Ascension Ceremony

Training Grounds, Late Morning

The sun beat gently over the western field where the children of Amanécer's noble houses trained. The stone-paved arena, usually reserved for adolescent sparring, today hosted a gathering of younger boys overseen by two knight instructors.

Luciana had not intended to stop—her intention had been to observe the new formation drills for the palace guards—but something caught her attention:

Shouts. Gasping. A flash of unnatural movement.

She turned sharply.

The sparring circle was surrounded by squires and a few nobles who had gathered to spectate. At the center, Nemesis, barely five years old, stood with his short training staff raised, facing a boy nearly twice his size—a son of House Valenor, known for their brash pride.

Luciana's brows furrowed.

"What is going on?" she asked the guard beside her.

"The older boy insulted Nemesis, Your Highness," the guard murmured uneasily. "He said… the boy's blood was impure. That his wings would be 'shadowless.' Nemesis challenged him on the spot."

Luciana's expression hardened. She moved toward the circle, her presence immediately parting the onlookers.

Nemesis panted, sweat clinging to his brow. Despite his youth, his stance was controlled—too controlled. There was something strange in his stillness, something crackling just under the surface of his skin.

The older boy lunged again, staff raised high.

Nemesis didn't flinch.

Suddenly—there was a sound like wind tearing through silk.

A burst of energy rippled outward—and from his back, two immense, luminous shapes tore through the air—feathers exploding into view.

The crowd recoiled, gasping in awe and fear.

Wings.

Fully formed. Larger than any child his age had ever manifested.

Luciana's breath caught in her throat.

His wings were feathered like every child of Amanécer—but broader, tinged faintly with an inky iridescence along the trailing edge. They were not demonic. Not twisted. But unmistakably powerful. More than they should have been.

Nemesis rose a few inches into the air—his first instinctual lift-off, before the knight instructor hurried forward and gently grounded him.

The boy he'd sparred with was frozen, staring in open-mouthed shock.

Luciana moved forward, her voice calm but commanding.

"Nemesis."

He turned to her, eyes wide—not afraid, but unsure. A child who had just discovered something greater than himself.

Luciana knelt before him, brushing a curl away from his face. "You've awakened early."

"I didn't mean to," he whispered.

She smiled. "You didn't do anything wrong."

She stood and addressed the watching nobles.

"This proves what I've always said—he is Amanécerian by blood. By soul. He carries wings not of darkness, but of dawn and dusk combined."

No one spoke.

The older boy stepped back sheepishly, bowing his head.

Luciana for the first time glared, giving off those around her a clear warning to stay away from her children which they took it seriously.

Holding Nemesis's hand she turned to the knight.

"Inform the High Priestess. My son is ready for the Ascension."

The day of the Ceremony of Ascension came as the whole of Olympus came to watch.

The wind over Seraphine's Vale held a sacred stillness—heavy with reverence, gilded in early morning sunlight. Marble spires flanked the sacred plateau, woven with flowering banners in white and gold, fluttering like wings of their own. The ceremonial grounds glistened under the enchantment of dawn, the very air thrumming with divine energy.

This was the day—the Ceremony of Ascension. A tradition older than memory. When the children of Amanécer, upon turning five, would summon their wings and rise for the first time into the sky—a symbol of their soul's connection to the divine above.

All of Amanécer watched.

Seated in the royal tier, Luciana stood in radiant ceremonial robes woven with starlight threads, her hand resting protectively over her pregnant belly. At her side, Melody, dressed in shades of jade and emerald with silver embroidery, kept her gaze forward—stoic, but visibly tense.

Behind them sat court nobles, high priestesses, and foreign dignitaries. Among them, tucked in the side galleries, Octavius sat beside Aurora and Leila, with little Apollonia seated in her lap, bright-eyed and full of wonder. Even Tiberius, the youngest Caelus brother, sat eagerly on the edge of his chair.

And in the center of the Vale—stood the children.

Fifteen of them, including Nemesis, now dressed in a white tunic that shimmered faintly with ancient sigils of their houses. He stood still, calm but visibly tense, as the High Priestess began the invocation.

"Our wings are the breath of our ancestors," she intoned. "Our flight, the covenant with the sky. Let the young ascend—and let the heavens embrace them."

One by one, the children stepped forward into the radiant glyph-circle etched into the marble. A soft chant began—a sacred harmony sung by priestesses hidden behind the veils of the wind towers. The first child flinched. Then—

Light. Wings. Flight.

