millana, Silus, and of course, Carol, it’s been a blast watching them take shape on the page. Even The Entity—a character I struggled to name for years—finally found the right form, a reimagining that feels right for the story I’m telling now. 

Sorrow himself has been transformed. He’s no longer just a superhero figure—he’s a force of magic, of cosmic balance. That shift felt right. Sorrow never belonged on just a street level—his role is bigger now, more profound. Agent-EYE hasn’t changed much, aside from a visual update, but the organization he’s a part of—FATE—has grown more complex, more modern, hidden in plain sight. 

And Fraid City? I’ll be honest: in my old comics it was more or less a knockoff of Gotham. But now? It feels like something all my own. A place I’m proud to keep building. 

This process helped me find my rhythm, my tone, and the right way to tell the stories I’ve wanted to tell for years. I’m genuinely excited to move forward with Volume 2, and I know now—this is how I’ll keep doing it. Writing in this format with a few illustrations lets me bring my world to life in the way it deserves using both my talents of drawing and writing. 

Thanks for reading. The story’s just getting started.