kweenjaded

For as long as the stars have burned, she has existed. She has been called many names—Gaia, Lilith, the First, the Eternal Witness—but time has eroded meaning, leaving only silence. When the sun finally devoured itself and Earth drifted into the abyss, she closed her eyes, expecting oblivion.

But she did not die.

Eons passed, and Earth—no longer Earth—was reborn in a distant galaxy, reshaped by her unconscious will. Now a training ground for civilizations across the cosmos, the planet teems with life once more. And she, no longer Lilith yet not fully something else, awakens in a body that is hers but unfamiliar. She knows everything yet feels nothing. Memories exist as echoes, not experiences.

When a young explorer, Tilana, stumbles upon her, she is given a name—Lily—a word tied to a flower that no longer exists. As Lily navigates a world both familiar and alien, she must relearn what it means to feel, to connect, and to exist. But something lingers in the depths of this reborn world, something that calls to the remnants of who she was.

To see tomorrow, one must kill yesterday. But what if yesterday refuses to die?.

Lily: The last lily of a forgotten world.

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Zane Vael knew every inch of his ship.

The Iron Revenant was an extension of himself—its hum beneath his boots, the cold scent of metal and engine grease, the subtle shift of artificial gravity.

Which was why, the moment he stepped into the cargo hold, he knew something was wrong.

He moved silently through the dim-lit space, his coat whispering against his legs, his hand resting lightly on the pulse-blade holstered at his hip.

A hushed voice, barely above a whisper.

"Of course he knows! He's Zane Vael!"

"I'll give you five seconds to explain why you're on my ship," he said, voice like steel, "before I decide if you get to keep breathing."

Two figures, huddled behind a crate—young, desperate, terrified.

One, a girl with wild dark hair and sharp eyes. The other, a lanky boy who looked like he thought too much.

The girl swallowed hard. Then—her expression shifted, eyes going wide with something other than fear.

"You're Alekzander Vael. The Iron Revenant. The most wanted man in the sector."

His fingers flexed against his pulse-blade.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you into open space."

The girl—Renna—didn't answer. But the boy—Cael—did.

He reached into his coat and pulled out something small, round, and pulsing with deep-blue light.

Because he'd seen that exact same object before.

"We don't know what it does," Cael said, voice measured, careful. "But the warlords were willing to kill for it. That means it's important. Maybe even valuable."

Renna elbowed him. "We'd like to join your crew."

"Shut up," Cael hissed. "We'd like to trade it for passage."

"Fine." His voice was cold, unreadable. "You're not crew. You work for your keep. And I drop you at the next habitable planet."

Cael let out a breath of relief. "Fine by us."

Which was why, as soon as the stowaways were dealt with, he called in the two crew members responsible for guarding the cargo hold.

A tall, scarred man. A younger woman, hands shaking.

Zane pulled a small vial from his coat. Inside, ZEX-214 shimmered darkly—a nanopoison, one of the most brutal in the system.

It simply made every nerve in the body hypersensitive.

A scratch would feel like a knife wound.

A punch—like a hundred broken bones.

For two hours, Zane made them feel it.

When it was over, they were still alive.

But they would never fail him again.

Because next time, there would be no mercy.

Chapter 3 : Stowaways and Bargains