NOVEL NEXT Chapter 45 - What Lurks Within [Part 2]
Eddy's brow creased. He took a half-step back, a flicker of discomfort in his posture. "What do you mean?"
For a moment, Astraea seemed to forget herself, like she was listening to a sound no one else could hear. Then, just as quickly, her entire body shimmered in a cascade of stardust and softened.
Her head tilted again, then gently turned toward Lyric.
When she spoke, her tone had shifted, calm, fluid. Too fluid.
"An echo. Nothing more."
Lyric's eyes narrowed. "That's not what you meant."
Astraea smiled. It was soft, unreadable, like a light flickering behind mist.. "Tonight's light plays tricks. Dreams blur lines. He's new to this world. Perhaps... the Sanctum's magic is just curious."
Her words were smooth, easy, but her gaze lingered on Eddy longer than they should have. A beat too long. Not with fear, but with something older. Something wondering. Something careful.
Eddy let out a nervous breath and half-laughed, trying to shake the tension. "Are you saying I've got magical static or something?"
Astraea eased backward through the air, drifting slowly, her glow softening like twilight behind glass.
"Some sparks take time to understand," she said. "Even for the stars."
No one replied. The corridor held its breath with them, the blue-silver veins on the walls pulsing slowly, like the Sanctum itself was listening.
For a moment, they all stood still.
Then movement resumed, quiet steps against stone. Astraea trailed behind them, silent and luminous, a hush of light weaving through the air.
Eddy kept glancing over his shoulder. Once. Then again. Half-expecting her to vanish the way she arrived.
She didn't.
And somehow, that made it all feel heavier.
Not a dream.
Not someone else's magic.
Not a borrowed world.
Real. And waiting.
Their footsteps softened as they reached their wing. The stone underfoot shifted subtly in hue, darkening like dusk settling. Above, the walls curved into a broad archway etched with delicate runes, silver spirals that glowed faintly, pulsing like veins of light set into ancient bone.
Thorne stepped forward, shoulders squaring as he approached the towering doors. Their surface was carved with intricate, interwoven sigils that pulsed faintly, like breath caught in slow rhythm. He placed his palm against the largest one in the center.
A golden shimmer surged beneath his touch, spreading like liquid fire through the engraved lines. A deep, resonant tremor ran through the wood before the doors parted with a slow, deliberate groan.
Warmth spilled out to meet them.
Not dry or stifling, but soft, like the embrace of a memory just out of reach.
The space beyond unfolded into an expansive gathering common room, aglow with a welcoming, golden radiance.
Thorne walked in first, his steps quiet but sure. Elias followed, then Aiden and the others, each one passing through the threshold without hesitation. Astraea drifted behind them, her glow casting faint ripples across the walls as she hovered in silence. Eddy lingered a breath longer at the doorway, then stepped in behind them.
He stopped just past the entrance. His lips parted. One foot hung behind the other like he wasn't sure reality would hold if he stepped any farther.
Above, golden lanterns floated lazily through the air, their flickering light giving the illusion of breath. Velvet-lined armchairs and curving couches circled a monumental hearth at the far end, where enchanted flames twisted within a sigil-carved enclosure. The fire shifted in color, molten amber giving way to crimson, then flashes of deep indigo.
Towering ebony bookcases lined the walls, overstuffed with archaic tomes, scrolls, and strange artifacts that glinted with latent energy. Window nooks cradled thick cushions in shadowy hues, and the ceiling stretched above them like a living sky, not painted, but a real-time reflection of constellations wheeling in the heavens above.
Eddy stepped further inside, slowly. He turned in place, eyes wide, hand drifting up toward one of the floating lanterns as though afraid it would vanish at his touch.
"Okay… this is unreal. Like, living-in-a-storybook unreal. Who even designs stuff like this?"
Alice's voice floated in from behind, amused. "The Sanctum shifts to match its occupants. No two wings are the same."
Lyric passed her fingers lightly over the edge of a moonlit table, watching the glow flicker across her skin. "It knows what we need, before we know it ourselves."
Aiden dropped onto one of the plush couches without hesitation, sprawling comfortably. He stretched his arms behind his head, boots thudding softly against the velvet. "Still smells like incense and over-polished stone. Better than home, though."
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Thorne moved to the hearth, brushing his fingers across one of the glowing sigils set into the mantle. The flames deepened in hue, responding instantly. "Could've used more edge. Bit too dreamy."
Eddy didn't reply. He was still slowly turning, taking in the shimmer of glass, the whisper of flames, the flicker of shadows that danced along the edges of the bookshelves. A tapestry above the fireplace shifted subtly, the patterns rearranging themselves when he wasn't quite looking.
Then his gaze caught on the far wall, six arched doorways nestled in a graceful curve, each marked with a unique symbol carved in silver.
Elias stepped forward, quiet until now. He walked across the room and stopped before the second door from the left. His fingers brushed the carved frame.
"This one's yours," he said, glancing at Eddy. "Right beside Aiden's."
Eddy took a few tentative steps forward, drawn to it. The door itself was made of smooth, shadow-dark wood. The sigil above it glowed faintly, four dots circling a small spiral. Not flashy, not overly ornate.
But something about it felt right.
He stared up at it, the pale light reflected in his eyes. "My own room. In a magical fortress. With a fireplace that sings and a sky ceiling that moves." He ran a hand through his hair, voice low. "I'm either living a dream or still passed out in the alchemy room."
From her perch above the fireplace, Astraea sat cross-legged midair, starlight glimmering along the edges of her form. She tilted her head.
