Ashen's words echoed through the moonlit clearing, but the fire in his gaze slowly cooled as he noticed something odd in Lyria's expression. She stood still, eyes half-lidded, her breath steady yet shallow. It was as if a deeper part of her had been unlocked… and was slipping away.
Suddenly, her knees gave out.
"Lyria?" Ashen rushed forward, catching her before she could collapse completely.
Her body was warm, too warm. Moonlight seemed to coil around her like silk threads, tugging at her soul.
The system flickered.
> [Warning: Bonded Vessel Entering Dream-State: Divine Feedback Loop Detected.] [Condition: Internal Seal Reactivation] [Event Type: Astral Reflection (Shared Dreamscape) — Eligible for Entry]
Ashen frowned. "Shared dreamscape?"
He didn't get time to decide — Lyria's fingers clenched around his wrist, pulling him forward.
The world blurred.
Moonlight shattered into fragments, and Ashen's vision faded into soft silver haze.
---
He opened his eyes.
They were no longer in the jungle.
Instead, he stood in a vast lake — the water ankle-deep, mirror-clear. Above, the moon loomed impossibly large, its surface cracked and bleeding light. Around him, silhouettes floated — familiar shapes, faceless priestesses, all whispering one name: "Ashen…"
The air buzzed with lust. Not raw, violent lust — but sacred, slow-burning, spiritual arousal. The kind that wrapped itself around guilt and longing.
And then he saw her.
Lyria.
But not the Lyria he had known.
This one floated barefoot across the lake, wrapped in semi-transparent veils of moon-silk. Her skin shimmered with divine glow, eyes glowing softly. Her lips curved in a half-smile — not seductive, but curious.
"Do you know why you're here?" she asked softly, her voice echoing with a thousand hymns.
Ashen took a step forward. "Your dream. I was pulled in."
She tilted her head. "No. You were chosen to see. This is a memory… and a desire."
Suddenly, the veils fell away — revealing Lyria's nude form, glowing, sacred… yet undeniably aroused. Her breath caught as if seeing Ashen awakened something primal in her.
"Long before I became a priestess… before I wore the chains of the Moon Queen… I used to dream of being touched. Held. Desired. But they forbade it. They said my body belonged to the divine."
Ashen approached slowly. The lake didn't ripple beneath their feet.
"You were never allowed to feel?" he asked.
Lyria's eyes moistened. "I buried my hunger beneath devotion. But when I saw you — when I tasted your kiss — something shattered."
Her voice quivered.
"I don't just want you. I want to want. Freely. Desperately."
Ashen reached for her hand — it pulsed with lunar heat. The system murmured faintly:
> [Astral Convergence Detected.] [Bonded Desire Manifestation: Moon Priestess's First Sin]
Their lips met.
This wasn't a lust-fueled frenzy — it was reverence. Ashen kissed her slowly, pulling her close, feeling the tremble of years of repression breaking down inside her body.
She moaned softly — like a suppressed prayer finally spoken.
Their bodies touched — skin against skin — as if the dream itself invited their union.
Lyria gasped. "This is… forbidden… but it feels like truth."
Ashen's hands traced her waist, down to her hips — guiding her against him. Her thighs clenched. Her nails dug into his back.
The water beneath them began to ripple — not from movement, but from energy. A silver tide rising.
> [Sync Initiated: Astral Desire Link – Phase 1] [Lyria's Divine Seal: Cracked 2%] [Unlock Progress: 1/3 Emotional Anchors Reached]
Ashen moved with her — slowly at first, grinding, teasing, letting her feel everything. Her soft breasts pressed against his chest as he pulled her tighter.
Lyria arched back. Her voice turned breathy. "Say my name."
Ashen leaned into her neck, whispered, "Lyria."
Again.
"Lyria."
Each word caused the dream to pulse.
Suddenly, Lyria's body lit with silver tattoos — like chains melting away.
She gasped louder. "Ashen… don't stop… I want to… remember what freedom feels like!"
Their rhythm increased — not violent, but urgent.
Ashen felt her legs wrap around his waist. She began to move on instinct — her breath catching, her eyes wild with ecstasy and release.
