The shattered remnants of the Crypt of Caelus groaned around Riven Caelum as he pulled himself to his feet. His body ached from the battle, the golems were relentless, and the awakening of something deep within him had taken a toll. But he was alive. His skin glowed faintly, embers flickering along his arms and back where his hidden wings had scorched through the air in bursts of fury. He was shirtless and his wings were in full view.
As Riven made his way back through the ruined tunnels of the crypt, he moved cautiously, dodging remnants of traps, slipping through tight corridors, every step guided by flickers of light from his fingertips. Near the exit, another tremor rocked the crypt. Celestial runes lit up along the walls. A pulse of radiant energy surged from the heart of the crypt, out into the sky above Talon Island.
A beacon had been lit.
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In Wyrmsreach's market square, Slade stood frozen beneath the rising plume of light. Around him, pirates shouted, merchants scrambled to pull down wares, and townsfolk stared skyward. The energy from the crypt had rippled like thunder, sweeping over the island.
Beside him, the merchant stammered. "The boy… the boy took the fruit. He must've gotten inside."
Slade didn't answer at first. His jaw clenched. His cold mask stayed fixed, but behind his eyes something flickered.
"He wasn't supposed to survive."
The merchant looked pale. "We have to run. If the Lord returns and finds out..."
Slade turned, grabbing the man by the collar. "He is returning. And he'll know the moment he sees that sky."
The merchant paled. "But you said the crypt couldn't be opened without the key..."
"I was wrong."
Slade let the man go. He walked away without another word, boots crunching against dust and broken glass. In the distance, the harbormaster's bell began to toll.
Far out at sea, the dreadnought class vessel, The Epitaph cut through the water like a blade. Lord Silas Vortan stood at the bow, his violet eyes locked on the horizon. The ripple of celestial energy washed across the sea. He inhaled deeply...
"It's awakened."
Behind him, Lt. Marella Graves stepped from shadow to light, her expression unreadable.
"The merchant failed."
Silas didn't turn. "He was never meant to succeed. Only to stall."
"Then we return?"
Silas nodded. "Wyrmsreach will burn if needed. The crypt has been touched by Lunarian blood. The Caelus Titanus has stirred. And I will not be denied again."
Marella tilted her head. "And if it's a survivor? A child?"
Silas finally turned. "Then we test the fire before we snuff it out."
Marella nodded before fading into darkness...
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Back on Talon Island, Riven burst from the crumbling crypt, coughing smoke and curses, stumbling into the overgrown ravine beneath the manor like a drunk tossed out of a burning tavern. The rain slapped his face like it owed him money.
"Note to self, don't touch floating god thingys."
He collapsed onto a patch of moss, chest heaving, limbs twitching. His body glowed faintly, embers pulsing under his skin. His brain was worse.
Voices. Symbols. Screaming stars. Some dude named Caelus telling him to 'rise.' Definitely not normal Tuesday stuff. He didn't know to shits of what is happening.
And then the world broke.
Cold. Silent.
Boom... nothing.
No light. No sound. Just pressure, like the entire sky had sat on his chest and said, "Shhh, nap time."
He rolled just in time.
Twin daggers thunked into the ground where his skull had been a heartbeat ago, crackling with a pulse of dark energy that warped the grass on impact.
"Oh come on, give me five minutes! I just fought rock golems and hallucinated a god!"
He lit up, flames spiraling up his arms. The glow pulsed through the gloom, not piercing it, just resisting it. The shadows twisted unnaturally, not cast, but alive.
The grass around him flattened, footsteps he couldn't see, but could feel. Deliberate. Predatory.
Then, a flicker.
Platinum hair. Moonlit eyes. Leather Marine uniform. Pale as frostbite.
Marella Graves.
"Of course it's you. Tall, deadly, and emotionally unavailable. Do I know how to pick 'em, or what?"
She didn't smile.
"Hello litle thief." She says
Then she just moved.
Blinding speed.
Riven ducked as a dagger hissed past his ear, she was already behind him. He spun, parrying her second strike with a flare of flame, the collision sending heat and sparks flying. Her dagger skidded along his arm like metal on molten glass, neither side giving an inch.
He lunged with a flaming punch, she weaved under it, spun low, and swept his legs out from under him. He caught himself mid fall with a blast from his palm, flipping back upright.
"She's got the ninja fruit. Or maybe the I hate you fruit. Probably both."
She vanished, a ripple of shadow swallowing her whole.
Riven lit both hands, wings flickering out in flashes, not flight, just instinct.
His body flared with a golden light for a short second, a burst, lighting the trees. There. Behind.
He threw a wave of fire a solar crescent that lit the rain into steam. She dodged mid air, launching off an unseen platform of darkness her Devil Fruit letting her surf shadows, creating footholds in nothing.
She came down hard, twin daggers reversing into a cross strike. He blocked one with his forearm, caught the other in his ribs.
Then, pain. Real pain. Seastone.
"Yep. There it is. The part where I start seeing grandma."
His bright fire around that side of his body dulled and become less hot, like someone trying snuff a flame.
He hit the ground hard, coughing, his breath coming ragged.
Her voice ghosted in his ear.
"Who are you?"
Riven grinned, blood painting his teeth.
"The world's angriest glow stick."
She went for the finish, stepping over him, one blade raised high, shadows curling like tendrils around her arm.
But Riven wasn't out yet.
He twisted, slammed both hands to the ground, and detonated.
A nova of pure solar fire exploded out of him, not elegant, not controlled, but wild. The trees bent, the grass incinerated in a ring. Rain boiled on contact.
Marella staggered back, shielding her eyes as her shadows sizzled and scattered. The dagger missed its mark, grazing his collar instead of his throat.
Riven shot to his feet, body pulsing with that same golden light, and a glimmer of a halo flickering on and off Above his head limping, blood pouring, wings partially unfurled.
She lunged again, using her shadows to strike from three angles at once. Shadow clones? No, projections. Illusions with teeth.
He took a hit to the thigh, another to the shoulder, but he grabbed the real Marella mid lunge and headbutted her with a burst of fire.
She staggered, for the first time.
"Rule number one," Riven growled, staggering backward, "never let the spooky girl monologue."
She slashed again, shallow cuts now, testing his movement.
He parried once, twice, then slammed his flaming fist into the ground, sending a ripple of celestial fire through the dirt. The ground cracked, splitting between them.
Marella leapt back, vanishing into the tree line, not retreating. Repositioning.
Riven didn't wait.
He ran. Limping.
Branches whipped across his face. Blood streamed. His breath hitched.
Somewhere behind him, Marella stood watching, the smoke trailing from her cloak, her daggers pulsing with dark light.
She cleaned her blade with trained efficiency, looked down at the singed grass and smoldering blood.
"Of course he's a Lunarian," she muttered, voice flat. "Silas is going to throw a tantrum."
Then she turned and melted into the mist again, vanishing like a ghost with unfinished business.
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From the manor windows above, Slade watched the chaos. His hands trembled, just slightly. Behind him, a pirate lackey asked, "Should we hunt the boy?"
Slade turned slowly, the firelight catching in his eyes.
"Not yet. Let him burn. Let the Lord see what he's created."
His voice was cold. But inside, the doubt was growing.
He remembered the screaming of the children when the manor gates first opened to pirates. He remembered the ash in the air.
And he remembered being powerless.
Now… maybe that was changing.
A/N: Next chapter i'll explain how his abilities work.