The Cold Snap
The Citadel hummed with quiet victory. King Hayate and Consort Neshuda had just completed the immense energy surge, successfully activating the Cosmic Beacon. The peace of the Eternal Foundation was now broadcasting across the galaxy.
They stood side-by-side near the core plinth, recovering from the total output of their unified Resolve. A warm, fulfilling exhaustion settled over them, the sweet relief of a mission completed.
"We did it, my love," Hayate murmured, leaning his head against Neshuda's shoulder. "Aeterna is safe, and our love is the light of the cosmos."
Neshuda smiled, the feeling of their shared victory immense. "Forever, Hayate."
But the peace was brutally short-lived. A sudden, jarring cold shot through the connection between their souls—an invisible, sharp spiritual recoil from the vast, chaotic space the signal had just penetrated. It felt like icy shrapnel hitting their shared life force.
They both gasped, separating slightly as a wave of intense, debilitating pain hit their centers. It was a freezing, consuming force that defied all their spiritual defenses.
"What was that, Neshuda?" Hayate demanded, clutching his chest. The seamless, warm flow of their merged energy was now spiked with sharp, recurring jolts of cold agony.
Neshuda, his breath shallow, gripped the plinth for support. "It's a chaotic backlash. Our signal was too pure for the void. It's a spiritual counter-force... a poison that feeds on unity."
They knew immediately this was worse than any physical injury. It was an attack on the fundamental truth of their bond. They had to hide it.
The Tainted Vow
They rushed back to their private chambers, locking down all access. Their immediate, instinctual response was always the same: Submission and total union. They had to burn out the poison using the absolute force of their intimate, commanding love.
"Merge with me, Neshuda," Hayate commanded, his voice tight with fear and fierce Resolve. "Open your spirit completely. I will drive us, and we will purge this fire with the full force of our dominance."
They stripped away their robes, focusing their entire spiritual and physical will into the desperate act. They initiated the ultimate, absolute Vow—a ritual meant to cleanse, renew, and unify their souls completely.
Hayate drove the union with fierce, desperate power, trying to force the chaotic coldness out of Neshuda's spirit and into the consuming heat of their combined love. It was the most physically intense, emotionally demanding act of devotion they had ever shared.
But as the intense pressure built, seeking the ultimate, purifying ecstasy, the coldness surged. Instead of seamless warmth, sharp, icy pain shot through Neshuda, making him cry out.
"Hayate, stop! It's not burning! It's using the energy to divide us!" Neshuda gasped, his body racked by a wave of cold spiritual agony.
Hayate held him tighter, his expression strained. He achieved a powerful, shattering climax, hoping the immense physical release would expel the contaminant.
When the energy subsided, they were utterly spent, but the icy, consuming pain remained. The poison had resisted the absolute force of their love. It was still there, embedded in their shared bond.
"It resists our unity," Hayate whispered, his face inches from Neshuda's. "It is feeding on the very thing that makes us eternal."
The Logical Curse
Using the Citadel's private, concealed diagnostic terminals, they scanned the malicious energy. The results were terrifyingly clear. The chaotic energy was a self-replicating spiritual parasite, a "Cosmic Curse of Division."
Neshuda read the analysis, his hand trembling. "It only thrives in a state of perfect fusion. It's designed to destroy the source of the Beacon's power: our merged soul."
Hayate read the terrifying logical conclusion offered by the diagnostics: To stabilize the Core and halt the curse's multiplication, the chaotic energy must be concentrated into a single, singular, absolute vessel. The vessel must then be permanently isolated from the Core's main energy source.
The message was brutal: One of them had to become the single, contaminated vessel to save the other and the world.
Hayate immediately stood, his eyes locked on Neshuda. "I am the King. My role is to protect Aeterna and you. I command you to begin the transfer preparations. I will take the full force of this curse, and I will be sealed away."
Neshuda stood opposite him, his posture rigid, his usual gentle smile replaced by fierce, heartbreaking determination.
"No, Hayate. You are the Core's anchor, the world's most stable source of kinetic power. If you are sealed, Aeterna will destabilize within a generation. I am the strategos, the spirit. I will find a way."