‘Why won't anyone help me?’341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0L2lDJ9MBI
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkwWLPt3ot
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYYs0Zxqi3
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cL3vrQt4v
‘Mom…’341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3fEs1xKFD
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKC4tKsHiWw
She'd just stood there. Watched him bleed. Let it happen.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRFWxzkqAe
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oOyGoV9Jz
"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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzcWorn3OU
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hVAiQDzni
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFObtc0j8QV
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUaQvT19ca
'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—'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0h6tqd1bMJ
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhX7HxmkSE
But the pain was too sharp, too constant. The stone too cold against his burning skin.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxwskL8hoA
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCkqYsYC7d
'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—'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjftsXIVO8w
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DKFluwHtS
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…341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshAMYvxklY
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZXrtJEcaY
‘She cried,’ some desperate part of his mind whispered. ‘At least she cried for me...’341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡud5nW5yrCu
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Hf3uXdIow
But crying wasn't enough. Tears didn't stop fists. Didn't heal torn flesh. Didn't make him worth saving.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLHTOVrRXW
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WkTCOnEaA
‘Fifteen years...’341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30HNY2MNnF
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTs4PDB6mz
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…341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7JlCClQyv
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVW7lu81tjQ
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?'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuVZZlkBND
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqTKNhbQre
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. 341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIx9kdZb02
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnfB2837kx
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGyfSuD3WU
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjblZR2bqsC
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aAXMWNzgD
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyCaKmyuXX
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5GSp9rjD4
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjuLeZGhZk
"I'm sorry…," he whispered to the motionless child. For being weak. For being useless. For being exactly what his father said he was.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8B9111mY7
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDujmIkNmzG
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7hMmyilrh
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLtCiPu5xK
‘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—’341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPfVpZgnrp
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpBvSnewAx
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1XgZDHqRz
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0J2eDk31Do
But the figure that emerged from the shadows wasn't Lord Aldric of House Solmar.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBIKlU3J1E
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJczXle1yrk
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQ42ROAzs5
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ukSYB7hht
Then he spoke with a sickening cheerful voice.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKHEZkcrK1
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu47T8XeML8
"Ah, you're finally awake, little failure."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfQK2jRhat
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiba15IBXI5
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..341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDHLBPL9v5
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPs2OAzpaa
"Not so talkative, are we?" The masked figure's head tilted. "Well, that's understandable. Betrayal does tend to leave one speechless."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONrtj6yl16
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYb1ygOmBc
"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—341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TJWwljf3G
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHb50564DgM
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9z6a7lhO6
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAjXwvOdQ6
"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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEyruiQiSe
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzloML0O0Q
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5axhALtcz
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgLxnmbypc
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQk44ab0mif
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXobLAz1L1J
"Tell me." The words ripped from somewhere desperate inside him.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEy6j0p5IsW
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30DdQ6wWN7
"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!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtoBCPiGvM
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89fTTksCet
'Children of the... what? Voidmother?'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36Z4YSIpbT
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYmunomYKC
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRWlweB6We
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURiRq13zCI
"And you have the honor of assisting us in our most important experiments."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUH7MUYKe8E
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvLl5FRbtN
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPjH9GNw3X
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfcdn6RZsM
'No no no, they're going to—'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtEanEibgl
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3KpROTKWM
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YCuZxcjlm
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL44CKgnr1z
'Divine blood? They want my blood because of the mark. Even though father tried to tear it away, the blessing runs deeper than skin.'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0U8U1u4wIF
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1XmxYWd4p
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTQEbVd4Fj
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3fLizO1wF
"That's enough for now." The masked figure straightened, reaching into his robes. "Here's your meal, little failure."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOPlTFOhZQ
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWQcOxF1Wy
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIGVtJP6l8
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaFJd6MChp
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lL2XzBVi2
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l2YXGNx5X
The footsteps faded to nothing, leaving him alone with the stench and the soft whimpering from across the corridor.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9cCXk19L6
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgy5rOixBF
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. 341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrcJ73kgfQ
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE81LDuIy4h
What remained was worse than the wound - a grotesque crater of scar tissue where the Moon Goddess's blessing had once shone.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiB9bdP9Zpu
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtLV1Tje1s
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—'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJx8zjMv2Av
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8abqYNUpoQ
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡId64ha4EGF
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipuYwMhHjH
On the fifth day, he crawled to the putrid scrap and took his first bite.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmS5V2E0Wsk
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTIX5x4t2c
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ399Ie44nkL
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡag0OK3Mv9V
'No one is coming.'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLV5ciCJKz
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfc9m2a9oQb
The next meal, he managed two bites before the sickness took him. Then three. Then four.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK98gEzAPTe
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKMhXw4ONy
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFydQOjQv2u
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhRmeU5gCc
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXIia789bp
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPl0xS0mdOm
"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."341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKbABH5aPF
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabplmVdGUb
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhYaSkYBwO
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAw7tvILEs
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfh6Lu8dD8r
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bY4FOvKD9
"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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYIQChDyYO
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKkmsK12e6
"Celvian," he whispered back, the first time he'd spoken his own name in weeks.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQCq4yC3pN
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuqPdbugAl
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQX4OM0wUon
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxJD7WLGHN
Until the morning Ren didn't return from his experiment.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5zaNXOpkT
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzWH0QRW7Y
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!"341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvYyAfGgYd
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlybqjAnLnA
Silence.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbohzwUTNh
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2E0bi26XKw
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjYZNYegGN
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybdZtFwtZS
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJBhZ7pxsD
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgeoma4MAW
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAYV79nRLK
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNtUvRGDDy
'I hate them.'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTmauXrBPY
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eVBxupHJu
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbIkM8W4b8
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQTAXwneQd
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDAIUrJGfK
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1GmcY7Dck
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXXt1lBPSb
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMndZd56pq
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3aqgM02kc
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrQerblcI1
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISN5eHOp1w
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3d1kN8guK
It was the only thing keeping him sane.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Mu4rHnimZ
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlBPq7odGn
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07h3GfNZ1y
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGO9AlYp7U
His stomach cramped with hunger, overriding any caution. He took his first bite, the familiar nothingness filling his mouth.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHN7pXc5v6
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYnWHcK7Ia
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.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBliWG7nXY6
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKoWcHghGR
'What did they—'341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLEn4AJ9xW
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxZgRi3Ptw
The thought dissolved as darkness swallowed everything - the bars, the stone, the empty cell where Ren used to be.341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASUoEbPLI6
341Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhQYS8hKcy
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.