BOOK THREE: THE FALL OF THE FIRST KINGDOM
Chapter 12: Caelus, the Forgotten Crown
The name echoed through the sanctuary.
"Caelus..."
The ancient White Tree trembled violently.
Its silver leaves fell like rain.
The crystal river darkened.
The peaceful sanctuary, untouched for thousands of years, felt as though it had forgotten how to breathe.
The First Guardian stared at the cracked silver crown.
His calm expression was gone.
For the first time, the Six Heirs saw genuine fear in his eyes.
---
Riva stepped closer.
"Who is Caelus?"
The First Guardian remained silent.
Instead, he slowly picked up the cracked crown from its pedestal.
His fingers gently traced the fracture running through its center.
"I hoped..."
"...this name would never be spoken again."
---
Lucien frowned.
"If he's dangerous, then tell us."
"We can't fight an enemy we know nothing about."
The Guardian looked at him.
"Caelus is not your enemy."
Everyone fell silent.
Aarvi blinked.
"Then why does everyone look terrified?"
---
The old gardener sighed.
"Because memories are dangerous."
"When the wrong ones return..."
"They change people."
---
Suddenly...
The cracked crown released another pulse of black mist.
This time, the mist didn't attack.
Instead, it gathered in the middle of the sanctuary.
Slowly...
It formed the image of a young man.
He looked no older than twenty-five.
Silver hair.
Bright blue eyes.
Simple white robes.
A gentle smile.
Nothing about him looked evil.
In fact...
He looked strangely familiar.
Eva whispered,
"He looks..."
Riva nodded.
"...like the First Guardian."
The Guardian closed his eyes.
"Because we were brothers."
---
Silence.
Lucien lowered his sword.
"Brothers?"
The image smiled warmly.
It looked toward the Guardian as though seeing an old friend.
The Guardian spoke quietly.
"Caelus was my younger brother."
"He laughed louder than anyone."
"He believed every problem could be solved with kindness."
"He never cared about titles."
Aarvi smiled.
"I think I would've liked him."
The Guardian smiled sadly.
"So did everyone."
---
The image suddenly flickered.
Its warm smile disappeared.
Black cracks spread across its body.
The sanctuary shook.
The Guardian whispered,
"This is why I buried his memory."
---
Eva stepped forward.
"You erased your own brother from history?"
The Guardian looked away.
"I didn't."
"Someone else tried."
"I only hid what remained."
---
The ancient white book floating above the sanctuary suddenly opened by itself.
Its pages turned rapidly.
One stopped.
Silver letters appeared.
THE SECOND MEMORY
The image of Caelus became clear once more.
The sanctuary disappeared around the Six Heirs.
---
They now stood inside the palace gardens of Aurelia.
The First Guardian and Caelus sat beneath the White Tree.
Both looked much younger.
Caelus laughed as he tossed bread to glowing birds.
His brother watched him with amusement.
"You'll never become a proper prince."
Caelus grinned.
"Good."
"I don't want to."
"You can keep all the royal meetings."
The Guardian laughed.
"And what will you do?"
Caelus looked toward the people walking through the gardens.
"I'll help them."
"If a king forgets to smile..."
"The kingdom eventually forgets too."
---
Parna smiled.
"He really loved everyone."
The old gardener nodded.
"He was the heart of Aurelia."
---
The memory changed.
Years passed in seconds.
The brothers had grown older.
The White Tree had become enormous.
Children played beneath its branches.
The kingdom prospered.
Then...
A messenger rushed into the garden.
His face was pale.
"My Lords..."
"We've found something beyond the Gates."
The smile disappeared from both brothers' faces.
The memory ended abruptly.
---
The Six Heirs returned to the sanctuary.
Riva looked at the Guardian.
"So that's when everything changed."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"But not because of what we found."
"Because of the choice we had to make afterward."
---
Before he could continue...
A violent roar shook the sanctuary.
The crack in the crown widened.
The image of Caelus began breaking apart.
Dark chains burst from the floor.
They wrapped around the memory itself.
"No!"
Eva shouted.
"They're trying to erase him again!"
---
Without hesitation, the Six Heirs sprang into action.
Lucien slashed through the chains with the Blade of Dawn.
Parna's silver vines held them back.
Orion raised his shield around the memory.
Aarvi struck the ground with the Staff of Home, filling the sanctuary with warm golden light.
Eva used the compass to stabilize the fading image.
Riva opened her notebook and quickly wrote the name:
CAELUS
Again.
And again.
And again.
Every time she wrote it...
One chain shattered.
The image became brighter.
The First Guardian watched in stunned silence.
For thousands of years...
He had tried to preserve his brother's memory alone.
Now...
Six new Guardians stood beside him.
The final chain broke.
The image of Caelus smiled once more.
He looked directly at the Six Heirs.
Not as a memory.
As though he could truly see them.
He raised his hand.
"Thank you..."
"...for remembering me."
Then his image slowly dissolved into thousands of silver butterflies.
They flew upward into the branches of the White Tree.
Every silver leaf glowed brighter.
The sanctuary returned to peace.
---
The First Guardian looked at Riva.
Tears filled his eyes.
"For thousands of years..."
"I believed I had failed him."
Riva gently closed her notebook.
"You didn't."
"As long as someone remembers..."
"No one is truly lost."
The old gardener smiled proudly.
"The Covenant lives."
---
Suddenly...
A deep rumble echoed beneath the sanctuary.
The crystal river began flowing backward.
The roots of the White Tree slowly separated.
Hidden beneath them...
Another staircase appeared.
Unlike the previous passages...
This one descended into complete darkness.
Cold air drifted upward.
Ancient symbols glowed faintly along the walls.
The First Guardian's expression became serious once more.
"I hoped we wouldn't reach this place."
Lucien looked into the darkness.
"What is it?"
The Guardian answered quietly.
"It is where we made our final decision..."
"...the Chamber of Farewell."
He paused before adding,
"And beneath it..."
"...lies the place where the First Kingdom took its last step into history."
The Six Heirs exchanged determined glances.
The truth was closer than ever.
Yet each answer revealed an even deeper mystery.
Together, they stepped toward the dark staircase, unaware that far below, a massive stone mechanism had already begun turning.
Something ancient...
Something that had slept since the day Aurelia vanished...
Was slowly awakening.
End of Chapter 12