Location : The Moon Temple
The chamber smelled of burnt incense and ancient stone, a mix of past reverence and recent battle. Blood from the king's earlier wounds still clung to the cracked marble floor, seeping into the etchings of the old Moon Temple altar.
The king knelt before her now, defiant even in defeat. His crown lay discarded, his hands bound by shimmering celestial chains that pulsed with the rhythm of her heartbeat. The chains responded to her alone, a manifestation of her will.
"Go on then," the king rasped, his lips curling into a smirk.
"Strike me down. Finish what you began."
Athena's fingers twitched at her side. The temptation to end him, to silence the man who had manipulated and destroyed so many, was a sharp edge in her chest. But she would not give him the satisfaction of an easy death.
"No," she said, voice low, steady. "You will not die today. Death is release. You don't deserve that."
His brow arched, amusement flickering in his dark eyes.
