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Chapter 3 - Chapter 1.5

CHAPTER 1.5: THE CITY THAT PRAYED

POV: The People of Eden

A thousand voices. One city.

...

Eden, Just After Luther's 100,000th Victory

The bells rang late into the night.

And the city glowed brighter than the stars.

Eden shimmered on the horizon like a promise... silver towers rising from the ash plains, gardens suspended in light, streets that sang softly when you walked them.

To the refugees who stumbled through its gates, eyes hollow from the wasteland, it was more than a city.

It was proof that God had not abandoned them.

Or so they told themselves.

...

The Crowd in the Square

Tonight, the Grand Square overflowed.

Thousands pressed into its white-marble plaza, heads tilted back to watch the projection of Luther's latest victory play across the mirrored spire above.

There he was: radiant in gold-thread robes, his spear cutting through the One-Horned Akuma as if through water, his expression serene even as the beast roared and died at his feet.

And then the crowd cheered.

Screamed his name.

"LUTHER!"

"LUTHER! Our SAVIOR!"

" I wanted to be like you LUTHER."

The children waved little banners, the priests swung incense braziers in great arcs, and the psionic choirs sang the hymn written in his name: "Deliverance by the Spear."

A little boy sitting on his father's shoulders whispered, awestruck:

"Is he even… human?"

His father hesitated.

Then he smiled faintly, staring at the man in the projection above.

"No," he said.

"He's what keeps us human."

...

The Edge of the Crowd

Not everyone cheered.

Some watched silently.

A woman in a patched cloak stood near the edges of the plaza, her face pale in the glow of the spire.

Her hands trembled faintly as she watched Luther kneel to bless a child in the recording.

And she murmured under her breath:

"What happens when he decides to stop saving us?"

"Shhhh Tina... don't say that out loud." Said one of her friends standing next to her.

Beside them, an old man laughed bitterly.

"Then," he rasped, "we'll see what he was really made for."

But no one heard them over the roar of the crowd.

No one ever did.

...

How the People Remembered

They told the story to every new child born in Eden.

That once, the world had ended.

That the sky itself had torn open, and from it poured judgment... Akuma with wings of flame and claws of black bone, devouring the weak and grinding the cities to dust.

That humanity, in its arrogance, had summoned its own doom and begged for mercy too late.

That of all who survived, only the Observers stood and fought.

And that those seven, scarred and holy, struck a bargain no one else dared:... for the lives of the many, they paid a price too terrible to name.

For the world's survival, they became its Watchers.

They built this city from nothing.

They called it Eden.

And here, at last, we humans on the verge of extinction learned to stand again.

...

The Observers' Names

The children whispered their names like a song:

Genna Vrae... the Wrath who lit the skies on fire.

Sera Velorian... the Envious one who heard every secret and never told.

Callus Greaven... the Greed who made the machines sing and gave them teeth. To eat the akuma who wanted to eat us.

Yulan Ishtar... the Lustborne shadow who walked in desire and silence.

Zero ... the Pride of eden who foresaw the fall before it happened, and stayed to watch after us when we slept peacefully

And then Naomi...

And, of course, they spoke too of the Mad Genius.

Not an Observer. Not quite human. Not quite sane too.

But the one who gave them the weapons they needed to claw Eden out of the dirt.

The man who made the spears, the walls, the lattice that bound Luther together.

The man who, when asked what he was building, only grinned and said:

"Insurance."

...

The Streets at Night

Even at midnight, the city pulsed with life.

Clean air hummed through the filters.

Hovercabs drifted silently through the tiered streets.

Gardens bloomed on every corner.

And on the massive gate, two soldiers stood vigil, their eyes always drawn... however involuntarily... to the faint shimmer of the wasteland beyond.

Sometimes they spoke quietly to each other.

Not about the Akuma.

But about Luther.

"Have you ever seen him up close?"

"Once," one would say. "He walked past me. Didn't even look. And I swear... I felt my lungs stop."

"And?"

"And… I was glad."

"Why?"

"Because if he wanted to, I think he could've stopped my heart. Right there. And no one would've stopped him."

They would laugh nervously after that.

But they would still bow when he passed.

...

The Statues

On the highest tier, in the Temple of Spires, there stood six statues and one empty plinth.

The six: the Observers, carved in white stone, larger than life.

And the plinth?

It bore only a single inscription.

"For the one who holds the spear."

Each day, flowers appeared at its base.

No one ever saw who placed them.

But everyone knew who they were for.

...

The Fear Below the Praise

Tonight, as the celebrations wound down and the cheers faded into the quiet of curfew, the people of Eden returned to their homes.

Parents tucked children into bed, whispering stories of Luther's strength and the Observers' wisdom.

But when the lights dimmed, and the silence of the city pressed close, some couldn't help but wonder:

What would happen if he ever turned?

What would happen if he ever broke?

They called him their savior.

They called him perfect.

But everyone in Eden... deep down... knew one thing to be true:

Even perfect things cast shadows.

...

END OF CHAPTER 1.5

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