Chapter 7:Whispers of the Fallen.

The chamber hummed with the resonance of forgotten magic, the air thick with the scent of ozone and crushed violets. The shard of moonlight atop the altar pulsed like a living heart, casting jagged reflections across the murals of gods and mortals locked in eternal strife.

Leonis's shadow-wreathed arm twitched, the dark tendrils recoiling from the light as if scalded.

Celia stepped forward first, her boots silent against the ancient stone. Her moonlight blade, still dimmed from the battle in the Frost Citadel, flickered weakly in response to the shard's glow.

This isnt just a relic,"she murmured, her voice frayed at the edges. Its a *key*."

Fenrir prowled the perimeter, his golden eyes reflecting the eerie luminescence. The remnants of his Bloodchainedscars itched beneath his skin, a reminder of the Syndicate's grip.

"Keys open doors," he growled.

*B ut what's waiting on the other side?*

Thoren limped to the altar, his fingers hovering over the shard. The scientist's face was a map of pain and revelation. The Lunar Shard was forged to counter the Sovereign's shadowglass. Its one of the few things that can disrupt their control.

" His gaze flicked to Celia, heavy with unspoken meaning. But it requires a sacrifice."

Leonis didnt like the way Thoren's voice cracked on that last word. What kind?"

Before Thoren could answer, the shard *screamed*.

A shockwave of silver energy erupted, throwing them backward. The murals on the walls *moved*, their carved figures stepping free of the stone like ghosts shedding graves. A towering figure coalesced before thema- woman clad in tattered robes, her wings broken and bleeding shadow. Her eyes, twin pools of liquid night, fixed on Celia.

*Little copy," the fallen angel whispered, her voice the sound of a thousand dying stars. *You carry my sister's tears in your scars."

Celia's breath hitched. The brand beneath her mask burned as if doused in acid. Arian,"she choked out, the name torn from a memory not her own.

Leoniss blood ran cold. *Arian.* The name from the system's quest4Whispers of the Fallen.* The angel who had resisted the Sovereigns corruption.

Arians shattered wings flexed, sending rivulets of black ichor dripping to the floor.

*The shard is a piece of me," she said, her voice fraying at the edges. *

A fragment of the moon's wrath, buried here to keep it from the Sovereign's grasp."

Her gaze locked onto Celia. *But you already knew that, didnt you?"

Celia's hands trembled. No, It-dont remember."

*Liar.* Arian's voice was a lash. *

The original Celia carved those words into your bones before she sent you into the world. You are her will made flesh. Her *dagger*."

The revelation struck like a blade to the gut. Leonis saw it thenthe way Celia's fingers dug into her scar, the way her pulse fluttered like a caged bird. She wasnt just a copy. She was a *message*.

Fenrir snarled, stepping between them. *Enough riddles. If this shard can hurt the Sovereign, we take it and go."

Arian laughed, the sound like breaking glass.

*Oh, wolf-prince. Nothing is ever that simple." She raised a skeletal hand, and the shard *moved*, floating toward Celia.

*The sacrifice is a memory. The truest one you have."

Celia recoiled. No."

"The shard will show you what you are. What she *made* you."

Arian's voice softened, almost pitying.

*But once you see it, you can never unsee it."

Silence.

Then, with a shuddering breath, Celia reached outand touched the shard.

--.

"The memory was a knife to the skull."

Leonis saw it through her eyes;

*A laboratory, vast and sterile. Rows of glass pods, each holding a silver-haired womandozens of Celias, their faces slack in artificial sleep. At the center stood the original, her mask gone, her scar pulsing with moonlight. She pressed her palm to the glass of one pod, her voice a whisper:*

*You will remember him. You will find him. And you will *break* him."

*The pod's occupant*this *Celiastirred, her lips forming a single

word:*"Leonis." ---

The vision shattered.

Celia collapsed, the shard clattering to the ground. Her scream echoed through the chamber, raw and broken. Leonis caught her before she hit the stone, her body convulsing, her scar *bleeding* moonlight.

*What did you *do* to her?" Leonis snarled at Arian.

The fallen angels wings sagged. *T showed her the truth. The original Celia is the Sovereign's right hand. She crafted these copies to hunt youto test you. To *mold* you."

Fenrir's claws unsheathed. *Then we kill the original."

*You cannot," Arian said softly. *She is bound to the Sovereign's will. But*this* Celia*your* Celiashe has something the others do not."

Leoniss grip tightened. What?"

*A choice.*

Celia's breathing steadied. Her eyes, when they opened, were differentelear er, fiercer. The scar on her face had changed, the jagged edges now forming a delicate rune. A *moonmark*.

She looked at Leonis, and for the first time, there was no hesitation in her gaze. I know where to go."

The shard pulsed in agreement.

Arians form began to dissolve, her voice fading into the dark. *Beware the Eclipse Gate. The Sovereign awaits thereand so does she."

As the last of her shadow vanished, the chamber trembled. The murals cracked, their figures crumbling to dust. The altar split in two, revealing a staircase spiraling into the abyss.

Thoren exhaled sharply. The path to the Eclipse Gate."

Leonis helped Celia to her feet. Her fingers interlaced with his, cold but steady. You heard her,"she said quietly. The original is waiting."

Fenrir bared his teeth in a grin. *Good. I've been craving a real hunt."

And with the shard's light guiding them, they descended into the dark.