Celeste twisted her arm.
This person wasn't faceless. This entity had a face. It's gaze.
Golden eyes. Celestial markings carved into its skin. A being that did not have flesh.
"You stand before the Gate," it said, voice layered with something unnatural. "And you will stay here."
Celeste looked at them. This wasn't an ordinary guardian. The presence was different from but similar to the Pantheon—ancient, but just as powerful.
Aether crackled at her fingertips. "oh really?"
The being simply lifted a hand—
And then everything collapsed.
Celeste barely had time to react as the space around her shattered. The void twisted, pulling her downward into a spiraling abyss.
She hit the ground hard—except there was no ground. It was memory.
Images flashed before her. Fractured pieces of past and present. A battlefield in divine blood. A figure standing atop a ruined throne. The sound of chains.
And a single whispered word—
"Run."
Celeste gasped as reality snapped back into place. She was back at the gate, the golden-eyed figure watching her.
"Now you understand."
Celeste clenched her fists. "are you trying to stall me?."
The figure finally reacted. It smiled.
"Yes."