Chapter 4: The Rumbling Sky
A dark, blue-tinged chamber. Lightning crackles and folds around a lone figure, skittering across his skin like living veins of light — as if the man himself is the thunder.
A voice, calm and distant, slips into his mind.
???: "Did you finish, Rynox, Astrael?"
Narration (quiet): Astrael is one of the twenty gods — known as the Thunder God.
Gods usually speak through mental transmission unless they meet face to face.
Astrael (softly): "Yeah. It's done."
The voice in his mind inhales like a storm preparing to break; Astrael matches it with a measured breath.
???: "He was a threat to us all."
Astrael: "Indeed. The God of Imagination — Rynox — was… formidable."
— — —
Scene shifts back to the dust-bleached plains. Aren is on his knees, still reeling, the carved runes under his shirt faintly warm.
Aren: "I… don't feel pain anymore. But what was it? Who struck the lightning? My head— it feels heavy."
A shadow approaches. A girl steps from the wind, hair long and green, moving like a blade in sunlight.
???: "You need some help?"
Aren (guarded): "No."
???: "Who are you?"
Aren: "I'm Aren."
???: "I'm Eve. What are you doing here?"
Aren: "Nothing, to be exact."
Eve reaches out a hand toward him — not gentle, not hostile; an offer wrapped in steel.
Eve: "Join me. Let's take down the kingdom together."
Aren (surprised): "What?"
Eve: "You killed a soldier. You'll be wanted across the world."
Aren (shrugging, furious): "Who cares? Who do they think they are, stealing people's freedom? Count me in."
A slow smile spreads across Eve's face — sharp, satisfied.
Eve: "I knew it. Let's go inside the palace."
Aren (blinking): "Inside the palace?"
Eve (confident): "Yes. We'll take them down today."
Above them, the sky churns — a distant flash as if answering Astrael's thought. Somewhere in a throne of blue, the Thunder God feels the echo and tenses. The game has begun.