Morning sunlight filtered through the museum's towering windows, but it failed to chase away the unease lingering in Lucien's mind.
The Codex was gone.
He searched every corner of his apartment.
The desk.
The bookshelves.
Even beneath the bed.
Nothing.
"I didn't move it..." he whispered.
A faint knock came at the door.
When he opened it, no one was there.
Only a small black envelope rested on the floor.
Across the front, written in elegant silver ink, was a single line.
Return to the museum. Come alone.
No signature.
No address.
Just those six words.
---
An hour later, Lucien unlocked the underground archive.
Everything appeared normal.
Until he noticed that one of the bookshelves had shifted.
A narrow passage, hidden behind centuries of dust, stretched into darkness.
"I've worked here for three years..."
"...How was this never here?"
Taking a flashlight, he stepped inside.
The air grew colder with every step.
Ancient murals covered the walls. Angels with broken halos stood beside humans wearing robes embroidered with unfamiliar constellations. Yet many of their faces had been deliberately scratched away.
At the end of the passage stood a massive circular stone door.
Seven empty slots surrounded its center.
Above them, faded letters read:
When the Seven Seals awaken, the Seventh Archive shall open once more.
Lucien reached out.
The moment his fingers touched the stone—
A brilliant silver symbol ignited beneath his palm.
The first slot began to glow.
The ground trembled.
A deep voice echoed through the chamber.
First Seal recognized.
Bearer confirmed.
Lucien stumbled backward.
"What... is this place?"
Behind him, someone answered calmly.
"A prison."
Lucien spun around.
The silver-eyed professor stood at the entrance of the hidden chamber.
Cael Ashford.
"You..."
"I know you have questions," Cael said quietly.
"And I know you don't trust me."
Lucien's voice hardened.
"How do you know my name?"
Cael remained silent for several seconds.
Finally, he answered,
"Because I've spent over a thousand years searching for you."
The words hung heavily in the cold air.
Lucien stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"I wish it were."
Cael slowly removed a silver pendant from beneath his shirt.
It was shaped like six outstretched wings.
The same symbol engraved on the Celestial Codex.
"I don't expect you to believe me."
He stepped closer.
"But I need you to listen."
Before Lucien could respond, every torch in the chamber extinguished at once.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then—
Laughter.
Soft.
Cold.
Every shadow stretched unnaturally across the walls.
Black mist poured from the cracks in the stone floor, twisting into the shape of tall, faceless figures with glowing crimson eyes.
"The Hollow Ones..." Cael whispered.
One creature lunged toward Lucien.
Instinctively, Cael threw himself between them.
A burst of brilliant golden light erupted from his body.
For a heartbeat, enormous wings of pure light unfolded behind him.
Not human wings.
Angel wings.
The creatures shrieked as the light forced them backward.
Lucien froze.
He had seen those wings before.
In his dream.
On the ancient battlefield.
Another memory flashed through his mind.
A voice.
Warm.
Gentle.
"Don't cry, Lucien... As long as these wings remain, I'll always find you."
Pain exploded behind his eyes.
He fell to his knees.
Fragments of forgotten lives raced through his mind—cities lost beneath the sea, kingdoms built on clouds, a smiling man in silver armor reaching for his hand before disappearing into blinding light.
The visions ended as quickly as they had come.
Cael turned, worry replacing his calm expression.
"Lucien!"
Before he could reach him, the shadows retreated into the darkness.
Silence returned.
Only one sentence remained carved into the stone door, glowing with silver light.
The Commander has found the Bearer.
The Second Seal shall awaken soon...
Far beneath the chamber, where no human had walked for millennia, something ancient opened its eyes.
And for the first time since the Celestial War ended...
It smiled.
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