Lumine stared out into the vast darkness of the abyss, the cold air swirling around her as if trying to seep into her very soul. She took a deep breath, the chill biting at her lungs, and sighed, her gaze distant and unfocused. It had been so long since she’d last seen her brother, Aether, that the memories felt like fragments of a life that belonged to someone else. She couldn’t recall how many centuries had passed since their fates diverged. The Archons themselves seemed to mock her with the passage of time, reminding her of all the moments she had lost, all the battles she had fought in solitude. She wondered if Aether still thought of her as often as she thought of him.

But Lumine knew that, for the sake of the past and the uncertain future, she could not reunite with him—not yet. Not while the world was still marred by the stains of corruption and decay. The cries of the suffering echoed through the void, spurring her onward. Her mission was not complete, and to abandon it now would be to betray all the sacrifices she had made. One day, she promised herself. One day, she would embrace her brother once more, and the pain of separation would be nothing but a faint whisper in the annals of history.

First, however, the world needed to be cleansed of its filth—the leeches that drained it of its life and the so-called gods who claimed dominion over mortals’ fates. She would rip apart the very foundations of this world if it meant bringing justice to those who had suffered. The hilichurls, those once-proud people who had been twisted into monstrosities by an ancient curse, would be freed from their torment. The abyss mages, forever bound by dark pacts, would be released from their chains. And the Khaenri’ans, the people who had been cast into shadow for defying the gods, would finally be saved. She would rewrite the fate of the forgotten, even if it meant becoming a villain in the eyes of the world. Because to her, the only thing that truly mattered was seeing her brother again, whole and unbroken.