Luciana recalled her conversation with Nemesis in the garden the day before where he showed off his wings to Helios.

"Mama! Will dade come see me fly?" He asked excitedly.

Luciana looked at her father. Helios shook his head, a sign to tell him the truth than to raise false hope for him.

"Sweetling, your father is out on an important mission. We talked about this before didn't we?" She stroked his hair.

Nemesis hung his head in disappointment.

"Dade won't come soon. Will he leave me, mama and Hades here all alone?" He was nearly in tears.

"He will come back soon I'm sure of it." Luciana tried to sooth him but this time he was more stubborn.

" But dade always leaves us alone! I wanna go back. Back home with all of us. I want us to live together." Tears fell uncontrollably.

Luciana felt her heart ache more than before. Her fears were coming true. Just like Erebus warned her before his departure.

She couldn't sooth him enough. But held him in her arms until he slept no longer crying.

A trumpet blowing snapped her back to the present.

A girl with golden hair unfolded golden wings from her back, lifting gracefully into the air. The crowd murmured, delighted. A boy followed—his wings blue-silver, falconlike.

Cheers erupted. Then hush fell.

It was Nemesis's turn.

Luciana straightened instinctively. Melody's eyes darted sideways.

Nemesis took his step into the circle. The sigils flared beneath his bare feet, recognizing his bloodline.

The wind fell silent.

Then, with no chant—only a hush in the world itself—

his wings unfurled.

Not golden. Not silver. But platinum white streaked with dusk at the edges. Vast, feathered, beautiful. They shimmered with a faint iridescence like moonlight over deep water.

The sky itself seemed to bend for a moment as he lifted into the air, not with struggle—but with purpose. His wings caught the wind as though he had flown a thousand times before.

He soared.

Higher than any other child that day. Not out of arrogance, but something primal. Something instinctive. The crowd below gasped and stood in awe.

Tears lined Luciana's eyes. She reached instinctively toward him, heart swollen.

Helios had not come to the ceremony—his injuries kept him bound to his chamber—but the moment was too profound for his absence to dim.

Melody clenched her hands. She should have been proud. She was. And yet—beneath it was a fear. Because she saw what others didn't.

This was not just a display of heritage.

This was a sign.

A child like Nemesis… would never be allowed to remain untouched by fate.

When Nemesis descended and landed perfectly with the others, the High Priestess proclaimed:

"He who flies beyond the sun's breath shall one day lead where others fear to tread. Blessed be the child of twilight blood."

---

After the Ceremony: Royal Chambers

Later that day, Luciana stood in her private solar, Nemesis asleep in her arms, wings now retracted but faint sigils still glowing on his back.

Melody entered quietly, summoned by one of the ladies-in-waiting.

Luciana looked up. "He soared today."

Melody nodded, closing the door gently. "He did. They'll speak of it for years."

Luciana hesitated. "And yet… you fear what it means."

Melody looked away, her voice low. "I fear what it will cost him."

Silence passed between them before Luciana whispered:

"Which is why I need you. If I am taken… if I must return to Wahrheit for my children's protection—someone must stay. Someone strong. And gentle. Someone who loves this land more than themselves."

Melody inhaled shakily. "I'm not ready."

"No one is," Luciana replied. "But you will be."

They looked down at Nemesis sleeping beside Hades.

He was breathing softly, unaware that the winds had just named him heir to a destiny far greater than any child should bear.

"He wanted to write about his first flight to his father." Luciana said with a faint smile while stroking his hair.

"Sister... there's something I wanted to ask...and so did father." Melody looked up.

"What is it?" Luciana didn't look up.

"Nemesis isn't your and Lord Erebus' biological child. Am I right?"

Luciana nodded without hesitation.

"He isn't but he is at the same time," Luciana said.

"To both of us he is our beloved and to us he is our first." Luciana smiled.

"He is irreplaceable and precious to me just how Hades and the one inside me are."

" But what if the time to appoint your successor comes?" Melody asked.

" When time comes we will see about it," Luciana raised her index finger on his lips to indicate that the children could wake up.

Melody bid her a goodnight and left while Luciana still looked at the night sky from the terrace.

" I should send him this news. Atleast as his right as a father," she got up and wrote the letter and sealed it.

"Augusta. Please give this to the messenger." Luciana handed it to he maid who was outside.

The maid too kflight as she saw her leave.

" You were right, Erebus. And you've won."