Seventy-one: Outcast

Hyades City, Exterior Ward

Spring Court, Hidden World

Terra, Gaea Solar system

Milky Way Galaxy,

Neutral Free Zone

Seeing the tears streak down Sam's beautiful face sent a flicker of anger through Leon—anger at himself. He despised the thought that he had caused her pain. And yet, beneath that self-directed frustration, another emotion burned—a quiet fury toward Nabu for daring to harm her in his presence.

Weakly, he lifted a trembling hand, brushing away her tears with the edge of his fingers. He tried not to let his pain show, to suppress the weakness threatening to consume him. He had to be strong. Strong for her. Strong for himself.

"I don't like seeing you cry," Leon murmured.

"I'm sorry," Sam whispered.

"Don't." His voice was firm, though strained. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault."

A sudden fit of coughing wracked his body, stealing his breath.

"Leon…" Sam's voice tightened with worry as she quickly grabbed a cup from the bedside table, bringing it to his lips. "Here, drink."

He took a sip, steadying himself before letting out a slow breath.

"I'm fine," he said, though he knew she didn't believe him. He could see it in her eyes—the worry, the unspoken questions swirling behind them.

"You're probably wondering how the hell a Mystic like me ends up like this," he added with a weak chuckle.

Sam hesitated before nodding. "I don't understand… Emily told me you've been sick—sick for as long as she's known you. And Sophia… she said you're dying." Her voice cracked slightly. "But neither of them would tell me what kind of sickness could kill an Ascendant. I thought… I thought we were immune to things like this."

Leon exhaled, his gaze distant. "Ascendants are immune to mortal sickness," he admitted. "At least… the natural ones."

"Natural ones… Are there artificial illnesses out there?" Sam asked, her brow furrowing.

"Yes." Leon's voice was edged with bitterness. "Foolish people playing god, experimenting with things they were never meant to touch." He exhaled sharply. "In the past, advancements in genetic engineering led to the creation of artificial illnesses—diseases capable of infecting even Ascendants. It became such a danger that the Federation was forced to ban all forms of genetic research within its territory."

Sam swallowed hard. "And you… you have one of these illnesses?"

Leon met her gaze, knowing he could no longer keep the truth from her.

"Do you know what age most Pleiadians awaken?" he asked.

"Eleven," Sam answered without hesitation.

Leon nodded. "For the lucky ones born into a Named family, their Gratia is granted to them by their household god at the age of ten. Those without a Named lineage undergo the Awakening Ceremony at the temples when they turn eleven, where they must prove themselves to the gods." He paused, a flicker of old memories crossing his face. "But I was neither."

Sam frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

Leon's fingers curled slightly against the sheets. "When I was nine—three years after my father's death—I awakened."

Sam's eyes widened. "Nine? That's—"

"Unnatural?" Leon finished for her with a wry smirk. "People assume that the House of Leo has no household god, that we are simply beholden to the Sun, the source of our Gratia. But for me… it was different. I was never bound to it. My awakening didn't happen under the sun's radiance or even beneath the moonlight." His expression darkened, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "It happened at midnight. Under a sky devoid of both sun and moon. And yet… I still awakened."

He let the weight of his words settle between them before finally adding, "I did so… on my own."

Sam froze.

Wasn't this exactly what Sophia had told her? That she had awakened on her own, without any external trigger? Her gaze dropped to the Ankh seal etched into her skin—the mark that labeled her as an Asha'Yee. Sophia had explained that Asha'Yee were individuals who awakened through internal harmony, but Sam still didn't fully understand what that meant. She had been unconscious during the entire process.

And now, she was hearing that Leon had done the same… but at the age of nine.

Her fingers instinctively brushed against the mark, her thoughts racing. Could it be more than a coincidence?

Before she could voice her thoughts, Leon let out a bitter chuckle. "Of course, what should have been a miraculous event turned out to be the beginning of my nightmare."

Sam snapped out of her daze, her attention fully back on him. "What happened?"

Leon exhaled, his expression unreadable. "Turns out I was infected with a nano-parasitic virus—one that doesn't just attack the body but operates on a metaphysical level."

"You were infected?" Sam repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "Someone did this to you?"

She could hardly believe it. The thought of Leon—just a child—being deliberately targeted made her stomach twist. What kind of monster would do something like that?

Leon exhaled, his gaze distant. "My Vital forcefield… the virus devours it, tearing it apart piece by piece. Because of it, my lifespan is constantly shrinking." His voice was eerily steady, but Sam could hear the bitterness beneath it. "I should have died upon awakening. By all logic, I shouldn't even be here right now. But… for some reason, I survived."

Sam's grip tightened on the sheets. "That's not survival, Leon. That's suffering."

He offered her a small, humorless smile. "I suppose it is."

He leaned back against the pillows, eyes flickering with old memories. "My mother took me to every doctor, every healer she could find—across the Divine Federation, the Neutral Free Zone, everywhere. But no one could restore my vitality. No one could save me. The only advice I was given?" He let out a sharp exhale. "Abandon the path of an Ascendant."

