“Close it.” Kael’s voice cut through the humming core chamber, sharp and flat.
 “I already did,” Alessia said.
 The Memory Core hovered in front of her, wrapped in a tight sphere of silver-violet luminosity. The crystal’s inner light churned like a storm in a glass—images flickering too fast for anyone but her to catch.
 Kade stood a few steps back, one hand over his resonance brace, breathing hard. “That… was too much. Even for a short projection.”
 Rian lay on his back on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling. “I saw math. Sentient math. It spoke to me.”
 Ianthe nudged him with her boot. “What did it say?”
 Rian blinked slowly. “It said, 'You're not ready.’”
 Selene snorted. “For once, I agree with a rock.”
 Seraphine, sitting cross-legged with Sorrel in the corner, raised her hand timidly. “D-did it work, though?”
 Alessia lowered her hands.
 The swirling in the Core slowed, its light settling back to a calm, steady pulse.
 “Yes,” she said.
 Kael relaxed a fraction, though his hand remained near his sword. “You saw something useful?”
 Alessia turned to the others. “I saw where he’s building the next real gate," she said. “Not a node. Not a memory tear. A full structure.”
 Kade tensed. “Where?”
 Alessia hesitated. The room waited.
 “In Endymion territory,” she said. “Near my old palace. The capital of Noctis.”
 Silence. Selene’s smile vanished.
 Kael’s shadow flared so sharply the lights flickered.
 “Of course,” he muttered. “It’s always your home.”
 “No,” Alessia said. “He’s not targeting the palace. He’s targeting something beneath it.”
 Rian scrambled up, nearly tripping over his robes. “B-beneath? There’s something beneath the Noctis capital?
 “Yes,” Selene said quietly. “There is.”
 All eyes snapped to her. Kade frowned. “You knew?”
 “I suspected,” Selene replied, unconcerned by the sharpness in Kael’s gaze. “Ancient Empires never built capitals over random stone. There’s always a root.”
 Alessia’s eyes narrowed. “What root?”
 Selene’s gaze flicked to the memory core. “Arcana’s shadow.”
 Eryx, who had been standing silently near the warded door, spoke for the first time. “You mean a second Arcana ruin.”
 “Not a ruin,” Selene said. “A shard. A piece of the original luminous structure, buried, integrated, and forgotten.”
 Seraphine hugged Sorrel closer. “Forgotten… or hidden?”
 “Yes,” Selene said.
 Kael stepped forward. “How long have you known?”
 “Known?” Selene shrugged delicately. “About a week. Suspected? Years.”
 “You didn’t tell her.”
 “I didn’t have proof,” Selene said. “And telling the former princess of Noctis that her family’s palace sits on a piece of the Architect’s first playground seemed… unwise without it.”
 Kael’s jaw tightened. “You should have trusted her.”
 “Please lecture me more about trust,” Selene said sweetly. “It’s entertaining.”
 Alessia lifted a hand. They both fell silent.
 “We know now,” she said. “That’s what matters.”
 Kael looked at her, then exhaled slowly. “Fine. What did the Core actually show you?”
 Alessia glanced at Kade. “You felt it too.”
 Kade nodded, swallowing. “There was… a spiral. Three rings of luminous weave under the city. The architect's framework is wrapping around them like a parasite.”
 Rian shuddered. “So he’s building a gate under your home and using Arcana’s leftover foundations as scaffolding.”
 “Yes,” Kade said.
 Ianthe cracked her knuckles. “So we break the scaffolding.”
 “It’s not that simple,” Kade said. “If we hit it from the outside, we risk collapsing the whole structure. Capital included.”
 “Good,” Kael said.
 Seraphine gasped. “You can’t just explode an entire city!”
 Kael’s eyes were cold. “If the choice is between one capital and the entire world, I’ll light the fuse myself.”
 Rian squeaked. “He’s not kidding.”
 Alessia’s gaze didn’t waver.
 “We’re not sacrificing Noctis,” she said. “We go in. We pull his framework apart from the inside—before he finishes the gate."
