The Luna Raven swayed in the storm as if it were being rocked to sleep by the invisible hand a God.

  Elijah steadied himself against the railing. The seal beneath his shirt was still warm—too warm—pulsing like a heartbeat that wasn’t his.

  Rodrick’s voice cut through the quiet.

  “Secure the lines! Stabilize the port wing!”

  His white coat snapped in the wind, the gold?and?moss trim catching the light. The Ankh stitched across his back glinted like a challenge thrown at the storm itself. A few crew members glanced at it with unease.

  Stella stayed beside Elijah, studied him with sharp, worried eyes.

  “Elijah,” she said softly, “are you with me?”

  He nodded, though his hands trembled.

  “I… I heard them again.”

  Stella’s expression tightened, but she didn’t press. She never pressed.

  Around them, the crew whispered.

  “High Blood names…”

  “Spirit?King blood… on our ship?

  “Is that even safe?”

  Rodrick shot them a look that silenced the deck instantly.

  A metal hatch slammed open near the engine deck.

  Imala stomped out, covered in grease and irritation, a wrench in one hand and a rag in the other. Her eyes flicked to Elijah’s chest, then to the faint shimmer of frost and lightning still clinging to his skin.

  “Captain,” she snapped, “if that kid’s fusebox flares again, it’s taking half my engine room with it.”

  Rodrick didn’t look up. “Imala.”

  She sighed dramatically, crouched beside Elijah, and inspected the faint glow of the seal like it was a malfunctioning boiler.

  “…Huh,” she muttered. “Pretty. In a terrifying, please?don’t?explode way.”

  Elijah flushed. “I’m… sorry?”

  Imala stood, wiping her hands.

  “Don’t apologize. Just don’t blow up my ship.”

  She paused, eyeing the seal again.

  “I’ve seen Veilguard classifications before. They pretend they understand everything, but half their records are lies.”

  A few crew members stiffened at the word Veilguard.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Rodrick didn’t react—but the set of his shoulders changed, just slightly.

  Imala disappeared back into the engine room, muttering about “government?approved nonsense.”

  Two voices drifted from the upper deck.

  Aidan leaned over the railing, grinning wide.

  “I’m telling you, Casey, High Blood spirits are supposed to be huge. Like dragon huge.”

  Casey, arms crossed, deadpan:

  “They were children, Aidan. Not everything is a dragon.”

  Aidan pointed at Elijah.

  “So… you’re like… royalty now?”

  Casey elbowed him.

  “That’s not how lineage works.”

  Aidan ignored her.

  “Still cool though.”

  Casey sighed.

  “You’re overwhelming him.”

  “I’m welcoming him.”

  “You’re overwhelming him.”

  Their bickering continued as they wandered off to check the cannons.

  A faint click made Elijah flinch.

  Jacob, holding a spirit?lens camera, lowered it quickly.

  “Sorry,” he said, voice soft. “Reflex. I document… everything.”

  He stepped closer, careful not to crowd Elijah. His eyes flicked to the faint frost?and?lightning shimmer around Elijah’s chest—the ghostly forms of Vaylren and Velnra flickering like memories caught in the wrong light.

  “”this camera tells the truth that's why they hate it you know?

  Eljiah"What"

  "The veilguard I mean, It's because it remembers the history they've Rewritten.

  Elijah swallowed. “rewritten?”

  Jacob shook his head.

  “Just rare.”

  He hesitated, then added quietly:

  “I won’t publish anything without your permission.”

  A warm, heavy hand landed on Elijah’s shoulder.

  Jax the cook-- a big yet gentle hearted beast-man handed him a steaming mug.

  “Drink,” he said. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”

  Elijah took it with shaking hands.

  “…Thank you.”

  Jax nodded.

  “Storms, seals, High Blood spirits—whatever’s going on, you’ll handle it better with something warm in your stomach.”

  He gave Elijah a comforting pat.

  Throughout all of this, Hokori stood near the back of the deck.

  Silent.

  Watchful.

  Arms crossed.

  His horns glowed a dim light and what looked like stars could be seen in shifting patterns, the faint fur along his ears shifting with every subtle change in the wind. A few human crew members kept glancing at him—not hostile, but wary, unsure. Hokori ignored them, though his claws stayed tucked into his sleeves, hidden.

  When the others drifted away, he finally approached.

  His voice was low, controlled.

  “High Blood spirits are not to be taken lightly.”

  Elijah stiffened.

  Hokori continued, eyes sharp.

  “The Veilguard fears power they can’t regulate. And they erase what they fear.”

  Then he turned and walked away, coat fluttering in the wind. His horns brushed the edge of a hanging lantern—he flinched, barely, and adjusted his posture as if hoping no one noticed.

  Elijah exhaled shakily, trying to steady himself.

  Then—

  A faint crackle of dark energy flickered around his hand.

  Not lightning.

  Not frost.

  Not the seal.

  His curse.

  Aidan jumped back.

  Casey’s eyes widened.

  Imala swore from the engine hatch.

  Jacob nearly dropped his camera.

  He knew the look of fear. He knew disgust. He knew people stepping back.

  This wasn’t that.

  And it unsettled him more than the storm.

  Stella stepped forward immediately.

  “Elijah—did the seal do that?”

  He shook his head, panic rising.

  “N?No… that wasn’t them. That was… me.”

  Jax frowned.

  “You’ve got two powers fighting for space in there, kid.”

  Imala groaned.

  “Fantastic. A cursed fuse box.”

  Casey studied the fading energy.

  “That didn’t feel like the Gap reacting.”

  Aidan nodded.

  “Yeah. That felt like him reacting.”

  Stella knelt beside Elijah, steady and calm.

  “Your curse power is surfacing because you’re overwhelmed. The Gap isn’t calling to you.”

  She tapped the deck beneath them.

  “Those names carry weight in places like this. High Blood weight.”

  Elijah stared at his trembling hands.

  “So… this is all because of them?”

  Stella softened.

  “Because of their lineage. Not because of you.”

  She paused.

  “But your power… that’s yours. And you need to learn to control it.”

  The storm thinned further, revealing massive structures rising from the Cloud Sea.

  Floating stone rings.

  Broken towers.

  Ancient glyphs glowing faintly.

  Rodrick’s eyes lit up.

  “By the Isles… this ruin is older than anything we’ve charted.”

  Jacob snapped photos rapidly.

  Imala muttered about “ancient death traps.”

  Aidan leaned dangerously over the railing.

  Casey pulled him back by the collar.

  Stella watched the glyphs carefully.

  “They’re reacting to the High Blood resonance inside the seal,” she murmured.

  “Not to Elijah.”

  Elijah felt the seal warm—not calling, just responding.

  A massive shadow moved beneath the clouds.

  The water?mist churned.

  A low rumble vibrated the hull.

  The lookout shouted, “Beast below!”

  The ship tilted slightly as something enormous passed under them.

  But it didn’t attack.

  It simply… watched.

  Hokori murmured,

  “Creatures down here react to power. Not people.”

  As the Luna Raven drifted closer, the glyphs brightened.

  The ruin seemed to awaken.

  Rodrick leaned forward, eyes wide.

  “Steady! Bring us toward that archway!”

  Imala cursed under her breath.

  Jacob kept snapping photos.

  Aidan and Casey braced themselves.

  Jax tightened the ropes.

  Hokori watched in silence, ear fur twitching.

  Elijah felt the seal pulse—not painfully, just insistently.

  Stella whispered,

  “The Veilguard made it illegal to study the Millennium Gap.

  This is why.”

  The ship lurched as an unseen force pulled them forward into the ruins.