Chapter 69: Veil Secrets

Serene twilight bathed the realm as Ariadne, Thalia, Seraphina, and their company returned through the stabilized mirror. The hopeful faces that waited in the palace courtyard, their tales of horror through the rift already becoming the stuff of legend, would not be an end but the beginning into a new and equally perilous chapter.

Ariadne held up the celestial staff, symbol of their well-earned victory now. High guardian Lysandra had returned to the Order of the Celestial Guardians in her self-satisfied way, not before she shared some integral knowledge about the balance they restored and further vigilance necessary to maintain it.

It was several days after their return that the palace became alive with preparation and renewed determination. The threat of the cosmic rift had awakened a deeper understanding of how fragile the balance between realms was. There were meetings, plans drawn, and alliances strengthened.

One evening, while the sun dipped into the horizon, with a flush of gold