 Selene smiled again. “Now that sounds interesting.”
 Eryx crossed his arms. “Noctis will not welcome Solaris and Lunaris’s help inside its core.”
 “Then they won’t see them,” Alessia said. “We go quiet.”
 Kael nodded once. “Stealth insertion. No banners, no formal envoys, and no Primals.”
 Selene’s eyes glinted. “And you plan to sneak into the heart of one of the most paranoid capitals in the realm.”
 “Yes,” Alessia said.
 Seraphine whispered, “I feel like I shouldn’t be hearing this…”
 Sorrel tugged Alessia’s sleeve. “Is home bad?”
 Alessia looked down at her. Her voice softened.
 “No,” she said. “Home isn’t bad. But someone is trying to turn it into something bad. We’re going to stop them.”
 Sorrel’s fingers twisted in her tunic. “Okay.”
 They didn’t get far from the core chamber before trouble met them halfway.
 Noctis is trouble.
 The corridor leading to the Atrium was lined with Solaris guards and luminous wards. A new group stood waiting—a cluster of three figures in dark armour accented with subtle shadow threads.
 At their head was a tall woman with hair like ink and eyes like polished obsidian. Her armour bore the crescent sigil of Noctis, trimmed with a faint blue glow.
 She bowed—not deeply—when Alessia approached.
 “Princess Alessia Keren Endymion,” she said. “Convergent Warden. I bring you greetings from the Noctis Regents.”
 Kael’s jaw clenched. Alessia kept her face neutral. “Stand straight, Commander.”
 The woman straightened immediately. “Yes, Princess,” she said.
 “Name,” Kael demanded.
 She glanced at him, measuring. “Commander Lyra Vanis,” she said. “Appointed liaison from Noctis to the Convergent Warden.”
 Selene’s eyebrows rose. “Already sending liaisons? That was fast.”
 “Regents move quickly when threatened,” Lyra said coolly.
 “I’m sure they do,” Selene replied.
 Alessia studied Lyra—late twenties, muscles built from real battles, not drills. Scar along her jaw that looked like a blade had grazed bone. No-nonsense stance.
 “What do the Regents want?” Alessia asked.
 Lyra’s expression didn’t change. “Information. Rumours reached Noctis that an ancient sea guardian had awakened. That a forbidden vessel took flight. That you recovered a relic related to Arcana.”
 Ah, news travelled fast.
 “And,” Lyra added, “they want to confirm if you intend to bring war to the capital.”
 Kael’s shadows rippled dangerously. “If we bring anything, it’ll be protection.”
 Lyra didn’t flinch. “With respect, Shadowguard, protection that tears out the ground beneath our city is not always distinguishable from war.”
 Selene laughed once. “I like her.”
 “Of course you do,” Kael muttered.
 Alessia took a step closer to Lyra. “Did the Regents send you to threaten me?” she asked.
 “No,” Lyra said. “To warn you.”
 Kael’s hand inched towards his sword. “About what?”
 “About corridors you no longer own, Shadowborn,” Lyra said. “And seals placed after your death, Princess.”
 The air went still. “What?” Kael said quietly.
 Lyra’s gaze flicked between them. “The old royal catacombs beneath the palace—the ones sealed after your assassination, Princess—are singing again, with dark resonance and instability. The Regents noticed it two nights ago.”
 Selene’s eyes sharpened. “Two nights? That coincides with the echoes from the Core.”
 Kade inhaled slowly. “He’s activating things below just as we started decoding.”
 Lyra’s voice stayed level. “The Regents are not fools. They know the architect echoes when they hear it. They will not allow another gate beneath their throne.”
 “Then they should be grateful I’m coming,” Alessia said.
 Lyra’s jaw tightened. “They are not certain you’re coming to save the throne.”
 Kael stepped forward, eyes blazing. “Careful, Commander.”
 Lyra met his gaze without flinching. “Noctis still remembers the last time a royal tried to take absolute power with Luminous; we didn’t understand.”
