The corridors of the Obsidian Palace felt colder than before.
Celestine walked with measured steps, her mind racing with Aldric Vaughn's veiled threat. Be careful where you tread. Some secrets are better left buried.
She clenched her fists. He knows.
As they reached her private chambers, Alistair Dorne shut the door behind them. The moment they were alone, he turned to her. "He's testing you."
Celestine exhaled sharply. "He already suspects something." She paced to the window, staring out at the city below. "The Council is watching my every move."
Elias Draven leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed. "You didn't actually think you could walk back in here unnoticed, did you?" He smirked. "They're waiting for you to slip."
Celestine turned to face them. "Then we don't give them the chance."
She pressed a hidden mechanism on her bookshelf, revealing a concealed holographic map of Noctis-Lux. The city's energy lines pulsed faintly, displaying the flow of power from the central grid. But something was off.
Alistair frowned. "There. The northern district."
A section of the city was draining far more power than normal. The readings spiked erratically, converging at a single point beneath the Council's headquarters.
Elias stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "That's not just an energy spike." He gestured to the readings. "They're already extracting something."
Celestine's blood ran cold.
The cores.
The Council wasn't waiting. They had already begun harvesting the remaining obsidian cores hidden within the city's depths.
She turned to Alistair. "We need to get inside that facility."
He didn't hesitate. "When?"
Celestine met his gaze. "Tonight."
Elias grinned. "Breaking into the heart of the Council's domain? Now that's a challenge."
Celestine's resolve hardened. If the Council thought they could erase history once more, they were wrong.
This time, she would fight back.
The rebellion had begun.