Chapter10: The Eclipse Gate's Gambit

The staircase spiraled into the abyss like a serpent's spine, its steps slick with the residue of ancient magic. The Lunar Shard pulsed in Celia's grip, its silver glow barely piercing the oppressive dark.

Leonis's shadow-wreathed arm twitched at his side, the tendrils of darkness recoiling from the shard's light as if it were a brand. Behind them, Fenrir's growl rumbled low in his throat, his golden eyes reflecting the dim luminescence like a predator's in the night.

*This place stinks of the Sovereign."

Fenrir muttered, claws unsheathing with a metallic *shink*.

*tike rotting meat wrapped in silk."

Thoren limped between them, his breath ragged. The scientist's face was gaunt, his eyes darting to every shadow as if expecting them to lunge.

The Eclipse Gate isnt just a portal," he rasped. It's a *weapon*. The Syndicate used it to fracture realitiesto splice minds into the game."

Leonis's jaw tightened. The memory of the laboratoryrews of glass pods, each holding a hollow-eyed Celiaftashed behind his eyelids.

And the original is guarding it."

Celia's grip on the shard whitened her knuckles. The moonmark on her scar burned, a constant reminder of the truth Arian had forced her to see.

*She made me to break you.*

The words coiled in her chest like a venomous thing. Yet when she glanced at Leonis, his profile etched in the shard's glow, something unfamiliar stirredadefiance that wasnt programmed.

The staircase ended abruptly, depositing them onto a narrow ledge overlooking a cavern so vast its ceiling vanished into shadow. Below, a colossal archway dominated the space, its frame carved from obsidian and inlaid with veins of pulsating shadowglass. The Eclipse Gate,

And standing before it-

*Her.*

The original Celia stood with her back to them, her silver hair unbound, cascading like a waterfall of moonlight down her armored back. Her mask was gone, revealing a face untouched by scars, flawless as a porcelain doll. Yet when she turned, her eyes were wronghollow, gleaming with the same crimson hue as the blood moon.

*Little shadow," she purred, her voice a melody of razors. *You brought my stray lamb home."

Leonis's blood turned to ice. This wasnt the Celia hed fought beside. This was something *worse*.

Fenrir lunged first, a blur of fangs and fury. The original didnt flinch. With a flick of her wrist, a wall of shadowglass erupted from the ground, slamming into Fenrir mid-leap and sending him crashing into the cavern wall. Stone cracked. Dust rained.

*Pathetic,* the original sighed, stepping forward. Her gaze locked onto Celia.

*You were supposed to break him. Not *join* him."

Celia's blade ignited, moonlight flaring down its edge. I'm not yours anymore."

The original laughed, the sound like shattering glass.

*Oh, but you are. Every thought, every move*mine.*" She raised a hand, and Celia's scar *burned*, the moonmark searing as if doused in acid. Celia gasped, dropping to one knee, her blade clattering to the stone.

Leonis moved without thinking. His left arm lashed out, shadows snapping like whips toward the original. She sidesteppedeffortlessly, but he'd anticipated ithis right arm ignited, a torrent of stolen moonlight magic roaring to life. The originals eyes widened as the blast struck her square in the chest, sending her skidding back toward the Gate.

*fnteresting," she coughed, wiping blackened blood from her lips. *Youve learned to play with fire."

Leonis didnt waste breath on taunts. He charged, his dual bloodlines screaming in harmony. Shadow and flame wreathed his fists as he drove a punch toward her gut. The original blocked, but the impact sent shockwaves through the cavern. The ground trembled. The Gate's shadowglass veins pulsed erratically,

Behind them, Thoren staggered toward the Gate's control runes, his fingers flying over the ancient symbols.

I can destabilize it!"he shouted. But I need*time*!"

Fenrir hauled himself from the rubble, his muzzle dripping blood. *Then wel I buy it." He lunged again, this time aiming for the original's flank. She pivoted, but Celia4is* Celiawas already there, her blade slicing upward. The original barely dodged, the edge grazing her cheek.

A single drop of blood welled.

For the first time, the original looked *furious*. *You *dare*

Celia bared her teeth. ↑ *remember*."

The originals snarl was inhuman. She raised both hands, and the cavern*shrieked*. From the Gate's arch, tendrils of shadow lashed out, snaring Fenrir's limbs and yanking him off his feet. Another wrapped around Thoren' s throat, lifting him like a doll.

Leonis tried to pull free, but the shadows coiled around his arms, the dark tendrils *squeezing* until his bones creaked. The original strode toward Celia, her flawless face twisted in contempt.

*You were never supposed to *think*," she hissed. *Only obey.*

Celia met her gaze, the moonmark on her scar blazing. Then you made me wrong,"

With a scream, she *slammed* the Lunar Shard into the original's chest.

The world *exploded* in silver and shadow.

The originals shriek pierced the cavern as the shard's light tore through her, unraveling her form like thread from a spindle. The Eclipse Gate's veins shattered, the obsidian arch groaning as fractures spiderwebbed across its surface.

*No!兴 the original gasped, clawing at the shard. *Youll doom us *all*!*

Celia leaned in, her voice a whisper. Good."

The Gate collapsed.

The last thing Leonis saw was the original's faceflawless, furious, *afraid *bef ore the shockwave hit, plunging them into darkness.

---

When Celia drives the shard into the original, the moonmark on her scar*splits*, revealing a hidden truth: the originals memories flood into her. She sees the Sovereign's thronenot as a monster, but as a *man*, the Syndicate' s CEO, his consciousness fused with the game's code. And she hears his final command to the original Celia: *Bring him to me. His bloodlines are the key."

The shard's light burs the original away, but not before Celia realizes"Leon is isnt just a prisoner. He's the lockpick.*

Leonis woke to the acrid taste of smoke and the sound of dripping water. The cavern was in ruins, the Eclipse Gate reduced to rubble. Fenrir groaned nearby, hauling Thoren from beneath a pile of debris,

And Celia一

She stood at the edge of the ledge, her back to them, the moonmark on her scar now a jagged *crack*, leaking silver light.