The sky above Celestara Spire split open. Not with violence this time, but with light—radiant, blinding gold threaded with deep violet, spiraling like a newborn star forcing its way into reality.
Lyra's breath caught. "That's him. It has to be him."
Astra shaded her eyes. "If it's not, we're all about to be vaporized, so let's hope you're right."
Aradia stepped forward, her aura flaring in recognition. "It's him."
Seraphine nodded once, already forming stabilizing sigils in the air. "Prepare for atmospheric recoil. The Threshold collapses irregularly."
Elowen hugged Virren close as the fox whimpered. "Caelum… please be safe."
The light surged. The wind roared. And then—
Caelum Vale fell from the heart of the sky.
Lyra launched herself upward in a burst of flame, catching him before he hit the courtyard stones. They tumbled, crashed, rolled—and then Caelum ended up flat on his back with Lyra half on top of him, hair singed, eyes wild.
"You—" she sputtered. "You absolute idiot. You promised!"
Caelum blinked up at her. "I kept it. I'm here."
She punched his shoulder. "You vanished into a cosmic blender!"
Astra strode over. "Is he alive or did it bring us back a very realistic corpse?"
Caelum pushed himself upright. Light flickered faintly under his skin before dimming. "Alive. Mostly."
Seraphine approached and examined him with clinical precision. "Your mana flow is altered."
Caelum shrugged. "The Crown does things."
Aradia stepped forward last.
Her voice trembled. "The Crown chose you."
Caelum nodded.
A wave of silence swept across the group.
Astra broke it with a whistle. "So we're following an actual crowned cosmic demigod now. Fantastic. I expect better cafeteria privileges."
Lyra elbowed her. "Not the time."
But Caelum looked past them—past the courtyard, past the Spire—toward the horizon where the sky was still faintly bruised from the Titan's earlier presence.
"They know," he said quietly.
Seraphine frowned. "Who knows?"
Caelum exhaled a slow, steady breath. "The Harbinger. And something else. Something older."
Aradia's eyes widened. "The Crown let you see?"
"It didn't show me. I felt it." He hesitated. "A presence watching. Waiting."
Astra grimaced. "That sounds very 'ancient doom approaching'."
Lyra shook her head. "We deal with one nightmare at a time. The Titan will come back if Caelum had failed, right?"
Aradia swallowed. "Yes. But…"
"But what?" Astra pressed.
Aradia looked at Caelum. "The Titan wasn't the true danger. It was a herald."
The group went still.
Then a voice boomed across the courtyard.
"Well. Isn't this adorable."
Everyone turned.
Standing atop the shattered remains of the western rampart was a figure cloaked in dark indigo armor, runes glowing faintly across its surface. It was humanoid, but wrong—too tall, too still, too sharp. Its eyes burned like violet suns.
Astra groaned. "Who orders another cosmic monster literally minutes after Caelum gets back?"
Lyra stepped in front of Caelum, fire flickering across her hands. "Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head. "A witness."
Aradia's face drained of color. "No…"
Seraphine's grip tightened on her frost sigils. "Explain."
Aradia whispered, "That's a Watcher."
Elowen stiffened. "One of the void's observers?"
"Not the void," Aradia said. "Above it."
The Watcher raised a single hand.
The wind died. The Spire fell silent. Even magic itself seemed to hold still.
"Caelum Vale," the Watcher said. "Bearer of the Crown. You have been chosen. Now you must be judged."
Astra squinted. "Didn't he just finish being judged?"
The Watcher ignored her.
"The Crown awakens old powers. Old wars. Old debts." Its gaze pierced Caelum's. "We are here to determine if your ascension is a blessing…"
A pause.
"…or a mistake."
Lyra snapped. "He just survived a cosmic trial! Back off!"
The Watcher didn't move. "Interference noted."
A pulse of energy shot from its hand—fast, silent, lethal.
Caelum reacted without thinking. Golden light exploded from his palm, forming a shield of pure starlight that absorbed the blast. The courtyard cracked beneath him from the force.
Astra blinked. "Okay. That was new."
Caelum felt the Crown hum above him, unseen but present. He stepped forward.
"You want to judge me?" he said. "Fine. But leave them out of it."
The Watcher's eyes flared. "They are already involved."
More figures appeared across the rooftops—three, then five, then seven. All armored. All silent. All watching.
Aradia trembled. "This is impossible… Watchers don't gather."
Caelum looked at his friends.
Lyra's flames burst alive. Seraphine's frost spiraled. Astra charged her gauntlets. Elowen summoned vines of silver starlight. Aradia glowed with violet magic she could barely contain.
He breathed out.
"We stand together."
The Watcher regarded him for a long, unreadable moment.
Then its voice echoed like a verdict.
"Then together… you will face what comes next."
The sky darkened. The air warped. The Watchers moved as one.
And the real trial began.