Chapter 20: Beneath the Veil of Eternity
The moon hung high in the vast night sky, its silver radiance bathing the land in an ethereal glow. Beneath its celestial gaze, a lone figure stood on the edge of a forgotten ruin, where time itself seemed to have come to a standstill. The air was thick with an ancient power, a lingering whisper of something beyond mortal comprehension.
Aetheria Nyx Lunaris Solis gazed over the still surface of a hidden lake, the waters so smooth they seemed like polished glass, reflecting the endless heavens above. To an ordinary observer, this place might have seemed like nothing more than a forgotten relic of an old world—ruins swallowed by time, abandoned to the embrace of nature.
But Aetheria was no ordinary observer.
Her silvery-white hair billowed in the cold night breeze, glistening with an otherworldly shimmer, as if woven from the very light of the celestial bodies above. Her violet eyes, speckled with silver, held an unfathomable depth—the gaze of a ruler who had seen the rise and fall of civilizations, who had endured the chains of fate yet remained unbroken.
She was known by many names.
The Ruler of the Night.
The Queen of the Moon.
The One Who Watches from the Shadows.
But to the people of the strongest empire—his empire—she was known as The Night's Queen.
A title whispered in both reverence and fear.
For centuries, mortals had looked to the heavens, offering prayers to the Sun God, Ra, their faith unwavering in the brilliance of his divine radiance. But even among them, there were those who bowed beneath the moon's glow, knowing that where the Sun watched over the righteous, the Moon judged the wicked.
She was the only daughter of the Sun God. His one and only child. The divine balance to his eternal radiance.
And for centuries, the world had known one undeniable truth—
To invoke the Sun with a heart tainted by darkness was to invite the wrath of the Moon.
Her power was feared, her presence an omen. For where she walked, shadows stirred, and the old order trembled.
Yet, for all the fear and reverence she commanded, none could understand the burden she bore. None could grasp the weight of the unseen chains that bound her.
None except him.
Aetheria closed her eyes, the stillness of the night pressing against her skin like an embrace.
She had felt it.
A ripple across the fabric of reality. A shift in the very essence of existence.
He had reached for her.
It had been brief—almost imperceptible—but to her, it had been a resounding call, a silent declaration that he was fighting, just as she was.
Her fingers twitched slightly, and a soft pulse of celestial magic rippled through the air, disturbing the lake's surface. The reflection of the moon wavered, as if the very sky itself was responding to her emotions.
Leonhardt.
His name echoed within her, resonating with a depth that no words could capture.
For so long, they had been bound—trapped within an unseen prison, their very existence dictated by forces that sought to keep them apart. But even the gods, in all their arrogance, had failed to understand the truth.
They were not mere pawns to be played with.
They were rulers.
They were conquerors.
And no seal, no decree of fate, could keep them apart forever.
Aetheria opened her eyes once more, her expression cold, unreadable. Slowly, she lifted a hand, her fingers tracing the air as ancient runes ignited with a soft, silvery glow around her.
This place had been a gateway once. A bridge between the mortal realm and the divine.
But the gods had buried it.
They had sealed its power, ensuring that none could ever use it again.
Fools.
Aetheria's lips curled into a slow, knowing smile.
Seals could be broken.
She had spent years—centuries—seeking out remnants of power, searching for the cracks in the foundation of the gods' so-called perfect order. And now, she had found another.
The air around her shimmered, the temperature dropping as a deep hum resonated through the ruins. The ground beneath her feet trembled, responding to the celestial force she commanded. The lake's surface twisted, dark tendrils of energy curling outward, reaching toward the sky like silent wails of something long forgotten.
She was getting closer.
Not yet enough to shatter the chains completely.
But enough to weaken them.
The gods thought themselves untouchable, distant rulers who dictated the fate of the world from their thrones above. But they had grown complacent.
They had forgotten what it meant to fear.
Aetheria stepped forward, her presence commanding, unyielding. The light of the moon wrapped around her, an ethereal crown befitting the Queen of the Night.
She had no use for prayers.
She did not seek the favor of mortals, nor did she desire their worship.
Her only purpose was him.
Her only desire—to break the seal.
Aetheria reached out, pressing her palm against the ancient stone at the heart of the ruins. The runes flared to life beneath her touch, reacting to the sheer force of her will.
A single command resonated through the air, spoken not with words, but with power.
"Break."
A pulse of magic erupted from her fingertips, flooding into the stone, into the forgotten veins of energy that lay buried beneath the earth. The ruins trembled, the very fabric of reality warping under the weight of her command.
For a brief moment, she felt it—
The seal wavered.
Her breath caught, a spark of something dark and obsessive flickering in her violet gaze.
She could feel him on the other side.
Leonhardt.
Their connection—strong, unwavering, eternal—burned through the barrier that separated them, defying even the will of the gods.
Aetheria exhaled slowly, a flicker of satisfaction passing through her expression before she withdrew her hand.
Not yet.
But soon.
Soon.
The gods thought they had bound them. They thought they had secured their fates.
But they had only delayed the inevitable.
Aetheria turned, her silvery-white hair catching the moonlight as she stepped away from the ruins, the hum of ancient magic fading into the night.
The world did not yet know.
The gods did not yet see.
But the Night's Queen was moving.
And soon, they would all remember why even the heavens once trembled before her name.