The Fall of the Celestial
875 Words
The night above Beijing burned.
Millions of people stopped in the streets.
Every phone pointed toward the sky.
News channels interrupted their broadcasts.
Astronomers watched in disbelief as a massive golden ring expanded across the heavens, stretching for kilometers. Lightning danced around its edges, but there was no thunder.
To the world...
it looked like a rare astronomical event.
To Lucien...
it meant only one thing.
"They found us."
---
Inside Raven Tower, EVA projected thousands of holographic screens.
Every satellite.
Every radar.
Every telescope.
All focused on the object descending through the golden rift.
Its speed slowed.
Its shape became clear.
It wasn't a meteor.
It wasn't a spacecraft.
It was...
a man.
Wrapped in brilliant golden wings made entirely of light.
His white armor shimmered like polished ivory, covered in symbols older than any known language.
In his hand rested a spear that radiated enough energy to illuminate the entire skyline.
Alina stared speechlessly.
"An... angel?"
Lucien answered without emotion.
"No."
"He is far older than the stories humans created."
---
The figure stopped in midair above Beijing.
His voice rolled across the city like thunder.
Every person heard it.
Not through their ears.
Inside their minds.
"Return the Obsidian Heir."
"This world does not belong to her."
Cars stopped.
People collapsed to their knees.
Animals fled in terror.
Even the clouds parted around him.
---
Kael walked to the shattered window and smiled.
"So..."
"They've finally sent one."
Lucien joined him.
"Only one?"
"They're testing us."
Kael looked sideways at his brother.
"Or testing you."
Lucien's silver eyes never left the sky.
---
The Celestial slowly lowered his spear.
Its tip pointed directly at Raven Tower.
"The Obsidian King."
"You have violated the Covenant."
Lucien's voice carried effortlessly across the distance.
"The Covenant died seven hundred years ago."
"It died because of you."
For the first time...
anger flickered across Lucien's face.
"No."
"It died because you feared humanity."
The Celestial's wings unfolded completely.
"They were never meant to become equal."
---
Alina stepped beside Lucien.
"Who are they?"
Lucien remained silent for a long moment.
"When humans first learned to build civilizations..."
"They called themselves gods."
"They taught kings."
"They guided empires."
"They shaped religions."
"But they were never gods."
"They were simply..."
"...the first civilization."
---
Without warning...
The Celestial thrust his spear forward.
A beam of golden light tore through the sky.
It reached Raven Tower in less than a second.
Lucien disappeared.
A deafening explosion shook the city.
Glass shattered across dozens of nearby buildings.
People screamed.
When the light faded...
Lucien stood unharmed.
He held the spear's energy in one hand.
The beam twisted like a trapped serpent.
With a sharp movement...
he crushed it.
Golden fragments rained across Beijing like glowing snow.
---
The Celestial's expression changed.
"You have grown stronger."
Lucien answered quietly.
"No."
"You've grown weaker."
---
Then...
Lucien vanished.
A sonic boom echoed across the city.
He reappeared high above the clouds.
Directly before the Celestial.
The two ancient beings hovered in silence.
Then they collided.
The impact split the clouds for hundreds of kilometers.
Shockwaves rippled across the atmosphere.
Ocean tides shifted.
Satellites lost communication.
Below, the citizens of Beijing watched what looked like two stars crashing into one another.
---
Inside Raven Tower...
Alina could only stare.
"No one can survive that..."
Kael folded his arms.
"They're not trying to survive."
"They're trying to prove who still deserves to rule."
---
High above Earth...
Lucien caught the Celestial's spear and snapped it in half.
The Celestial answered by driving his fist into Lucien's chest.
Lucien was hurled through three layers of cloud before stopping himself.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The first blood Alina had seen him shed.
The Celestial smiled.
"So the King can bleed."
Lucien wiped the blood away.
He looked at it almost curiously.
"It has been a long time."
---
Back in the vault...
The Heart of Obsidian began pulsing violently.
Alina clutched the crystal.
Images flooded her mind.
She saw the same Celestial...
Seven hundred years earlier.
Standing beside a burning palace.
A young Queen Aeloria surrounded by flames.
And behind her...
A hooded figure.
Not Lucien.
Not Kael.
Someone else.
The hooded figure raised a black dagger.
The vision ended just before the blade struck.
Alina gasped.
"My memories..."
"They're changing."
Kael turned sharply.
"They're returning."
"No..."
Alina whispered.
"They were altered."
Lucien had never stabbed Aeloria.
Someone had wanted her to believe he had.
Before anyone could speak...
EVA's voice echoed urgently.
"Master!"
Lucien looked down from the sky.
"Report."
"I have identified a second energy signature."
Everyone in the vault froze.
EVA continued.
"It is stronger than the Celestial."
Silence.
Then the AI spoke the name it had hoped never to detect.
"Identity confirmed."
"Emperor Azrael."
Kael's confident smile disappeared.
Lucien closed his eyes.
For the first time in centuries...
the Obsidian King looked worried.
Far beyond Earth's orbit...
a colossal throne of black crystal drifted through the darkness of space.
Upon it sat a lone figure cloaked in shadow.
His eyes slowly opened.
One was silver.
The other...
burned gold.
He smiled.
"My children have finally awakened."
And with that single smile...
the stars around him began to die.
- Writer
