The moon hung over the Empire of Wilwatikta like a curved silver kris, its edge sharp enough to cut the night itself. Pale light spilled through the limestone corridors of the Candi, carving jagged shadows along sacred walls worn smooth by centuries of worship. In the distance, the gamelan began to play, slow, hypnotic and ritualistic. To the masses below, it signaled purification.
To Nnael, it was the soundtrack of a sanctioned violation, scheduled and blessed by something calling itself Destiny.
He moved through the upper rafters like a ghost, his body obeying him with an ease that still felt unreal. Each step was silent. Each leap effortless. Agility hummed through his muscles, coiled and ready.
[Careful, lover boy,] Kirana purred inside his skull, her voice smooth and indulgent. [The guards are hunting for a 'rogue variable.' That's you. But relax, I've masked your presence. To them, you smell like incense and obedience. To me… sandalwood and sin.]
"As long as I don't smell like that pond," Nnael muttered, peering down into the High Priestess's private sanctum.
The chamber below was indulgence disguised as holiness. Silk tapestries from distant islands clung to the walls, their colors deep and decadent. Lotus and musk burned in shallow braziers, saturating the air until every breath felt heavy. At the center rested a wide bathing pool, its warm water strewn with red frangipani petals drifting lazily across the surface.
And there was Serra.
She had shed her ceremonial robes. Now she wore only a sheer, golden kemben tied beneath her breasts, a fragile barrier that barely contained their weight. As she leaned forward to test the water, the cloth stretched thin, outlining the full curve of her chest and the dark promise beneath. Humidity kissed her skin, leaving it luminous, bronze, and slick with heat.
Nnael swallowed. His Charisma stat meant nothing right now. His self-control was already gone.
[Look at her vitals,] Kirana giggled softly. [She isn't praying. She's waiting. Fear for the Prince, yes, but her thoughts? They're all you. Heart rate at one-twenty. She's begging for interference.]
The double doors groaned open.
Ares stepped inside.
Fresh white-and-gold robes clung to his body, pristine and ceremonial, but nothing could scrub away the humiliation still etched into his face. His jaw was tight. His hands shook, barely controlled.
[Target Identified: Ares.]
[Narrative Check: Script requires aphrodisiac deployment to ensure compliance.]
[Looting Opportunity: Absolute.]
"Serra," Ares snapped. "The hour is upon us. The Sun-God demands your purity for my ascension. Do not defy fate again."
Serra straightened, clutching the golden wrap to her chest. "My heart is not willing," she said, voice trembling but firm. "Forced energy will be corrupted."
"I don't need your heart," Ares snarled, producing a jade vial. "Only what's inside your body."
He uncorked it. Pink mist spilled out, sweet and suffocating, the Script's favorite shortcut.
Nnael moved.
He dropped from the rafters in a controlled blur, landing between them with a crack that fractured marble beneath his feet.
[Activating: Narrative Hijack - Interloper's Shadow.]
[Looting Attribute: STR +5.]
Ares stumbled back. "You—!"
"You talk too much for a chosen one," Nnael said calmly.
His arm snapped forward. The vial vanished from Ares's grasp before the Prince even processed the movement. Nnael crushed it in his bare hand, forcing the concentrated mist into Ares's face.
The effect was instant.
Ares choked, eyes bloodshot, skin flushing violently.
[Backfire detected,] Kirana laughed. [INT reduced. Libido spiking. Hero downgraded to breeding animal.]
Nnael seized him by the neck and dragged him to the balcony. One clean throw sent the "Hero" screaming into the dark.
A distant impact. Angry squeals.
"Enjoy the pigs," Nnael muttered.
He turned.
Serra was shaking, braced against the pool's edge. The drug had touched her too, just enough. Her eyes burned, focused entirely on him.
"You came," she whispered.
"I said I would."
"The energy… it's already rising," she gasped. "If it isn't released—"
[She's right,] Kirana whispered. [Yin Overflow. Help her… or watch her break.]
Nnael stepped closer, fingers catching the knot of her wrap.
"I'm very good at helping."
The silk slid free.
Serra stood bare before him, sacred and undone. Her body was full, warm, and alive, breasts heavy, hips flared, desire already gleaming between her thighs. She trembled, caught between belief and need.
"This is sacrilege…"
"Then we'll damn the heavens together."
He pulled her against him. She cried out, arms locking around his neck as heat collided with heat.
[Lust: Critical.]
[Claiming available. Priestess's Blessing pending.]
Nnael lifted her. She wrapped around him instinctively, trusting without thinking. The pool accepted them in a rush of warmth and petals.
Their kiss was not gentle. It was desperate. Hungry. Serra tasted like honey and fire, moaning as his touch found what the Script had promised to someone else.
"Now," she pleaded.
"The Script said you belonged to a Hero," Nnael murmured. "But it was wrong."
Outside, the gamelan reached its peak.
Inside, destiny was stolen.
[Looting in progress… Narrative rewritten.]