The day after their return, the group was summoned to the East Training Sanctuary — a massive underground complex carved into the mountainside behind the capital. This wasn't a school or an arena. It was a vault of knowledge — where the very walls held ancient power.
The Seven stood in silence as the massive rune-doors opened, revealing a cathedral of moving lights, star maps, and floating platforms. At the center was a circle of stone, glowing softly with blue glyphs.
Neolin stood waiting.
"So," he said. "Let's see what you remember… and what you've forgotten."
He stepped into the center of the circle and slammed his staff to the ground. The glyphs around him blazed to life — not in fire, but in light. Each one rotated slowly, forming a layered code of symbols none of them had seen before.
"This is the Elysian Pattern," Neolin said. "It is not Triggsen. It is not Riggsen. It is not Palecto. It is something older. Something purer. It listens not to your will… but to your soul's design."
He turned to Kitty.
"You, step forward."
Kitty hesitated, but the others stepped back, giving her space.
"Place your hand over the ring," Neolin instructed.
She did. Instantly, the glyphs shifted. The ones beneath her glowed gold — but not solidly. They flickered, unstable.
"Hm," Neolin muttered. "Interesting…"
"What is it?" Kitty asked.
"Your glyphs aren't broken," Neolin said. "They're… asleep. Just like your demon. But something is bleeding through."
Frank stepped forward. "It's a trace effect. The Golden Wings sigil may be encoded with celestial access."
Neolin nodded. "Exactly."
Then the light pulsed sharply.
Everyone froze.
A symbol began forming beneath Kitty's hand — one not made by her, or by Neolin, or by any known system.
A glyph that wasn't supposed to exist.
It was twisted, with jagged edges, glowing not gold or blue — but black.
Susan's eyes widened. "That's not Triggsen. Or Elysian."
Jack stared hard. "That's… a Glyph of the Dead."
Neolin stepped forward fast, snapping his staff outward. The symbols broke apart, vanishing mid-air. Kitty stumbled backward.
The room fell into stunned silence.
Frank knelt near the last fading fragment. "This isn't Palecto either."
Neolin said in a hard voice, "That symbol hasn't been seen since the Sealing War. It's one of the Seven Forbidden Marks."
Tom blinked. "But Kitty's not awakened yet."
"She may have carried it since birth," Neolin said. "Some marks choose the soul early, and wait. Watch. Whisper."
Kitty looked pale. "What does it mean?"
"It means," Neolin said grimly, "that when the time comes, your awakening might shake more than the battlefield. It might tear the sky."
---
Later that day, while the rest returned to the upper halls for training and rest, Lucy wandered the observatory.
She'd felt something during Kitty's glyph spark — like a whisper in her ear. But no one else had reacted.
She traced her fingers across one of the old constellation maps.
She didn't know why, but one particular star pattern seemed… out of place. Like it didn't belong.
It formed a perfect spiral — but inside the center, a faint symbol glowed. Barely there.
It matched something she'd once seen in a dream.
Or maybe in a forgotten memory.
She touched it.
And the stars moved.
The map flared briefly, and then faded again.
Lucy stumbled back. Her heart raced.
The stars had whispered something.
She didn't understand the words…
But she knew one thing.
Something was waking inside her too.
And it didn't sound like a demon.
It sounded like… a god.