CHAPTER 3 — THE GOLDEN APPLE
Lucy dreamed of falling upward.
Not through sky, not through space—but through layers of meaning. Words without language peeled away from her skin. She felt herself being named again and again by voices that disagreed on who she was.
Moonborn.
Mistake.
Key.
Wound.
She woke choking on light.
Her eyes snapped open to gold-streaked stone and Abbie's face hovering above her, smudged with ether-burns and fury.
"Oh good," Abbie said. "You're alive. I was about to decide whether to hug you or scream."
Lucy tried to sit up. The world lurched.
Her body felt… wrong. Lighter. Heavier. Like gravity was now a suggestion rather than a law.
Something inside her pulsed softly, syncing with the cave's glow.
"What happened?" Lucy whispered.
Abbie barked a laugh. "You ate a cosmic fruit, passed out, and your shadow tried to murder me."
Lucy stared at her hands. Faint blue veins of light flickered beneath her skin, vanishing when she focused on them.
"I didn't mean—"
"I know." Abbie's voice softened despite herself. "Whatever that thing was… it was pure ether. Your ether."
Lucy's throat tightened. "Did I hurt you?"
"No," Abbie said. Then, more honestly, "You almost did."
Before Lucy could respond, a slow clap echoed through the chamber.
Adam.
He stepped forward, boots crunching softly against gold-veined stone.
His face was pale, eyes bright with something between triumph and terror.
"Congratulations," he said. "You're awake."
Lucy's gaze sharpened. "You knew that would happen."
Adam didn't deny it. "I knew something would happen.
The apple awakens Moonborn. What comes out… depends on the person."
Abbie stood in one smooth motion, aura flaring faintly. "You used her."
Adam met her glare. "Yes."
Lucy flinched at the bluntness.
"I didn't do this lightly," Adam continued. "The Golden Moon would have found her eventually. This was the only way to give her a chance."
"A chance to become a monster?" Abbie snapped.
Lucy looked down at her shadow. It lay still. Obedient. Waiting.
"I don't feel like a monster," Lucy said quietly.
Adam studied her. "That's what scares me."
The cave trembled—just slightly. Not a collapse. More like a warning.
Abbie frowned. "We need to move. Now. Places like this don't like conclusions."
They left the basin, Lucy leaning on Abbie as they walked.
Each step felt like learning how to exist again. The cave seemed… attentive now. Walls pulsed subtly as she passed. The ether-water rippled in greeting.
"You're syncing with it," Abbie muttered. "Great. That's new."
They didn't get far.
The air grew cold.
Not physically—conceptually. Like warmth had been removed from reality's vocabulary.
Lucy felt it first.
"Stop," she whispered.
Abbie froze. Adam's hand went to his side—empty, useless.
From the far corridor, something watched.
A shape stood where the cave narrowed, unmoving.
At first glance, it looked like a deer—slender legs, pale hide, antlers branching into delicate, impossible geometries.
Its eyes reflected no light.
Abbie squinted. "Is that… alive?"
Adam's breath hitched. "Oh no."
The deer tilted its head.
The cave bowed.
"That's not an animal," Adam whispered. "That's a demon."
Lucy frowned. "A what?"
"A witness," Adam said. "A warden. A story that walks, they guard places like this."
The dear took one step forward.
Reality stuttered.
Its body unfolded—bone elongating, hide melting into draped gold-and-black fabric. Antlers twisted into horns.
A tall figure stood where the deer had been, faceless, crowned with negative space.
Abbie swore. "I hate mythic bullshit."
The deer demon raised one long hand.
The air screamed.