"Yes…" she moaned. "Yes… I'm mine… I'm yours… I'm real…"
> [Sync Status: 82%] [Divine Lust Core: Partial Awakening Triggered] [Warning: Astral Form Nearing Overload – Prepare for Emotional Discharge]
Lyria screamed — not in pain, but in ecstasy.
Moonlight burst outward like an orgasmic wave.
The lake shattered into pieces of floating glass.
Ashen held her close, both of them glowing with shared light.
And then…
Silence.
Only their breathing remained.
---
Ashen awoke first, gasping, back in the real jungle clearing.
Lyria stirred beside him, tears at the corners of her eyes, but a smile on her lips.
"I… saw her. My old self. My true self," she whispered.
Ashen stroked her hair. "She was beautiful. And she was hungry."
Lyria chuckled through her tears.
The system softly announced:
> [New Trait Gained: Memory-Touched (Lyria)] [Effect: Lyria may recall fragments of ancient priestess knowledge during moments of intimacy or vulnerability.] [Bond Level Increased: 2 → 3] [Ashen's Lust Core Evolution Progress: 38%]
She looked up at him, eyes shimmering with pure emotion.
"I don't know what I'm becoming… but if you stay… maybe I won't be afraid of it anymore."
Ashen leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'm not going anywhere."
And somewhere, in the shadowed folds of the sky, the moon pulsed — as if pleased.
—
Ashen opened his eyes with a sharp inhale, heart still pounding as if the dream had burned through his bloodstream. The memory of Lyria's scent clung to him like mist — soft, wild, sacred. But what lingered more… was the sensation of connection. Not just physical. Something deeper. Something eternal.
> [System Update: Emotional Trait Stabilized – "First Flame"] [Effect: Increased Bond Synchronization Speed with New Partners (First Encounter Only).] [Dream Residue Recognized. Residual Lust Energy +12]
He sat up slowly, the moss beneath him still faintly glowing. The night was quiet around him — the jungle sounds distant, as if afraid to disturb whatever had just happened.
But across from him, Lyria stirred.
Her silver hair was draped across her bare shoulders, body cloaked in a summoned veil of divine moonlight. Her breathing was steady now, calm — but her eyes opened, searching for him immediately.
She saw him. And smiled.
"That… was a dream, wasn't it?"
Ashen nodded. "If it was, I don't think I ever want to wake up again."
Lyria sat up beside him. Her fingers brushed his cheek. "There was something… deeper than lust in it. I felt pieces of myself I'd forgotten. Memories of the Moon Temple… of my younger self. You didn't just seduce me, Ashen. You reached me."
Ashen exhaled slowly, voice low. "That's what Incubi do, right? We don't just consume—we connect."
The system pulsed again:
> [Trait Synergy Triggered – Lust Domain: Emotional Echoes] [Bonus Trait Learned: Intimate Empathy (LV.1)] [Effect: Can detect emotional fluctuations in bonded partners during high-stress moments.]
He blinked. "Huh. That's new."
Lyria tilted her head. "Your system is… learning. Not just growing stronger, but smarter."
Ashen smirked. "Or maybe it's just adapting to how much trouble I keep getting into."
Lyria chuckled — soft, genuine. The kind of laugh that felt rare for someone who had spent a lifetime under divine chains.
And then she grew quiet. Her fingers traced the edge of his palm. "Ashen… what we shared just now—it wasn't real. But it felt more meaningful than most of my real past."
Ashen looked her in the eyes. "Maybe that's what makes it powerful. Dreams let us show the truths we're too scared to say aloud."
A small silence passed between them — comfortable, weighted with intimacy. Then the system softly chimed again.
> [Alert: Environmental Signature Stabilizing] [New Route Detected: Northern Passage – Cradle's Shifting Grove]
Lyria stood, brushing imaginary dust from her divine cloak. "Come on then. The trial isn't over just because we made love in a dream."
Ashen rose, stretching. "That wasn't just love-making, Lyria. That was… story-writing."
She grinned. "Then let's write the next chapter together."
