Location: Skyfortress Aegis – Reactor Core Chamber
The final bulkhead slid open with a grinding shudder, revealing the beating heart of the Aegis.
The reactor tower rose like a column of caged lightning, white-blue arcs leaping up its length, bathing the chamber in shifting shadows. Catwalks spiraled around it, narrow and high, their railings trembling with every pulse of power.
Aeris froze at the threshold.
She knew this place.
Not from schematics, not from walking these decks before — but from her dreams. From the visions the Forgotten had been pouring into her skull like molten gold.
Lucien felt her stop and turned. His voice was steady, but his eyes searched hers. "Aeris—"
"I've been here," she whispered.
"That's impossible. The core's sealed."
Her gaze swept the chamber, her chest tightening. "It's not sealed to them."
The temperature dropped, frost creeping over the metal at her feet. And then the voice came again — rich, melodic, impossible to ignore.
"Little Queen… your throne waits."
The reactor's light warped, bending into shadows that dripped down from the catwalks above. They pooled and rose, solidifying into figures — not wraiths now, but tall, regal shapes in armor blacker than the void, faces hidden behind masks of smooth silver.
The Forgotten.
Lucien moved instantly, placing himself between her and them, rifle raised. "You're not taking her."
One of the figures tilted its head. "We are not here to take. We are here to awaken."
Aeris's pulse thundered in her ears. "Awaken what?"
The silver mask turned toward her, and the voice became many, layered like a chorus.
"You."
For a heartbeat, she couldn't breathe. The crown — that weight she'd been feeling for days — pressed harder, sharp enough to make her wince.
Lucien caught the shift in her expression and stepped closer, his hand brushing her arm in silent grounding. "Don't listen to them."
"They're telling the truth," she said before she could stop herself.
Lucien's eyes narrowed. "No. They're telling you what they need you to believe."
The lead Forgotten stepped forward, the sound of their boots echoing like a funeral march. "Do you think your power is human, Little Queen? Do you think your fire belongs to them?"
A surge of heat bloomed under her skin — not from shame or fear, but from something raw, dangerous, and familiar.
Lucien swore under his breath. "Aeris, look at me. Right here." His fingers tightened on her arm. "You are not theirs."
Her lips trembled. "What if I already was… before I even met you?"
"That changes nothing." His voice was steel. "You're mine. And I will burn every shadow in this galaxy before I let them touch you."
The Forgotten moved as one.
Lucien opened fire, bullets sparking against their armor, but the recoil nearly shoved him into the railing — the figures barely staggered. One raised a hand, and the air itself seemed to thicken, dragging him back.
Aeris stepped forward instinctively, the crown's weight now searing, like molten metal settling into place.
The leader's masked face tilted. "Yes. Rise."
The power inside her roared to life, hot and wild, making the very arcs of the reactor bend toward her. Lucien's voice cut through the rising hum.
"Aeris! Stay with me!"
She clenched her fists. "I am with you."
Light exploded from her palms — gold edged in black — slamming into the Forgotten and sending them scattering like torn banners in a storm.
Lucien was at her side before the glow faded, his breath ragged. He didn't ask what she'd just done. He just took her hand in his, as if to remind both of them she hadn't drifted too far.
"We're not done," she said.
His grip tightened. "No. But we're still together."
And for the first time, the crown didn't feel like a chain. It felt like a weapon.