‘Why won't anyone help me?’197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡis5aGJH3Y5
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOb8Af5yiTR
The thought crashed through Cel's mind as consciousness dragged him back to a world of agony. His body convulsed against cold stone, a broken sob tore from his throat. Everything hurt - his ribs, his face, his back where fingernails had carved away divine flesh like his father was peeling bark from a tree.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaK0aErMR1x
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iSenNRrEy
‘Mom…’197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmhozKyECA
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOC6SxoNfkg
She'd just stood there. Watched him bleed. Let it happen.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZVwYSfZAE
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8RoNGGTsV
"No, no, no..." The words spilled out in a broken whisper as he curled tighter against the floor. His hands shook violently as they pressed against his mouth, trying to hold back the sounds that wanted to escape. Screams. More sobs. Anything to release the pressure building in his chest like a dam about to burst.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzL3JBtmANR
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlNsDzuLav
Iron bars swam in and out of focus through his tears. A cell. They'd thrown him in a cell like some wild beast. The stench of rot and waste made his stomach heave, but there was nothing left to vomit.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTCgZZmx0e
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EnOOLpZoV
'This isn't real.' The thought came sudden and desperate. 'This is a nightmare. I'll wake up, Father will apologize, Mom will hold me and—'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgo4PawE6C
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbgOMjj7h9
But the pain was too sharp, too constant. The stone too cold against his burning skin.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVxCe4u7o6
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcAt594L6n
'They'll come for me,' he told himself, rocking back and forth on the filthy stone. 'Father was just angry. Mom will convince him. She has to. She's my mother, she loves me, she—'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYe1gDfrfb3
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVF850BG9gx
The memory crashed back unbidden: His mother - who'd held him when he had nightmares, who'd sung lullabies in her ocean-blessed voice - had watched her husband nearly kill their son and done nothing. Darian, who used to sneak him sweets from the kitchen when they were younger, didn’t intervene either. Even little Lyra…197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSr2rekBjg4
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cvFXcHrUn
‘She cried,’ some desperate part of his mind whispered. ‘At least she cried for me...’197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMu7Fj2U3sl
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AgWf6dahq
But crying wasn't enough. Tears didn't stop fists. Didn't heal torn flesh. Didn't make him worth saving.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLErN9VMB9O
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL71zaregJH
‘Fifteen years...’197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUhK3kznyW
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZpCYfFf5j
Fifteen years he'd tried to be good enough. Tried to make them proud. Tried to earn even a scrap of his father's approval. And the very moment he thought he'd finally succeeded…197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPM9GOYvlX5
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRSgoAvM6u
Cel's fingernails clawed at the stone beneath him, leaving bloody scratches as his body shook with grief. The Moon Goddess had chosen him. He was blessed by divinity itself, and yet his father had beaten him unconscious for it.
'Why?' The question burned in his chest, over and over. 'Why wasn't it enough? Why was I never enough?'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8saMIecpk
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUpvpaTGGQ
But even as he asked it, a part of him already knew the answer. Nothing would have ever been enough. Not for his father. Not for any of them. 197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3sCa81WhQ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hs3smUVgB
The realization seared through his veins like molten metal. Fresh tears burned tracks down his swollen cheeks as reality crashed over him again and again like waves against a drowning man.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnF4EpwlLu4
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1bguTs8Ow
A whimper echoed from across the narrow corridor, so quiet he almost missed it through his own ragged breathing. Cel lifted his head, vision blurry with tears and pain. He saw another cell. Inside, a small form huddled against the wall - a child even younger than himself, wrapped in filthy rags.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqpm41E9nQ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdnlWHZsv3
The sight hit him like another blow. This boy was suffering too. Abandoned too. And Cel couldn't even help himself, let alone anyone else.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljsdfGJde4
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3a1CCSjOL
"I'm sorry…," he whispered to the motionless child. For being weak. For being useless. For being exactly what his father said he was.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOhKM4FDKZ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHksBTCcJvr
Footsteps echoed from somewhere above - slow and deliberate, growing closer. Cel's entire body flinched against the stone, panic flooding his veins. His father. It had to be his father, coming to finish what he'd started. To carve away more of the mark, or maybe just end it entirely.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvGCCk8t2Z