 “Your last princess?" Selene asked softly. “Or the one before that?”
 Lyra didn’t answer.
 Alessia’s voice cut through the tension. “The Regents are afraid I will become him.”
 No one spoke.
 Not Selene.
 Not Lyra.
 Not Kael.
 Because she wasn’t wrong.
 Finally, Lyra said, more quietly, “They are afraid of losing Noctis to Arcana’s shadow. Again.”
 Alessia nodded once. “Good,” she said.
 Lyra blinked. “Good?”
 “Yes,” Alessia said. “Fear keeps them cautious. Caution keeps them alive.”
 Kael frowned. “Alessia—”
 She continued. “Tell the Regents this,” she said to Lyra. “I am coming to Noctis. With my squad. With no armies and no banners. I’m coming to cut out what he planted. If they stand in the way, they’re welcome to become part of the problem I remove.”
 Lyra stared at her. Slowly, very slowly, the corner of her mouth twitched.
 “I will… relay that message.”
 “Good,” Alessia said.
 Lyra’s gaze shifted to Sorrel, who was half-hiding behind Seraphine.
 “And the child?” Lyra asked. "Rumour mentions you took a Lunaris asset from a forbidden site.”
 Kael’s expression turned lethal. “She’s not an asset.”
 “She is under my protection,” Alessia said. “That’s all Noctis needs to know.”
 Lyra considered that. Then she bowed again—this time, a fraction deeper.
 “Understood,” she said. She stepped back.
 “I’ve been ordered to accompany you to the capital,” she added. “As a guide. And witness.”
 Ianthe grinned. “Oh, we get a Noctis tour. Fun.”
 Rian whispered, “This feels like we’re being chaperoned…”
 “We are,” Selene said. “Try not to embarrass me.”
 “Why would we embarrass you?” Rian asked.
 “I have standards,” she said.
 Kael looked at Alessia. “You trust her?”
 “Yes,” Alessia said.
 His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
 “Because she came herself,” Alessia replied. “If the Regents planned to chain me down, they’d send someone with more ceremony and less backbone.”
 Lyra didn’t react—but there was the faintest ripple of amusement in her eyes.
 “Then we depart when?” she asked.
 “Tomorrow,” Alessia said. “Dawn.”
 “Dawn?” Rian choked. “We just got back from dying in the ocean—”
 Seraphine patted him. “We’ll sleep now.”
 Kade scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’ll refine the readings for the catacomb layers before we go. If the architect's already woven his lines, we need to know where they sit.”
 “I’ll check if the WING can glide over land without terrifying everyone,” Eryx said.
 “It can,” Ianthe said. “It’ll just be funnier if it doesn’t.”
 Selene stretched. “I’ll prepare counter-rituals for Arcana patterns. Noctis's wards won’t be enough.”
 Kael looked at Alessia. “You,” he said quietly, “will rest.”
 “I have work to—”
 He stepped closer so only she heard.
 “You burned corruption through your core. You walked in a collapsing temple. You wrestled his blueprint into submission. If you fall now because you’re too stubborn to sleep, I will personally knock you unconscious.”
 She stared at him. He didn’t look away.
 “You wouldn’t,” she said.
 “Yes,” he replied. “I would.”
 Selene’s voice floated lazily from behind them. “He actually would. Let the boy feel useful.”
 Kael glared. “Stay out of this.” Alessia exhaled once.
 “Fine,” she said. “I’ll rest.”
 His shoulders lowered a fraction. “Good.”
 Lyra watched all of this with a faintly baffled expression.
 “This is your… inner circle,” she said slowly.
 “Yes,” Alessia said.
 Lyra shook her head once. “Noctis is not ready for you.”
 Kael gave a humourless smile. “He isn’t ready for Noctis either.”
 Alessia lifted her chin. “Tomorrow,” she repeated. “We go home.”
 Not as a discarded princess. Not as a victim. She was the warden of a world that the architect had already broken once. This time, she would shatter him instead.