Chapter 66: Into the Nightmare Trap
ELYSIUM
"What?" Valedi roared, slamming his heavy, armored fists onto the table so hard the entire hall trembled. "That is absurd! Elysium has existed for thousands of years, since the very dawn of time! How can a child who has not even been born yet possess the power to wipe us out!"
"It is not just the child, but the Sins themselves," Solmira explained patiently, her voice tight with every word. "The conception and birth of this child acts as a catalyst. It unlocks a dormant, terrifying reservoir of power within the Sins, elevating them to a status that easily rivals every deity in this room. If the stars are showing this now, then I am certain my own son, Anomas, has already dreamt of it. And knowing him, he has undoubtedly warned the Prince of Lust by now."
Nythera scoffed loudly, crossing her arms in disgust. "This is the price we pay for your leniency, Solmira! This is what happens when you do not keep your children on a tight leash!" she spat angrily.
Solmira’s eyes flared with anger. She snapped her head toward Nythera, pointing a sharp, golden-nailed finger at her. "Easy for you to say, Nythera, when your own son is head-over-heels in love with the Sin of Sloth! Do not dare preach to me about keeping children on a leash!"
Nythera flushed red, opening her mouth to hurl a furious retort, but Celestian raised a single, commanding hand, cutting her off instantly.
"Enough," Celestian ordered, his voice sounding soft this time but still holding an authority that couldn’t be defied. "Now is not the time to bicker over the past or point fingers at one another’s bloodlines. Our sole focus must be to prevent this child from ever being born."
The deities fell silent, nodding in solemn, tense agreement.
"Very well then," Celestian continued, turning his gaze toward the Deity of War. "Valedi, what news do you have from Katula? Shouldn’t our assassins be returning with tidings of the vessel’s death?"
All eyes in the chamber turned toward Valedi.
The war deity adjusted his posture in his massive stone chair, running a hand through his long, crimson hair before shaking his head.
"The physical assassination was intercepted," Valedi revealed, his tone grim. "However, I felt the connection of the Kaishata take hold of the vessel’s mind a short while ago. The nightmare curse has successfully locked onto him. Caelum has already ensured the trap is active."
Celestian nodded slowly, processing the information, before looking back at Elios. "Has there been any reaction in the constellations since the Kaishata took hold?"
Elios shook his head, gesturing toward another star in the projection—one that was glowing softly, though not nearly as brilliantly as the child’s star. "No. And there is something critical you all must understand: even if the vessel’s physical body is killed now, the child’s spiritual core has already stabilized. The child will still find a way to be born. Solmira’s prophecies are never wrong, but they can be altered."
"Elios speaks the truth," Solmira agreed, leaning forward. "My prophecies always come to pass unless the foundation is changed. Therefore, I suggest we do not merely try to kill the vessel. We must enter that nightmare and extract the child’s divine core directly from the vessel’s soul."
A heavy, suffocating silence immediately fell over the grand hall. It was a stifling quiet, far louder and more ominous than the heated arguments that had filled the room just moments before. The deities stared at one another, contemplating the sheer danger of extracting a prophecy’s core.
Suddenly, Mirevale, a goddess who had remained entirely silent in the shadows of the assembly, spoke up.
Mirevale was the Goddess of Life and Death, though her domain leaned heavily toward the darker transition of mortality. Her face was permanently concealed behind an ornate, porcelain mask, and her hands were wrapped in thick, dark silk gloves—for a single touch of her bare skin meant instant, irreversible death to any living soul.
"I shall descend into the nightmare myself," Mirevale murmured, her voice smooth, chilling, and sweet. "I will ensure the curse does its work, and while the vessel is trapped, I shall personally extract the child’s core. What do you say to that?"
Solmira smiled, nodding her approval. "Mirevale is indeed the perfect candidate for this task. Now is our chance to seize the core. After all, no mortal or omega has ever escaped the inescapable curse of the Kaishata."
"But we must still proceed with extreme caution," Nythera warned, her voice trembling slightly. "We are dealing with a child of prophecy. If this being is destined to hold such immense power, its powerful magic might already be manifesting in the vessel’s mind as we speak."
Valedi cleared his throat. With a wave of his armored hand, he dismissed Elios’s cosmic projection. In its place, the center of the room transformed into a dark, shadowy viewing pool.
Inside the pool, two distinct screens materialized. The first screen showed Seraphel’s physical body lying fast asleep on a bed in Katula, his chest rising and falling softly. The second screen, however, showed Seraphel standing in a twisted, dreamlike version of his surroundings, laughing and talking as if everything were normal.
"The boundary between his mind and the curse is already beginning to blur," Valedi explained, pointing at the two images. "His real body is deep in a slumber, while his dreaming mind is trapped in a false reality. Soon, he will not be able to tell his waking life apart from the nightmare."
Mirevale stood up from her seat, her porcelain mask gleaming under the dim light of the viewing pool. She let out a soft, cold laugh, her gloved fingers twitching with anticipation.
"Then I believe it is time to begin the harvest," she whispered, her voice echoing chillingly through the grand chambers of Elysium. She snapped her fingers, the sharp sound echoing like a death knell. "I shall become his worst nightmare."