‘Why won't anyone help me?’295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7l10k0kIev
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVmvrKiNZe
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3BGqVz8ix
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqYJYnz4C4
‘Mom…’295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcIL95faAb
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopjvHBwaDH
She'd just stood there. Watched him bleed. Let it happen.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAT6THFV7o
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmTKB7xD00
"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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2JmoF30iY
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lkCFnTq53
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhNp5NT9qM
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9hQFaejOA
'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—'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pdrBOryeL
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvL0a00yeZx
But the pain was too sharp, too constant. The stone too cold against his burning skin.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFU7U1gs3DC
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBY2FDfCflZ
'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—'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pJIw9RAJ2
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWed7qqk1bn
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…295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7rsAWZwHR
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3G5Uosjd6
‘She cried,’ some desperate part of his mind whispered. ‘At least she cried for me...’295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxo7SeRmFX
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7mHDIHz5a
But crying wasn't enough. Tears didn't stop fists. Didn't heal torn flesh. Didn't make him worth saving.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcH3y3C1M7C
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHlYVybT0F
‘Fifteen years...’295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IeLv39oIr
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAamhjIGXml
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…295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PnPprLGuD
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFG5rcFU8gS
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?'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZjRZBjd9V
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhb9f00TXe
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. 295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6NkeQjLPI
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyHLlhmrf8
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoHXAojlaq
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡky6oveEJAW
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJKSgl9Hky
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxA11OAKkFi
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6nsXqAPlO
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmojjz3yVj
"I'm sorry…," he whispered to the motionless child. For being weak. For being useless. For being exactly what his father said he was.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlQVL4NFmL
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArKm9CgZ2v
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiiPXyMe4U
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzolwe7iWGk
‘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—’295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgx5gkMgMf
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMTJ7lesQq
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tfntm7iTa
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvkNe7P0IK
But the figure that emerged from the shadows wasn't Lord Aldric of House Solmar.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcv6DLRv91
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3NdbrwAsB
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYn453QlA2
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3iiPfPjZe
Then he spoke with a sickening cheerful voice.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcsuBFsyZ9
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNn3d7r1f2v
"Ah, you're finally awake, little failure."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfapyu2Ee3
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCe04dMwoEq
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..295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4IhGrAMWE
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJi1Pvqkkd
"Not so talkative, are we?" The masked figure's head tilted. "Well, that's understandable. Betrayal does tend to leave one speechless."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTtqhSPU3z
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06lU5XusVs
"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—295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYD63u4WQM
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMZFlSIBqy
"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."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTx1YeMfOH
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7rmD3MPmk
"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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj57Oa9e38
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOpEw13eVW
"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."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysEB40y4P4
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwLo4iPrqq
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhbwoGa7Mb
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEY1JoMtOIA
"Tell me." The words ripped from somewhere desperate inside him.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLk7Sz5lcO
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCiEepeXyDv
"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!"295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQg8877G2I
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1K8ReiDX2
'Children of the... what? Voidmother?'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9E8Co4XyO
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxl2ZCNkpN
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwfOVmxVWM
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4rdruYz2Q
"And you have the honor of assisting us in our most important experiments."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGcmQRhQoi
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDMIq64fMn
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCsQVPcodI
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlekwiFpwhO
'No no no, they're going to—'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnsgKVMAZZ
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKf55LdrL7w
"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."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvB5M5lDAJB
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9SicUEpcW
'Divine blood? They want my blood because of the mark. Even though father tried to tear it away, the blessing runs deeper than skin.'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDl1evrRjx
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIRN5C0zZX
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjnIYWImel
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbs2DZprty6
"That's enough for now." The masked figure straightened, reaching into his robes. "Here's your meal, little failure."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxr46uuG2h
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnljrfo6Bj4
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORQ2rPmm2T
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdWnUyytlI
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdW68MQOWUV
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1m1V0laTVP
The footsteps faded to nothing, leaving him alone with the stench and the soft whimpering from across the corridor.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhCmk2DeLG
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmqzGqeeBk
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. 295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWV8W3UxE5M
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXrs85HO1q
What remained was worse than the wound - a grotesque crater of scar tissue where the Moon Goddess's blessing had once shone.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzKZQvYxxp
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlECOU95jMP
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—'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgUGHDFSM5
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyl695JtgkW
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZQPLdb5md
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiA4ADgzGxk
On the fifth day, he crawled to the putrid scrap and took his first bite.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0SvUWn2Ix
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkY04goQsTE
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPcVryvhT8
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFwfFa084g
'No one is coming.'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IrKMZGuFx
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhkmgrzHN6
The next meal, he managed two bites before the sickness took him. Then three. Then four.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ECRFp4cFs
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblN1WOTykm
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoqFriMpDK
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGupo9IBcf
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03CXARr3of
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlVDC2QdSx
"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."295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kPNBKcdxc
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9Dlhxap3v
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3yfj5W6Df
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A7gRVeisI
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwUGfKO0ES
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOTmacwhV2
"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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRRrudzPQT
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBsWgtWfck
"Celvian," he whispered back, the first time he'd spoken his own name in weeks.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfp5DGc7LF
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUamvtLgFj
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVPpS3q2SJ
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbq4rlr1Btj
Until the morning Ren didn't return from his experiment.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4vgDp1UVY
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XP8MGuEJr
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!"295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5sXR1WmhH
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDS7sHWo7gF
Silence.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoZucmOjTP
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHTZCR5Ffe
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOY6wcbH49
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEuYKbRka0
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoMIEKllSE
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIP8lgtHEL
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhS4uPB4T2
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsBbCwFgn9
'I hate them.'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5t6jYxwSmM
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRr1yCHYjOg
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK20vSLJ785
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAp2RU8AYF9
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7IJuvwtKz
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnia0hF8VpU
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBu7LGSR73
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlX38bTbmP5
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuJVEmpAci
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpmxXVijN8
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgvnXvmZ7a
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzi9iH062A
It was the only thing keeping him sane.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmGXuzHM2w
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamBVX2eesc
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQRwbj8IEg
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaUo3JgLEr
His stomach cramped with hunger, overriding any caution. He took his first bite, the familiar nothingness filling his mouth.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62PHI4Kiv7
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVg8QjuCe0
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.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ld8hIAQOX
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkWd76RxXI
'What did they—'295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPq0grIRnAq
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSn4dpo85W
The thought dissolved as darkness swallowed everything - the bars, the stone, the empty cell where Ren used to be.295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJu81pSl5sW
295Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGZKJ65NLv
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.