Darkness swallowed them.
Not a soft darkness—
a heavy, suffocating void that felt alive.
The team fell for what felt like minutes, air rushing past them, gravity growing strange and uneven. Then—without warning—they slammed into something soft and shimmering.
A glowing web of golden threads caught them, lowering them gently to the ground before dissolving into sparks.
Liora groaned. "I swear… Mars hates us."
Nymera steadied herself. "Everyone intact?"
Eris rose slowly. "Yeah. But where are we?"
A faint humming stirred the air.
The chamber around them flickered to life, lit by red and gold veins running through the walls. It wasn't natural stone—not even ancient architecture.
It was something alive.
Something breathing.
Astra stepped closer, eyes wide.
"This… this is beneath the vault. It wasn't on any readings. This feels older than the planet itself."
Seris scratched his head. "Why are you sounding like a prophecy again?"
But then—
Footsteps echoed.
Soft, slow, deliberate.
The team instantly formed a defensive circle.
A silhouette emerged from the glowing mist.
Tall, slender, and wrapped in flowing metallic fabric that moved like liquid.
It was a woman.
Her skin carried a faint red luminescence, her eyes golden like molten ore. Her hair floated weightlessly behind her as if underwater.
She stopped ten meters away, watching them with calm, almost emotionless curiosity.
Astra whispered, stunned, "She's… not human."
Nymera lifted her spear. "Identify yourself!"
The woman tilted her head, studying them one by one. When her gaze settled on Eris, the golden aura around her intensified.
She spoke for the first time, her voice soft but echoing across the walls:
"You carry the resonance."
Eris blinked. "The… what?"
She stepped forward slowly.
"The Heart of Mars responded to you above. That means you are the one chosen to awaken the Core."
Seris raised a hand. "Uh, sorry—who are you?"
The woman placed a hand on her chest.
"I am Lysera. Last Sentinel of the Martian Core Network."
Astra gasped.
"A Core Sentinel…? But they died out millions of years ago!"
Lysera shook her head gently.
"We did not die. We went dormant—waiting for resonance."
She focused back on Eris.
"You, descendant of seven lights… You awakened the harmonic signature. Now the Core cannot return to sleep."
Eris frowned. "Look, I don't even know what resonance is. Or a Martian Core. Or—"
A tremor shook the chamber.
Lysera turned sharply, eyes glowing brighter.
"It begins," she whispered.
"The planet is shifting. The Heart is rearranging the crust."
Liora's eyes widened. "Wait—so all those earthquakes—"
"—were only the beginning," Lysera finished.
Her voice held no fear. Only certainty.
Eris stepped closer. "What does the Core want from us?"
Lysera's golden gaze settled on him again.
"The Core wants what it has always wanted…"
Her voice became a whisper.
"…to awaken."
A deep, thunderous pulse rolled through the ground, shaking dust from the ceiling.
Eris clenched his fists. "And if it awakens fully… what happens?"
Lysera's expression finally shifted.
She frowned.
"Mars will no longer be a planet."
Silence hit the team like a punch.
Astra swallowed. "Then… what will it be?"
Lysera lifted her hand toward the glowing walls.
A soft, harmonic vibration filled the air.
"A living god."
The chamber trembled again—harder.
Nymera steadied herself. "Eris… what do we do?"
Eris stared at Lysera, jaw tight.
"Take us to the Core."
Lysera nodded once.
"Follow me."
She turned and began walking deeper into the living tunnel.
The team exchanged anxious looks—
then followed.
Unaware that, behind them,
the walls began to close.