—
The forest path ahead wasn't like before. The silver vines that once choked the trail now receded, giving way to a gently sloping path lit by glowing fungi and lunar crystals embedded into the bark of the trees.
The air had changed — no longer heavy with divine suppression, but light, inviting. As if the jungle itself acknowledged Ashen now as more than an intruder. A participant.
Lyria walked slightly ahead, her bare feet glowing faintly with moonlight. Ashen couldn't take his eyes off her — not just because of her beauty, but because of the way she moved now. No longer hesitating. No longer carrying shame.
> [Bond Progress: 48% → 63%] [Relationship Level: Trust Stabilized.] [Optional Quest Activated: "Moon's Voice" – Discover the Origin of Lyria's Rebellion.]
Ashen frowned slightly at that.
"Hey," he said aloud. "That rebellion the system just mentioned—what exactly happened back at the temple? You were the High Priestess, weren't you?"
Lyria stopped. The question clearly shook something loose inside her.
"Yes," she whispered. "But I didn't fall because I disobeyed. I fell because I felt."
Ashen tilted his head. "Explain."
Lyria turned slowly, shadows and light dancing over her face. "The Moon Queen demands purity. Her priestesses are taught that desire is a weakness… especially emotional desire. I was the first to question that. I believed that desire was sacred. That pleasure wasn't filth — it was divinity. When I shared that idea… and when I acted on it… they called me corrupt. Heretic."
Ashen stepped closer. "You were exiled… because you loved?"
"Because I loved too deeply," she corrected. "And because I believed the Moon Queen herself once did too — and was punished for it."
A gust of wind blew through the grove. The silver vines twitched, as if reacting to her words.
> [Lore Update: Fragmented Memory of the Moon Queen – Entry #3 Unlocked] ["She was divine… but she broke her own law. And for that, she created the Cradle — as both sanctuary and prison."]
Ashen touched her arm gently. "You're not alone anymore, Lyria. I don't know what game the Moon Queen is playing, but I'm not going to let you fall again."
She leaned into him without a word.
And then — the path ahead split.
One route led up a moss-covered hill with a waterfall glowing silver in the moonlight. The other dipped downward into a cavern that pulsed with dull red light — like a bleeding wound in the earth.
The system pulsed:
> [Choice Point Detected] [1: Ascend to the Waterfall Glade – Gain access to Lunar Blessing Ritual (Support Path).] [2: Descend to the Crimson Hollow – Face a Fragment Guardian (Combat Path).]
Ashen narrowed his eyes.
"Support or Battle," he muttered.
Lyria looked at both paths. "If we go up… we might be able to further awaken my divine essence. If we go down… we'll likely find another key to severing the chains."
Ashen's instincts screamed both are traps… but only one leads forward.
He turned to Lyria. "You trust me?"
"I walked into your dream, Ashen. I trust you more than I trust myself."
Ashen's fingers tightened.
"I say we go down."
Lyria nodded, resolute. "Then let's tear the next chain apart."
Together, they stepped toward the Crimson Hollow.
—
As they descended, the air thickened. The warmth of moonlight above was replaced by something deeper — more ancient. The walls of the cavern shimmered with faded murals: images of lovers, battles, and divine punishments.
And at the center of the chamber — a giant obsidian statue stood.
A woman with six arms. A third eye sealed shut with chains. And in her chest — a hollow carved like a crescent moon.
Lyria stepped back. "That's not just art. That's her."
"The Moon Queen?"
"No," Lyria whispered. "The one who opposed the Moon Queen. The one erased from the scrolls. She who bore the first Incubus… and died birthing him."
The system chimed:
> [New Discovery: Crimson Hollow – Shrine of Nyxa, the Forbidden Moon.] [Trial Imminent – Lust Memory Guardian Awaits.] [Warning: Emotional Instability May Trigger Alternate Memories.]
Ashen cracked his knuckles.
"Let's see if history remembers me better than it tried to erase her."
And as the ground beneath them began to glow red, and the statue's third eye slowly cracked open—
Ashen prepared to face what waited.
—
TO BE CONTINUED…