CHAPTER TEN — THE ROOM THAT REMEMBERED HER.
741 Words
Annastasia hit the ground with a gasp.
Not hard,
almost like the realm itself caught her.
Warm, silver air wrapped around her skin as she pushed herself up. She was standing on a surface that wasn’t really a surface… more like a liquid mirror solid enough to hold her weight. Every step created ripples of light beneath her feet.
She turned slowly.
The room she’d landed in wasn’t a room at all.
It was a chamber made of memory.
Walls formed from drifting constellations.
Floor glowing with every step she took.
Ceiling shifting like a living nebula.
And in the very center,
A throne.
Empty.
Waiting.
Her breath hitched.
“Mother…?”
No answer.
But the air around her pulsed, almost like the room knew she’d arrived.
A soft hum rose.
Then a projection flickered to life beside the throne,
A figure made of starlight, feminine, graceful, familiar.
Not her mother.
But someone who clearly knew her.
“Annastasia of the Luminous Line,” the figure said gently. “You have returned.”
Annastasia took a step back.
“Who… who are you?”
The being bowed her head slightly.
“I am the Chamber’s Keeper, a memory-echo created by your mother before she disappeared from this realm.”
Annastasia’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“My mother was here? Recently?”
“Recently… for us,” the Keeper said. “For you, it has been many human years.”
Annastasia swallowed, feeling a shiver race through her body.
“Where is she now? Is she alive?”
The Keeper hesitated,
a flicker in her glow, like a glitch.
“She lives,” the Keeper said carefully, “but she is sealed. Hidden beyond the Nebula Veil. Only a Starborn with awakened power can find her.”
Annastasia felt her knees weaken.
Her mother was alive.
Alive.
Somewhere.
Before she could process that, the Chamber shifted again.
Ripples of cosmic light stretched across the mirror floor, leaning toward her like vines.
The Keeper stepped closer.
“You returned through the Celestial Gate. That means your power is awakening faster than expected.”
Annastasia shook her head.
“I didn’t return because I’m ready. I returned because I had no choice. Kael—Daegyryn, he’s still fighting. He told me to find myself and come back for him.”
The Keeper’s eyes glowed brighter.
“Daegyryn is loyal beyond reason. You were never supposed to meet him so early.”
Annastasia blinked.
“Why? Who is he really?”
The Keeper paused.
Then spoke softly:
“He is the one your mother trusted to guard you…
the last surviving member of the Celestial Vanguard…
and the only being who would give up his existence to see you reach your destiny.”
Annastasia’s breath caught.
Kael wasn’t just a protector.
He wasn’t just a warrior.
He was connected to her mother.
He was chosen for her.
But before she could think, the Chamber suddenly darkened.
The stars dimmed.
The floor rippled violently.
Annastasia tensed.
“What’s happening?”
The Keeper vanished in a blink.
In her place, a new sound filled the chamber,
a low, resonant hum she felt deep in her bones.
Not hostile.
But heavy.
Ancient.
A symbol of pure light appeared beneath her feet,
a sigil she’d never seen before, but somehow knew.
Her birth sigil.
It spread outward, locking the room, sealing the doorways, and then
A voice filled every corner of the realm.
Not the Keeper’s.
Not the Gate’s.
Something older.
“Child of the Luminous Line,” it said, “your mother bought your freedom with her exile. But now the Court senses your arrival… and they are coming.”
Annastasia’s pulse spiked.
“The Starborn Court? The ones who contacted me through the Gate?”
“Yes.”
“Are they dangerous?”
The voice hesitated.
“They are… complicated.”
The sigil flared brighter.
“You must choose now, Annastasia.”
Her throat tightened.
“Choose what?”
The light rose around her, curling like fire.
“Do you awaken your power fully…
or do you remain half-human, half-Starborn—
unable to break the seal holding your mother?”
Annastasia’s chest burned.
Her mother.
Kael.
Her entire origin.
All tied to this moment.
The voice deepened.
“The ritual will begin when you speak your choice.”
Annastasia closed her eyes, breathing shakily.
Then,
She spoke.
“Awaken me.”
The Chamber detonated with light.
- Writer
