‘Why won't anyone help me?’297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e6SNVwqug
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuuHABXff7
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLxcvTdLVc
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dv05bgWup
‘Mom…’297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8Xk5jq1k5
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdr906skf8g
She'd just stood there. Watched him bleed. Let it happen.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrdQgMvGZh
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyO1S52Iko
"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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbxnruWJ66
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpm8zeJN45w
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiiUQxgCk4
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRNqO5FSV8
'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—'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbD0lRg8tOC
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CMDBL9hhZ
But the pain was too sharp, too constant. The stone too cold against his burning skin.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtA6YqMbUY
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIl5E8BGR0W
'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—'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MxS6vTSFl
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMLoLJI4ZJ
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…297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2u8yUIYzs
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPav78kDFbv
‘She cried,’ some desperate part of his mind whispered. ‘At least she cried for me...’297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakY0SSc3kC
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqM8au3vdS
But crying wasn't enough. Tears didn't stop fists. Didn't heal torn flesh. Didn't make him worth saving.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgPGyM5FRw
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZnIGPvYIn
‘Fifteen years...’297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOp7Bc3LYcE
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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…297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHh7Ky2cb1
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojdbP6CrXH
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?'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVboQsevmb
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKeyNWdSZE
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. 297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3rDhBe0kM
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCXPEt4Jmf
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzvWqCIaCj
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TvtZYNqhq
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfIUTJ3Fsn
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtLvIHmzrm
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdJtObFNXg
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoO3upO1a0
"I'm sorry…," he whispered to the motionless child. For being weak. For being useless. For being exactly what his father said he was.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgZRJgV0AY
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDCWNAEOJE
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvSAT9ynSN
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkq9DU5aCC
‘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—’297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVQL6WFCig
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzk9oGH9pZ
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG77BgCldI
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoRnu9ONWU
But the figure that emerged from the shadows wasn't Lord Aldric of House Solmar.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47sYkeLVAj
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVt89ZTLIoT
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanatjptq95
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Then he spoke with a sickening cheerful voice.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuRORHYWkb
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKj6J3b9t4Q
"Ah, you're finally awake, little failure."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2knghalchn
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hPDn51s5j
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..297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDG5Q8tBsM
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HCIIWJX0R
"Not so talkative, are we?" The masked figure's head tilted. "Well, that's understandable. Betrayal does tend to leave one speechless."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbd5WyzH4NG
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXr25989aZN
"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—297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpuJN1074N
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH0xaRYN25
"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."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Etikj8Zhc
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgS2g8YbKu
"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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vMWzzqgwv
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2GGdXHKxl
"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."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnTcvfKMO8
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcuk80smt0
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSGhtaEM9w
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfycmZrHyg
"Tell me." The words ripped from somewhere desperate inside him.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUs00Wy2qe
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGx77kT38Fs
"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!"297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzu4lzzsCT
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAlWGioT89
'Children of the... what? Voidmother?'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsAcmxOOxB
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MqyDaWxmG
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5le858Fmg
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32uJcFCcFD
"And you have the honor of assisting us in our most important experiments."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlzbIK1XJl
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUC1dvc6kR
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ysxGpI7aO
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPRKqaeCRn
'No no no, they're going to—'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuGJ1m9CeY
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Uv97ZgQ3W
"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."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgz1E0NuK9g
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTp4ilwQTWE
'Divine blood? They want my blood because of the mark. Even though father tried to tear it away, the blessing runs deeper than skin.'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4zEqzhfMl
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡES4cjsrcft
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H47UepKqK
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXf4iYLlhp
"That's enough for now." The masked figure straightened, reaching into his robes. "Here's your meal, little failure."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYRaBbKOS1
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3y3oK41ZL
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wWCh1jzaR
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGySfTFBafA
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBzo1TpAe3
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhN16pBVi5
The footsteps faded to nothing, leaving him alone with the stench and the soft whimpering from across the corridor.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3LRxJOK3s
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWykHxHDoCP
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. 297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJVn67cLsr
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYXphYt7DG
What remained was worse than the wound - a grotesque crater of scar tissue where the Moon Goddess's blessing had once shone.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVNjzvVPmC
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQQE2wh7Ce
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—'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsj4enuvdd7
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJ4hg2nCwZ
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7wjgVuEPp
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLAo2lQAkr
On the fifth day, he crawled to the putrid scrap and took his first bite.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpzXAdQMLc
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwvyBAmoYT
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTWlkYl8zo
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBviyZbm2ys
'No one is coming.'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mcSYXyu5d
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ7UGvQPZl
The next meal, he managed two bites before the sickness took him. Then three. Then four.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzJ9InefVl
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uio9p0zDV
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJJzxwrEPT
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2GkZ5QAaf
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfUP7r4yHq
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhxXgLxuIF
"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."297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Mz1taa0qe
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfuqvcUziQ
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIj1oUE3sU
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0yQImh0RE
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1GprknR62
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw26mLqznsI
"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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzcFLrUr8V
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAqdz0xgUS
"Celvian," he whispered back, the first time he'd spoken his own name in weeks.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAU7YExOdG3
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrhi2cE1oN
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh83qBnxu0X
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6KQDwZXde
Until the morning Ren didn't return from his experiment.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LKyyUVUiJ
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdowBxL79b
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!"297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpYZHOqq7y
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUUWN8HTL0
Silence.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkwlwJhSnN
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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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW80ixVfFbN
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jbW8BjaYh
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiXwrPZqfy
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9sQPElh2F
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgAjGGg4tt
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74YnN0IEPF
'I hate them.'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SdrCuRzNl
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmftO2KhV3z
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60aCJnUXkU
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtc0VOrz5T
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2UXw9DPNI
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6gLBQMpPQ
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M8VdiJkkR
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HQ2rFvBfd
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmh3tW6A78X
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0SVnbaxnd
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jgBYlSTuZ
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52eOSwK6qi
It was the only thing keeping him sane.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogBXe9NFMp
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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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiF3fGH6rQW
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfB5TQCeAM
His stomach cramped with hunger, overriding any caution. He took his first bite, the familiar nothingness filling his mouth.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwricLEAiD
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2x9rFCT4HW
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.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSwbfoqye7
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkffdl8e3X
'What did they—'297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrr6qojmjz
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqksPMcWgrq
The thought dissolved as darkness swallowed everything - the bars, the stone, the empty cell where Ren used to be.297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEa8nw4WzgB
297Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAb1lIJ32RC
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.