One year has passed and it was neither marked by war nor remembered for a great battle.There was nothing like kingdom fell, monster invasion or ancient gods awakened from their slumber,Instead, the year was remembered for ordinary things. The first spring flowers that bloomed outside Sophia's cottage.The summer festival where Marcus accidentally set a pie-eating record after insisting it was ‘a strategic competition’The autumn harvest, when Bahamut sneezed while carrying sacks of wheat and scattered grain across half the village, leaving everyone laughing for days and the first snowfall of winter, when Fate spent an entire afternoon trying to understand why children enjoyed throwing snowballs at one another“They're attacking each other” she said“They're playing” Luna corrected with a giggle“Is there a difference?” Fate asked“A very big one” Luna replied Fate accepted the explanation eventually.Elysium had grown over the past year, new families had moved into the city, the mar

The morning after Serena's birthday arrived with bright sunshine and a cool spring breeze, Elysium was already awake and merchants arranged fresh fruits outside their shops.The scent of warm bread drifted from Sophia's bakery.Children hurried through the streets with excited laughter, each carrying colorful ribbons and handmade wooden toys. Julius had barely stepped outside the cottage when someone collided with his legs“Oops”Looking down, he found a little boy no older than seven sitting on the ground, rubbing his forehead.“I'm sorry!” the child quickly apologized before scrambling to his feet.Julius smiled and offered him a hand, “No harm done”The boy accepted it before staring up at Julius with sparkling eye, “Mr. Julius!”“Yes?”“We've been looking everywhere for you!” He screamed Julius blinked,”You have?”Before the boy could answer, nearly twenty children came running around the corner“There he is!”“We found him!” Another screamed“Mr. Julius!” Another called Within se

The morning after they discovered Sophia’s letters, Julius woke earlier than usual.For a long while, he just lay there, staring up at the ceiling as the early light filtered through the window. Sophia’s words kept floating back to him, steady and persistent: Let yourself laugh, make friends, fall in love, grow old, live.He had spent so much of his existence in survival mode that the simple concept of living felt foreign. There had always been another enemy on the horizon, another realm to defend, another crisis requiring his strength but now? There was nothing. And for the first time, the quiet didn't feel like a lull before a storm,it felt like a gift.Julius swung his legs out of bed and made his way downstairs. The cottage was remarkably peaceful. He found Sophia in the kitchen, already busy preparing breakfast.She caught his reflection in the window and glanced back over her shoulder, “You're up early”“Couldn't sleep,” Julius admitted, leaning against the doorframe.“Bad dreams

Outside the cottage, silver petals continued their silent descent, drifting through the dark air like falling embers. They were impossibly beautiful, each blossom glowing with a soft, inner luminescence that cast long, shimmering shadows across the cobblestones of Elysium but Sophia wasn't admiring the beauty. She stood anchored to the threshold, staring toward the horizon as if she were looking at a ghost.Julius turned to her, his posture tense, “Mother, what is happening?’Sophia shook her head slowly, her eyes wide, “I don't know’“You've said that twice today” he said “I know” was her response “and that worries me”“It should,” she whispered softly. Taking a breath, Sophia reached for her coat hanging by the door, “We need to go to the river now”Marcus straightened up immediately from his chair, “finally, a sensible decision”Aurelia frowned at him, crossing her arms, “You were complaining about walking across the room five minutes ago”“I have grown as a person since then,” M

For a few seconds, nobody moved and the forest was completely silent. Julius stood at the front of the group, staring at the hundreds of figures emerging from the silver doorway.They didn't look like soldiers and there were no swords in their hands, no armor covered their bodies, they simply walked toward them with calm expressions, as though they had already won and hat somehow made them more frightening.Marcus swallowed, “i preferred it when our enemies looked like monsters”Aurelia glanced at him, “You've complained about monsters too”“Yes, but at least monsters have the decency to look terrifying”Julius almost smiled, then one of the Architects raised her hand, everything changed.The ground shook violently, trees were ripped from the earth and thrown into the distance. The river rose several feet into the air.Lily screamed and Sophia immediately pulled her into her arms, “Stay with me!”Julius turned, “Everyone, get behind the tree!”A deafening explosion tore through the fo