The world woke beneath an unfamiliar light.
For the first time in recorded history, two suns rose together on the horizon — one gold, one silver. The golden sun burned warm and steady, while the silver one shimmered like a dream, its rays bending reality into waves of starlight.
People across the empire stopped and stared. Farmers dropped their tools, priests fell to their knees, mages cried out as their spells flickered out of control.
Above the grand city of Azure, bells rang in dissonant panic.
Inside the royal tower, High Priest Orion stood at the window, robes glowing faintly under the twin lights. His expression was unreadable, but his hands trembled around the ancient crystal he held.
"This is impossible," whispered one of the elder priests behind him. "Two sources of light cannot coexist. The cycle will collapse."
Orion didn't turn. "The cycle already has."
He closed his eyes, and in that instant, saw beyond the veil — where the divine realms once stood. The Thrones were gone. The Seraphs were silent. The old order had fallen. And in its place, something new had begun to breathe.
Far to the north, the ruins of the Temple of Stars still glowed faintly. A circle of scorched earth surrounded it, where once divine fire had burned through the night. From that light, faint silver motes drifted skyward, forming the faint outline of a new constellation.
Its name, whispered by the wind, was Erian.
Lyra stood among the cliffs overlooking the ruins. Her hair fluttered in the wind, eyes fixed on the sky where the twin suns met. Her heart pounded, not with fear, but recognition.
She had not heard his voice for weeks. Since the night the connection broke, she had prayed, shouted, even bled to reach him. But now, under this strange light, she finally felt it again.
"Erian…"
It was faint, like the echo of a heartbeat beneath the stars.
She pressed her palm to her chest. The faint sigil of the bond, once faded, now pulsed again with life. Warmth spread through her veins. And then, a whisper brushed her mind.
Lyra…
Her knees weakened. "You're alive."
The wind carried another whisper, softer but full of warmth. Not as before. But yes. We are here.
"We?"
Before she could ask again, the sky rippled. The silver sun flared, and for a brief moment, she saw two figures outlined in light, standing hand in hand above the clouds — their forms transparent, their auras intertwined.
Erian's gaze turned toward her. His smile was quiet, bittersweet, full of the same kindness she had known. Beside him, Aster's presence burned like a living sun, protective, fierce, eternal.
Then the vision faded.
Lyra wiped her tears, laughing and crying all at once. "You stubborn fool… you actually did it."
The ground trembled. From the ruins below, silver vines began to bloom, growing toward the sky like living constellations. The energy pulsing through the world felt different — freer, lighter, alive.
The Order of Solarius, once bound by divine decree, now felt their powers unraveling. Across the empire, towers of light fell, and sacred laws written in the sky began to fade.
The era of gods had ended.
But something greater had begun.
Deep within the void between worlds, Erian floated weightlessly, his form surrounded by galaxies. His body shimmered faintly, no longer bound by flesh or limit. Across from him, Aster's light pulsed rhythmically — his eyes soft for the first time in eons.
"You see it too," Aster said quietly. "The new world."
Erian nodded. "A world that doesn't need chains."
Aster's smile was faint, wistful. "And what of us?"
Erian looked down at the blue world below, glowing like a jewel beneath the twin suns. "We began as fragments of light. Maybe that's what we'll always be — guiding it, unseen."
Aster reached out his hand. "Together, then."
Erian took it. "Always."
Their lights merged once more, flowing into the fabric of creation, weaving new constellations and igniting stars that had long gone cold.
And thus, beneath the twin dawns, the new age began — not ruled by gods, nor bound by fate, but guided by two souls who defied both.
Bound not by chains, but by starlight.