The throne room had fallen into a suffocating silence. No sound stirred except for the unsteady breathing of the three who remained.

  Caelum’s mind was blank. He couldn't process the Radiant King’s words. Complete? What was that supposed to mean? And calling Lucielle and Varithra cursed? None of it made any sense. He had believed, without doubt, that he was the one cursed—born into this twisted world, unloved by either side.

  His eyes shifted toward the two women. Lucielle and Varithra stood frozen, their bodies trembling. Caelum could see a torrent of emotions in their eyes—confusion, fear, sadness, and anger. They were just as shaken as he was.

  Lucielle was the first to find her voice, though it came out small and hesitant.“Incomplete? Cursed? My king… did you make a mistake by any chance?”

  The Radiant King’s golden eyes fixed on her. “Do you think I lie to you, child?”

  Lucielle’s eyes widened. She immediately fell to her knees and bowed her head low.“Of course not, my King. Please forgive me.”

  But then, surprisingly, Varithra stepped forward, her posture steady, her expression no longer trembling but resolute. She stood almost beside Caelum, and he couldn’t help but marvel at how easily she masked her fear.

  “You might be lying to us,” she said bluntly. “How can you call us cursed? On what basis do you make that claim?”

  Caelum could feel Lucielle’s glare burning into Varithra, as though she’d just committed a blasphemy of the highest order. But the king remained calm amidst the storm of doubt he had stirred.

  “All mortals were meant to inherit the essences of both my father and mother—just like we did.” He gestured to himself as he spoke.

  “Mother and father?” Caelum asked, confused. The terms were unfamiliar. He looked at Lucielle and Varithra, and their expressions mirrored his own bafflement.

  “Yes,” the king said, then pointed behind him to the two great symbols carved into the stone wall—one of the sun, the other of the moon. “The sun represents my father. The moon, my mother. They created us all.”

  Stunned silence followed. None of them had ever heard this before. Their entire lives, they had been taught that the six gods—three from Luminara, three from Nyxara—were the creators of mortals.

  Noticing their shock, the king tilted his head. “No one remembers this?”

  All three shook their heads slowly.

  “So you’re saying,” Varithra spoke again, carefully this time, “that we were all created equally… from both your father and mother?”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “All of us should carry both essences. But yours—” he pointed toward Lucielle and Varithra “—have been forcefully severed. You’ve been made incomplete.”

  He turned to Caelum next. “While this child does carry both essences, they are not natural. Or at least, they are different from what I remember from our time.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Lucielle’s voice trembled. “B-But my King, aren’t you, Solmara, and Vaelis supposed to hold absolute authority over Luminara’s blessings?”

  “Yes,” Varithra added quickly, now pointing toward Caelum. “You’re the one who grants Aetherforging. How do we know you’re like him?”

  The Radiant King studied her for a moment before asking, “You hold Erythos’ flame, don’t you?”

  Varithra nodded cautiously.

  The king lifted his right hand and summoned a radiant sword made of pure light. But then, with his left, he summoned a roaring black flame—one unmistakably of Erythos.

  Varithra’s mouth fell open in disbelief. She was speechless.

  “I can wield all the blessings granted by our parents, as can my siblings,” he said. “Its just that my proficiency lies within Aetherforging . My appearance on the other hand leans toward my father’s side. That’s why I’m often associated with light. But I hold both.”

  Lucielle looked shattered. She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Then it’s true… we’re the cursed ones. We were supposed to be like him,” she said, her voice breaking as she motioned toward Caelum.

  Caelum didn’t know how to comfort her. He could understand the weight of what she had just realized. Her entire life had been built upon a false truth.

  Varithra, however, didn’t stop there. “Then what are we supposed to do? How did this happen? What happened to this place?”

  The king’s face darkened slightly. “I don’t have all the answers. The consciousness you’re speaking to now is only an illusion by celestemancy, left before this realm turned into what you see now.”

  He turned toward the throne and placed a hand on it gently. “But I know this—six relics, born from our divine essence, have been scattered. Some have already been claimed by hosts. If a host has been chosen, you must stop them—permanently.”

  Lucielle flinched. “You mean… we have to kill them?”

  “If the relics fall into the wrong hands, the cycle will collapse completely. Only by assembling all six can you uncover the truth and find a way to break it.”

  The king’s feet began to shimmer and fade. His form was starting to dissolve.

  “Ah,” he chuckled softly, “seems my Celestemancy is still as unstable as ever.”

  Before he vanished completely, he added, “I can sense two relics—one far to the west, the other to the east. They lie within your twin planets.”

  “Luminara and Nyxara…” Caelum muttered.

  “The other four remain hidden, likely behind seal of my siblings just like mine. You must find them—before the cycle devours everything.”

  His voice softened with his final words.“Get as far from here as you can before the first horn. May the sun and moon shine on your path.”

  And with that, he vanished.

  Lucielle remained kneeling, silent, as though mourning a great loss. Varithra, in contrast, clenched her fists and cursed under her breath.

  “I have so many questions. Dammit!”

  “You’re awfully calm,” Caelum said to her, raising an eyebrow.

  Varithra turned her glare on him. “Must be nice, huh? Turns out you’re the only one who wasn’t cursed. Want to laugh in our faces?”

  “No,” Caelum replied, shaking his head. “I have more questions than you think. And just as few answers.”

  Varithra was quiet for a moment before sighing. “I’m not surprised, really. I’ve always hated this war. That’s why I was looking for you.”

  “What?!” Lucielle jolted up.

  Caelum blinked. “Looking for me? Why?”

  “Because you wanted to break the cycle—albeit for your own reasons. But I thought maybe… just maybe, we were aiming for the same thing.” She glanced at Lucielle. “But I couldn’t say anything with her always around.”

  “Stop the war?” Lucielle snapped. “Are you insane? If your people knew that, you’d be sentenced to a solar embrace!”

  “You heard the King,” Varithra said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Do nothing, and we all die. Or perhaps you think he was lying?”

  “N-No! I believe him, I do!” Lucielle’s voice cracked. “But what should we do? For the first time in my life, I’m lost.”

  Caelum took a step forward. “Let’s get out of here first. He warned us about the first horn.”

  Both women nodded in agreement, silent and thoughtful.

  As they moved toward the great doors of the throne room, uncertainty loomed ahead. Whatever lay beyond would undoubtedly brand them heretics in the eyes of their people. But Caelum no longer cared.

  He had one goal—To break this cursed cycle.