Leon's expression darkened as he spoke, his face shifting through emotions—frustration, defiance, something else Sam couldn't quite name. "But I refused. If my life was already limited, then I was going to spend it chasing what mattered to me. I wanted to be a Paladin. That was my choice." His voice steadied, firm with conviction. "So I enrolled in the Academy, trained harder than anyone else, pushed my body to the edge to gain the strength I needed to achieve my goal."

Sam frowned. "Your goal…" She hesitated. "Leon, I know you've been after the Fallen Stars for a long time. I always assumed it was about your father's death. But… we know now that the Fallen One had nothing to do with that. And you knew that too, didn't you?"

Leon fell silent.

Sam watched him closely. He looked… conflicted, like he was debating whether to say more. Then, finally, he spoke.

"You know my family is one of the Named families among the Pleiadians in the Federation, right?"

Sam nodded.

Leon exhaled slowly. "The truth is… before the Uprising, my family wasn't respected like the others. We were looked down on."

Sam blinked. "What? But—why?"

Leon's jaw tightened. "It started with my grandfather, Theodore Haravok. After my grandmother died, he abandoned everything—his oath, his duty, his family. He just… left. A Paladin who turns his back on his duty is branded an Oathbreaker. That disgrace followed our name like a curse."

Sam stayed silent, letting him continue.

"Then my father married a human." His lips pressed into a thin line. "A weak race, from a weak, lower-tier world. That was another mark against us. It didn't matter that my father was an exceptional Paladin—the shame of his lineage was still there. People whispered behind our backs, looked down on us. Even when he became an Admiral, it wasn't enough."

Leon's fingers curled into fists, his voice growing heavier. "Then came the Uprising. My father was the only Admiral left standing. He took command of Starlight, led the charge, fought the terrorist leader, and stopped the Fallen Star before things spiraled out of control. His heroism spread through the Federation like wildfire. He became the 'Great Hero.'"

He let out a dry laugh. "And just like that, the whispers changed. The same people who once scorned us now envied us. My mother, the widow of a war hero. Me, the son of a legend."

Sam's chest ached at the weight behind his words. "Leon…"

He shook his head, his expression unreadable. "But you want to know why I sought out the Fallen Star?" He let out a slow breath, looking at her with something unreadable in his eyes. "Because my father's death wasn't the end of the story. And I needed to know the truth."

"It turns out my sickness wasn't just some cruel twist of fate," Leon said, his voice quiet yet laced with bitterness. "It was deliberate—engineered by people within the Federation who wanted to see my family erased."

Sam's breath caught in her throat. "Erased?"

Leon nodded. "They intended for me to be the last of the Haravok bloodline. To wipe us out, once and for all." His jaw tightened. "My mother knew. She tried to protect me from the truth, to shield me from it. But in the end, I discovered it on my own."

Sam could only imagine how that revelation must have shattered him.

Leon's heritage wasn't just tied to the Federation—his mother came from a long line of witches, seers who wielded clairvoyance. His own Hyperion Eye ability was an expression of that legacy. He rarely used his clairvoyance, not just because of the strain it placed on his already fragile health, but because he knew that knowledge always came at a cost.

Yet, despite the risks, he had used it. And what he saw led him to the truth.

"I don't know what role the Fallen Stars played in my father's death," Leon admitted. "But I do know that they were the ones he fought against. I couldn't go after the real enemies—the ones within the Federation. Not without putting my mother in danger." His fingers curled into fists. "But the Fallen Stars… they were within my reach. If they knew something, I could use them. I could use them to uncover the truth."

As Leon spoke, Sam listened carefully, feeling the weight of his past pressing down on him. He was reaching the part of his story that troubled him most—she could feel it. The tension in his voice. The unspoken pain in his words.

And then he said it.

"I spent most of my time as a Paladin chasing down clues about the Fallen Stars," Leon continued. "I became obsessed. To the point where my progress as a Paladin stagnated. If I'm being honest, I never cared much for the title, for the duty. Protecting, guarding, and saving lives—it was never my priority. Being a Paladin was just a means to an end. A tool I needed to reach my goal."

Sam's chest tightened. That wasn't the Leon she knew.

He hesitated for a brief moment before exhaling sharply. "It took years before I even found one of them. And that's when everything changed."

Sam's heart pounded. "What happened, Leon?"

Leon's gaze darkened, his mind drifting to the past. "My exile."

A heavy silence fell between them.

Sam had always sensed there was something more to his banishment than what he had told her before. Every time it was mentioned, she had felt a tinge of pain from him—something tangled with guilt and shame. And now, she could feel it more than ever.

"Leon..." Sam whispered, sensing his hesitation.

He looked at her then, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. He didn't know if he could tell her. If he should.

He didn't want to see the look of horror on her face.

Didn't want her to see him as a monster.

Didn't want her to think of him the same way she thought of those responsible for her suffering.

But deep down, he knew—he had to tell her the truth.

"A year ago, in Lamentias, I finally found one of them." His voice was low, strained. "A high-ranking member of the Fallen Stars."

Sam waited, watching him closely.

Leon's hands clenched as his mind flashed back to that fateful moment—the event that led to his exile, his forced departure from the Federation… and ultimately, his time on Terra.

The moment that led him to her.

"His name was Ryu," Leon said.

And with that, the past came rushing back.