Elian’s POV
*****
"Wait!" He yelled when Kyren’s fingers were just millitres away from Sylas’s head. "Don’t do that."
He said that because of the screen the system flashed in front of him after running a deep scan on Sylas.
[So, I obviously wasn’t able to uproot his true mories either—but there’s sothing alarming you’ve got to see.]
Kyren swerved his head to him. "Why? I told you it should be harmless now that he’s awake. I just need to go slowly and he needs to—"
"There’s a failsafe." Elian blurted, reading out the system’s result. "A spell, a curse... sothing linked to his very bloodline and DNA. And his mories."
The Rogue King didn’t need an explanation beyond that. His crimson eyes widened, hand withdrawing completely from Sylas like he was a touch-triggered bomb.
Because he kind of is.
"I don’t understand." Lucian frowned, still holding Sylas close to himself. "Failsafe? What do you an and how do you..." He paused, eyes glinting with realisation. "Your... your system?"
Elian nodded while the system beeped like a child.
[Would you look at that? Now the entire crew knows about . Well... almost. There’s still Aurora, your mother-in-law, who we aren’t even sure if she knows sothing about Amara’s cursed bracelet or not. Ou, and Sera!]
For an artificially intelligent bot, its sarcasm was always on point.
"A failsafe spell or curse," Kyren said this ti. "is built to activate with devastating consequences the instant soone tries tampering with the original spell it’s linked to. In this case, the mory alteration on Sylas."
[Love a man who knows his stuff.]
Elian gestured at Sylas. "Not only that, but it’s linked to the Divine crystal. And so is Sylas. Every spell, altercation, augntation... all of it has traces of divine energy powering it."
That explains why he could light up like a freaking divine vessel earlier.
’System, you’re really outdoing yourself with this upgrade.’
[Honey, I’ve always been iconic.]
Even Kyren gave him a quick proud look.
But then—
"So essentially, you’re saying what Amara did to him is.... beyond simple magic?" Lucian shook his head. "The Divine crystal? But... but how? The tilines are not making any sense."
He pulled away from Sylas, gazing between Elian and Kyren. "Eighteen years ago my brother got kidnapped. He didn’t show up again until six years ago... taken into Kyren’s care." He laid down the dynamics. "So how then did Amara get access to the divine crystal for any experints if it’s buried deep in the Dark Lands?"
The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Elian’s jaw tightened. This sohow circled back to him and the Ascension protocol experints as well. The tilines on that didn’t make sense and were all scattered.
The Divine crystal crashed into the Dark Lands thousands of years ago. Witches made their first experints on it, causing the Blight that cursed the lands.
Then, over three hundred years ago, Amara and Garrick kick-started the Ascension protocol experints. They couldn’t possibly have continued during the tis that Kyren took control of the Dark Lands... right?
And now there’s Sylas...
Lucian suddenly stepped between Kyren and Sylas, one arm still hovering protectively near his brother’s shoulder.
"We still have ti to figure this out," he said firmly, voice low but steady. "All this..." he gestured vaguely at the floating screens, the shaking Sylas, Kyren’s tense stance "...is overwhelming him. Let’s slow down. We don’t need answers this second."
Sylas almost sagged with relief, and honestly? So did Elian.
Kyren exhaled sharply but didn’t argue. For Kyren, that was the argunt.
The system chid again.
[Okay, since everyone’s having an emotional crisis, let do sothing actually productive. Now that my upgrade is complete, I can run a deep scan through your soul, fruitcake—like, deeper than that surface-level stuff. I might be able to scrape mories from before you were five.]
Elian’s chest loosened. "You can?"
[Yes, babe. But for max accuracy, I’ll need twenty minutes.]
"Do it."
[Tir started. Don’t annoy .]
Elian closed the screens. "Let’s get out of here. He needs space."
They all agreed—well, Kyren nodded like a king granting rcy, Lucian was already ushering Sylas out, and Elian followed.
.
.
Kyren’s idea of brunch was... insane. Because only he would call a fully catered feast with eight dishes "sothing light." The dining room glowed with warm midday light, shadows slipping lazily through the arched windows.
The system’s tir hovered just behind Elian’s vision:
[Soul Scan: 5 minutes remaining]
Kyren lounged at the head of the table, gesturing casually for Sylas to sit. "Feel free to eat, boy. You’re not a prisoner here."
Sylas nodded stiffly and sat beside Lucian, who clearly wasn’t letting him get more than two inches away.
Elian dropped into his seat beside Lucian, trying to act normal even though he wanted to peel the layers of Sylas’ life apart one by one until the entire truth was bare.
Lucian cleared his throat. "Elian... we need to think ahead. We have to go back to Lunaria soon." His gaze softened just a fraction. "If you want to stay with Kyren for a while after this... I’ll understand."
Kyren didn’t comnt, but he did arch one eyebrow. Like he was curious about Elian’s response.
Elian hesitated. Just a breath. Just a heartbeat.
"No," he finally said, voice steady. "I’m seeing this through with you. We still have a wedding to plan... and your father’s funeral." He swallowed. "Plus whatever Arcadia has to say after what we did in their capital."
Lucian’s lips twitched, a shadow of a smile.
The tir flickered again.
[Soul Scan: 15 seconds remaining]
Elian sat straighter.
[10 seconds.]
A cold shiver shot down his spine.
8 seconds.
His breath hitched.
5—
"Elian?" Lucian leaned in. "You okay?"
3—
He didn’t get to answer.
A piercing force snapped through his skull—his neck jerked back violently, eyes locking on the ceiling. His breath punched out of him, his vision went white, and the system’s voice turned to distant static.
His body didn’t move but his soul?
It was ripped sowhere else entirely.
.
.
The white void stretched endlessly around him, soft and luminous, humming like a heartbeat. Soundless yet loud. Empty yet full.
"Elian..."
A woman’s voice echoed. It was soft. Familiar in a way his bones recognised before his mind did.
He spun around.
A silhouette ford—feminine, radiant, drifting forward with long silver hair flowing like starlight.
Elian’s knees nearly buckled.
No. No, it couldn’t—
The figure stepped closer, features sharpening.
His entire body trembled.
"H–Holy—" he whispered.
Because the face erging from the light...
Was the moon goddess!
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