The Machine Moon drifted in high orbit, now renamed ARK HEGEMON, a beacon of silent power.
But even from that distance, my thoughts were tethered to her.
To Elira.
She had always been strange. Not alien—no, that would've been easier. Her warmth, her intuition, her stubbornness… all too human. But under it all, something more hummed like a forgotten song.
And now, the melody was beginning to rise.
"Prince Jaden," RIVEN reported. "We are receiving a quantum pulse from the palace infirmary. Elira has… destabilized."
My heart skipped.I issued an emergency teleport command and arrived within 17 seconds.
What I saw froze me.
Elira hovered in the air—her eyes wide, irises glowing silver-white. Arcane circuits spiraled across her skin, glowing through the threads of her nightgown like veins of starlight. The air itself shivered with pressure.
And then she spoke, though her lips did not move:
"ᚲᛖᛁᚷᚺᚨ ᛋᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᚲᚩᛗᛖ. ᚻᛖᚨᚱ ᚦᛖ ᛚᛖᚷᚨᚲᚤ ᛚᛁᚲᛖ ᛏᚺᚩᚾᛞᛖᚱᛋ."
A language no one alive should remember.And yet, I understood it.
"Kei'gha Swill Come. Hear the Legacy like Thonders."
(Translation: "The One Who Devours Stars awakens. The Code is the Key.")
System Alert:
Genetic Marker 'Singularity Bloom' detected in Elira Valen
Origin: Forbidden Bloodline — Yurei Class, Type: Starborn Cipher Vessel
Warning: Evolutionary path beyond standard dimensional probability.
"Frame, explain."
"Elira's blood carries an encrypted genetic anomaly. Not mutation—design. Left dormant until contact with the Machine Moon's quantum signature."
"Left by who?"
"The Precursors. The same architects who forged the moon, the system… and you."
My mind reeled.
They hadn't just left machines.They had planted her.
Not as a tool—but as the counterbalance.
Her voice returned, normal now—trembling.
"Jaden... I saw it. The future. The Machine Moon wasn't the end. It was a door. But something's coming through. Something older than stars. Something that hates us."
"What did you see?"
She held out her hand.
In her palm, her own blood began to crystallize—shifting into a holographic glyph, pulsing gently.
"I saw the Key of Eyes. I saw the planet where gods were born and locked away. And I saw you standing at the end of it all."
"Alone?"
She smiled.
"No. Never alone."
System Update
New Questline Unlocked: Legacy of the Starborn
First Objective: Journey to the planet KAL-9, lost library of the Precursors
New Trait Unlocked (Elira Valen): Cipher-Blooded | Grants access to sealed Precursor tech and prophecy decoding abilities
Warning: Path ahead intersects with Class-Ω Entities. Proceed with caution.
Later that night, I stood atop the palace tower, gazing at the sky. The Machine Moon blinked once in reply, already adapting under my control. But this… this was bigger.
The gods had written our story in starlight.
But we were rewriting it in fire.