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxHZ2Yjdsr
‘Please…,’ he thought desperately, pressing himself against the back wall as light flickered down the corridor. ‘Please, I'll be better. I'll try harder. I'll—’197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkandWRkSUJ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYNxePHq3v
Even now, even after everything, a part of him still wanted to beg for forgiveness. Still believed he could somehow earn their love back if he just tried hard enough.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpKC9Uxxel
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd49NBLjMKt
But the figure that emerged from the shadows wasn't Lord Aldric of House Solmar.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SlNen2pa8
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2LT0ZMbRL
A stranger in deep purple robes stood before his cell, face hidden behind a smooth black mask that reflected the lantern light like a void. The man said nothing at first, simply watched through empty eye holes as Cel shook, bled and tried not to fall apart completely.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuODhGX4SEx
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgIHkq8XfS
Then he spoke with a sickening cheerful voice.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2TsvG9BeQ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbILDKQP12
"Ah, you're finally awake, little failure."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYLLP9H5HK
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbDpnwSN1b
The word hit like a physical blow. Cel's body jerked against the wall, every muscle tensing. 'Failure failure failure' - the word crashed through his skull, tangling with his father's voice, with every whispered insult he'd ever endured..197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqZxcJqwoR
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNH8TKHiec
"Not so talkative, are we?" The masked figure's head tilted. "Well, that's understandable. Betrayal does tend to leave one speechless."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtjTy1DAjf
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uny6MK5tK
"My father—" Cel started, voice cracking. Some desperate part of him still clinging to the hope that this was all a misunderstanding. That his family would come. That they'd realize their mistake and—197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16NFbfXhyp
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESw3jSRDsw
"Oh, your dear father?" The masked figure paused, savoring the moment. "He's the one who delivered you to us personally. Quite eager to be rid of his shame, from what I understand."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpMNJs4Et9
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FKlTwnYKI
"You're lying!" His voice cracked on the shout, nearly breaking. But even as the echo died in the cell, he could feel the truth settling like lead in his chest.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqFpeUfxve
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTpSvqL1Lv
"Ah, you poor thing. But fear not. I'm a kind person. I'll explain your situation. Or... perhaps you'd rather not know? Ignorance is bliss, after all."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9JoyzKAqO
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1T94F8zPuX
Cel flinched with each sound, pressing himself deeper into the corner. But the need to understand, to make sense of this nightmare, overwhelmed even his terror.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI2mGDd6jc
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡay2ewhTiBY
"Tell me." The words ripped from somewhere desperate inside him.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3wgVOZsAw
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5UZzq9FRr
"Really? Well, I hope you're ready for a shock." The masked figure paused, clearly relishing the moment. "You're now in the possession of the Children of the Voidmother, the greatest cult in the world!"197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg85EqrMNWl
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2roThIemM
'Children of the... what? Voidmother?'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUCIVemTCf
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DD61qpU8Y
The word ‘cult’ cut through his confusion with terrible clarity. His father had sold him to a cult. Not just abandoned him - deliberately handed him over to these robed fanatics.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZV2txQW7J
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqFi7g438D
"And you have the honor of assisting us in our most important experiments."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTs0EnumdNl
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFS1s1xPX7
The words slammed into his consciousness. He wasn't a prisoner, he was a specimen - something to be dissected and studied like the child across the hall, another broken test subject in this nightmare. His stomach lurched violently, and he doubled over as bile scorched his throat.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjnoylbD4T
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9lBDIfHSh
'No no no, they're going to—'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrynhm8mban
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqjGQ2hOul
"No need to be frightened." The voice kept going, cheerful and horrible. "I know you were seen as a disgrace by others, but to us, you're invaluable. Your divine blood is quite rare, you see. Even from such a... disappointment."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgi5BLMFMSA
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMcZQ9lAkW
'Divine blood? They want my blood because of the mark. Even though father tried to tear it away, the blessing runs deeper than skin.'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l9WZ18z9j
