Beneath the royal capital, where no light touched and no map dared to name, a forgotten temple stirred awake.
For the first time in millennia, ancient runes glowed.
Someone had entered the girl's radius.
---
The Boy and the Dream
That night, the boy dreamt again.
Not of forests or flames… but of thrones. Shattered. Empty. Screaming voices echoing through marble halls as galaxies bled outside their windows.
He stood at the edge of it all. Watching it collapse.
And behind him, a towering shadow whispered:
> "You were born for more than this. You were stolen."
When he awoke, his palm was burning.
The ring on his finger — cold and dull for years — now pulsed faintly with light.
He clutched it tighter.
Ayra noticed.
---
Ayra's Meeting with the Council
Inside the Grand Hall, Ayra was summoned before the Kingdom's highest council. A trial masked as diplomacy.
> "You've gained too much influence in too little time," one noble sneered.
> "You're not even of pure blood," another scoffed.
Ayra smiled. Her calm, infuriating smile.
> "If influence scares you, perhaps you were never meant to hold power."
They didn't realize they were talking to a being who could erase their entire bloodline with a thought. She still chose not to.
She always chose not to.
But that choice... was hers alone.
---
Whispers from the Multiversal Edge
Far beyond their realm, in a crystalline chamber orbiting a dying star, a hooded figure knelt before a being shrouded in living light.
> "Sire," the figure whispered, "the daughter of the lost one… she lives. The power has awakened."
The being didn't speak. But the stars around them dimmed — acknowledging the truth.
> "And the other?" the being asked finally.
> "He wears the ring."
A long silence. Then:
> "Send the Seeker."
---