The next morning, Sector Eleven wakes to sirens.
An Ascendancy patrol sweeps the ruins — searching for an energy surge recorded near the perimeter.
Aren feels it — a faint hum beneath his skin, responding to their scanners.
He hides in the tunnels beneath the district, heart pounding, his eyes flickering like molten light.
Above, the Verdant Abyss howls again. The storm has returned.
The world feels heavier — alive.
He stares into the distance, toward the faint line of gold on the horizon.
> "If the stars could fall to Novara once," he whispers,
"maybe they can rise again."
And in that moment, as the storm breaks and the smog trembles, the world seems to answer.
Aren Vale — the boy from Sector Eleven — has awakened.
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