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84Vp5XWWea
His father hadn't just abandoned him in rage - this had been planned. Calculated. His divine blessing wasn't a shame to be hidden, it was a commodity to be sold.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHUdBFVuMN
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YZetcRz2l
"That's enough for now." The masked figure straightened, reaching into his robes. "Here's your meal, little failure."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIe7uea0lSb
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaDbFRvh1u
Something wet and putrid struck the cell floor with a sickening splat. The stench hit immediately - rot and decay so thick Cel could taste it. His stomach heaved, but there was nothing left to bring up except acid that burned his throat.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfIhpdsNR9
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlljK6DUMYd
As the lantern light retreated up the corridor, Cel forced himself to look at what had been thrown to him. In the dying glow, he could make out a chunk of meat so far gone it was more mold than flesh, crawling with things that moved in the darkness.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmvXRjM7x1
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyDZWa4PPt
The footsteps faded to nothing, leaving him alone with the stench and the soft whimpering from across the corridor.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8gpPyrVuZ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AKcex8ri2
From this day on, the cell became everything. Stone walls, iron bars, the constant drip of water somewhere in the darkness. Cel's wounds festered without treatment, angry red lines spreading from where his father's fingernails had carved away divine flesh. 197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzQtYD097f
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRuIUKC398
What remained was worse than the wound - a grotesque crater of scar tissue where the Moon Goddess's blessing had once shone.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaG16s5pN6
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfQGzrFsUf
Hunger clawed at his belly like a living thing. For three days, he stared at the rotting meat, his mind fracturing between desperate hope and dawning horror. 'They'll come,' he told himself even as the stench made him gag. 'Mom will realize what happened and she'll come for me and—'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIExKgKesU
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9EZKRwsdq
On the fourth day, his hands shook so badly he could barely lift his head. The hunger was eating him from the inside, his body beginning to consume itself. Still, a part of him waited. Listened for familiar footsteps. For his mother's voice calling his name.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡra9O2rRoVX
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqX71vAr5E
On the fifth day, he crawled to the putrid scrap and took his first bite.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLiBYraKzA
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwh5MUWljf
His body convulsed, rejecting the poison. Bile and blood splattered the cell floor as he retched until nothing remained in his stomach but agony. But even as he vomited, tears streaming down his face, he understood what this meant.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1wOAB6gzU
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmUI0FrzNu
'No one is coming.'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTncWeJQOd5
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SXwnaV16Z
The next meal, he managed two bites before the sickness took him. Then three. Then four.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqxefPQ3sn
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6ODzEgGbs
Slowly, horribly, his body learned to accept what wasn't food. His sense of taste died first - a mercy perhaps. Then his stomach stopped fighting so hard. Within weeks, he could choke down entire portions without vomiting, though every meal felt like swallowing death itself.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQudlrfmC7B
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CtsYgLD9s
They came for him on the seventh day - multiple figures in deep purple robes moving with practiced efficiency. One held his arms while another pressed a curved blade against the veins in his wrist, drawing blood in steady, measured cuts.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjcRinXEe8
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOj0kYqYfHi
"Please," Cel whispered as the blade bit deep. "I won't tell anyone. I'll do whatever you want. Just... please don't hurt me."197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRIprzF0PV
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiCtDQpqsB
No one answered. They finished their work in silence and left him collapsed on the stone floor, watching his own blood disappear into the darkness.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkn7nox0ghL
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmtuC2QN6A
Days bled into weeks. The routine ground him down like a millstone - rotten food, blood letting, endless hours staring at damp walls while his mind slowly fractured. His only companion was the boy across the corridor, a child even smaller than himself with hollow eyes and arms covered in fresh cuts that never quite healed.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgS249F8as0
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUnNFzAore
"Ren," the boy whispered one night when the purple robes were gone. His voice was barely audible, but in the perfect silence of their prison, it carried like a shout.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWF6VCx2pTT
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcGTfpGp7P
"Celvian," he whispered back, the first time he'd spoken his own name in weeks.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOe4TP7kxuS