"If it were a dream," she said softly, "you wouldn't feel the weight of it."
Eddy's eyes flicked toward her, caught between disbelief and awe.
A breathless chuckle slipped from Eddy's lips.
"Well," he murmured, his posture easing as he let out a long breath, "I definitely feel something."
The glow from the fireplace flickered softly, casting slow, dancing shadows across the velvet cushions and arched stone walls. The room had finally begun to feel still.
Then a dull thud broke the quiet.
It came from the room just beside his. A dragging sound followed, then something rustled heavily. A sharp rustle of wings cut through the silence, followed by a deep, rattling croak that didn't sound the least bit friendly.
Eddy jumped. His eyes snapped to the source, feet automatically stepping back.
"Did… did something just make that noise?"
Alice's brow lifted. Without a word, she turned and walked straight into her room, her boots soft on the carpeted floor. The door shut behind her with a quiet click.
Only a moment passed before her voice rang out, loud and sharp. "Noir! I told you not to mess with that. Ash, stop knocking things over!"
Eddy stared at the closed door like it might bite next. "What kind of magical beasts does she keep in there?"
Thorne crouched by the hearth, adjusting one of the floating lanterns. His voice was flat, like he'd seen far worse. "The kind that like chaos."
Aiden tilted his head back on the cushions, his grin lazy. "You'll get used to them."
The door creaked open again. Two shapes slipped through the crack in silence.
Noir stepped out first, each movement as smooth as liquid shadow. His eyes gleamed as he padded silently across the floor. Ash followed, wings tucked neatly against his sides before he glided forward and landed on the mantle above the fire. He gave a low, contented trill as the warmth washed over his feathers.
Eddy's mouth parted slightly. He didn't move. His gaze tracked their every step with an almost stunned reverence.
Alice stepped out of her room, brushing ash from her sleeve and glaring after the two familiars. "One more stunt like that," she muttered, loud enough for both of them to hear, "and I'm putting warding charms on your tails. See how long you like sneaking around after that."
Noir didn't spare her a glance, tail flicking once in cool defiance as he padded further into the room. Ash, unbothered, gave a soft trill and nestled more comfortably on the mantle.
Elias looked up from where he sat, a dry note in his voice. "They really do take after you."
Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "Careful. They bite slower than I do."
"Wait," Eddy said under his breath, "I've seen them before too. In my dream. The same dream as Lyric. They were there with Alice."
"I didn't know they were real," he said quietly, his voice almost caught in his throat. "I thought I just made them up in my head."
Aiden's chuckle rumbled low in his chest as he stretched. "Is there anything you don't know about us already?"
Eddy laughed once, but there was no certainty in it. He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes still flicking from Noir to Ash.
"Apparently not. Or maybe too much."
Thorne stood straighter. His arms folded tightly across his chest as his eyes fixed on Eddy with measured calm.
"It's not comfortable," he said at last. "A person we've known for only a few hours knowing so much about us."
His words dropped into the room like a stone into deep water.
Before Eddy could respond, a soft pulse of light passed through the room.
Astraea moved.
She drifted away from the shadowy corner near the hearth, her motion slow and graceful, like a leaf caught in quiet air. Her voice shimmered through the silence, quiet but crystalline.
"The stars see far more than faces, Thorne Skyrend," she said. "They see intent, even when memory cannot. What he carries… echoes, yes, but not betrayal."
Thorne's jaw tensed slightly. He didn't look at her, but his eyes narrowed, fixed on the fire as if trying to read truth in the flame.
Elias shifted where he stood, arms loosely folded. His gaze didn't leave Astraea, but the tight line of his shoulders eased, just a fraction, like a tension he hadn't realized was there had begun to unravel.
Astraea turned slowly in the air, her body a slow-turning galaxy in miniature. Her light pulsed in a rhythm that almost resembled a heartbeat.
"He did not choose to see what he saw. It was given. And those who are chosen to see are rarely given that without reason."
For a moment, her glow dimmed, gentler now, as if offering calm, not correction.
Lyric stood very still, her fingers lightly brushing the edge of her sleeve. She didn't blink, didn't speak—just watched Astraea with the kind of silence that comes not from doubt, but deep understanding. The soft rise of her chest slowed, like her breath had synced to the rhythm of Astraea's light.
"The Eclipse Heart watches," she added quietly. "It does not mistake echoes for danger."
Silence fell again.
Eddy didn't move. His eyes were fixed on Astraea, every word sinking deeper than he could explain.
Thorne didn't answer right away. But his arms eased, just slightly, the tension across his shoulders softening like he was letting go of something unseen.
Then he turned his head just enough to glance at Eddy, not with warmth, but with something a little closer to acknowledgment.
Aiden let out a quiet exhale from where he lounged, his arms behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then lowered his gaze to Eddy, a subtle nod replacing his earlier smirk. No joke. No teasing. Just acceptance.
Eddy's hands slowly lowered to his sides. Whatever amusement had colored his face faded beneath the weight of the truth in Thorne's tone, and Astraea's reply.
Alice's voice was gentler when she spoke.
"The dreams weren't nothing. Some things slip through for a reason."
Astraea hovered nearer to Eddy now, her starlight dimmed into something calmer. Her gaze didn't judge. It watched.
The others fell into a quiet rhythm again, letting the moment settle without forcing answers.
Eddy stood there for a beat longer, watching the flicker of fire and stardust reflect in the polished floor, listening to the faint sounds of a world that had once only existed in dreams.