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ERqo22Low
They never said much - words felt dangerous here, as if speaking too loudly might draw attention they couldn't afford. But knowing someone else breathed in this place, someone else suffered, made the darkness a fraction less absolute.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0J4Avb8JS
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv5fB6k3OZ
Until the morning Ren didn't return from his experiment.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMk0buMxBw
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR97ZrVpwTZ
Cel pressed his face against the bars, straining to see into the empty cell across the way. "Ren?" His voice echoed off stone walls. "Ren!"197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zN7jVW2UH
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtagGQY3KG
Silence.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbyZWozP74
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJgoh2hcvo
The boy's thin blanket still lay crumpled where he'd left it. A crust of bread sat untouched near the cell door. But Ren was gone, as if he'd never existed at all.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8LiyBVMl0
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fTSF9aSIq
That night, alone in the complete darkness, something fundamental cracked inside Cel's chest. Not broke - that had happened long ago. This was the sound of the last piece of his old self finally giving way. The last ember of hope that someone, somewhere, still cared whether he lived or died.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqLnJHyhge
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcvYdpdx7s
The rage that followed wasn't clean or pure. It was jagged and desperate, born from weeks of betrayal, abandonment, and helpless fury. It started as a whisper in the back of his mind during the endless hours between experiments.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3081lorjY
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vODeHuVaP
'I hate them.'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYd4hdV4yf
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxOFWnk9nf
Their faces burned behind his eyelids: his father's disgust, his mother's frozen stillness, Darian’s regretful look, little Lyra’s sobbing. Each memory carved itself deeper into his mind, playing over and over until they became scars on his thoughts.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBGjgTK5Vs
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRGnQ8aEDv
Sleep brought no escape either - only nightmares that played on endless repeat. Sometimes he relived that morning in the dining hall, his father's fists connecting with his flesh while his mother stood frozen, his brother watching and his sister sobbing. Other nights, he was back on the stone table as masked figures opened his veins, their blades cutting deeper and deeper until he woke screaming.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInqKhhdfjn
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmFU2h8Yv8
But the worst dreams were the ones where his family came to rescue him, where his mother held him and whispered apologies, where his father said he was proud - only for Cel to wake in the stinking darkness and remember that no one was coming. Each false hope burned away another piece of the love he'd once felt, leaving only raw hatred in its place.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDNZyNANuC
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCH80jGe7gr
With each blade that opened his skin, with every drop of blood they stole, with every piece of rotting meat he forced down his throat, the hatred grew. It filled the hollow spaces where love and hope had once lived, burning steady and sure. Without it, he would have simply ceased to exist, becoming nothing at all.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvm6TTDzAO
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6qyHiGKte
The hatred became his anchor. His reason to endure another day, another experiment, another nightmare. It whispered promises in the darkness: that he would survive this, that he would become strong, that someday they would all pay for what they'd done to him.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLJHN7gvqV
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZ16YIFvET
It was the only thing keeping him sane.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTvKZAsNKX
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzyCrrOU1a
One day - he'd lost count of how many - the masked figures came as always. But as Cel crawled toward the putrid scrap of meat, something felt different. Underneath the familiar stench of rot was something else - a faint, sweet smell that didn't belong.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UuhBHex81
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7pbzXd7db
His stomach cramped with hunger, overriding any caution. He took his first bite, the familiar nothingness filling his mouth.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutvWNfDU5D
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt4OPD8urZ
By the time he finished, his vision began to blur. A spreading warmth flowed through his veins like liquid fire. The stone walls rippled and flowed, reality becoming fluid around him.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHJa2EeIJR
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3r3wmmZVJ
'What did they—'197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm21aGeXW2
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd60bnz8mfr
The thought dissolved as darkness swallowed everything - the bars, the stone, the empty cell where Ren used to be.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwnc4x04yY
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlSIEk7opn
When consciousness returned, he was no longer in his cell. He found himself in an unfamiliar landscape - a place filled with ash.
and then Add to home screen.