She circled the chamber slowly, her fingers trailing along the ancient stone. The blue light followed her movent, casting elongated shadows across the floor.
"The seals were designed to be unbreakable," she said, her voice echoing in the vast space. "But the First Queen, in her wisdom or perhaps her desperation, bound them to the heavens themselves." She gestured upward, though the ceiling remained hidden in darkness. "Every ti the seven moons align in perfect harmony, the seals weaken. Just slightly, but enough."
Eren’s heart quickened. "The seven moons’ alignnt..." His mind flashed back to a conversation with his sister before everything changed. "My sister told that I wasn’t the only one born when the seven moons aligned. She said there were other elves born during that ti too."
Elena nodded, her eyes widening slightly at this confirmation. "The alignnts are rare and powerful monts when the barriers between worlds thin. Those born during such tis often manifest unusual abilities—connections to elents that should be foreign to them." Her gaze lingered on him. "Like you. But others may have been granted different gifts... or curses."
"So these seals," Eren pressed, "how much have they weakened already?"
Elena’s expression grew grave. "With each alignnt, the seals fracture further. The forbidden magic leaks through like water through cracked stone, slowly but persistently. The Great Three’s influence grows stronger with each passing."
"When will they break completely?"
"After three more alignnts," Elena replied, her voice dropping to nearly a whisper. "In approximately ten years’ ti, the final seal will shatter. And the Great Three will walk among us once more."
Eren stood motionless, absorbing the weight of her words. "So I have ten years for the war to start."
"Less," Elena corrected. "Once freed, the Great Three will waste no ti resuming their conquest. The war will begin the mont the last seal breaks."
Eren paced the chamber, his footsteps echoing off the ancient walls. The task before him seed impossibly vast—seven kingdoms to unite, fourteen elental powers to gather, all before an ancient evil broke free to consu the world.
A thought occurred to him, and he turned to Elena with a calculating gaze. "This TUNA ritual... does it specifically need to be with queens and commanders?" He kept his tone casual. "What if I perform it with a random woman from any kingdom? Would I still gain power without going through the stress of convincing royalty?"
Elena’s eyebrow arched slightly, the first hint of amusent crossing her features. "Yes, you can perform TUNA with any woman in any kingdom who is willing," she replied, emphasizing the last word. "But you won’t gain elental power from them."
She moved closer, her voice dropping as if sharing a secret. "Instead, you would unlock their sealed potential. So kingdoms believe you can transfer elents to others through the ritual—but never to a Queen or her Commander. Their connection to their elents is... different."
"I see," Eren murmured, digesting this new information. The dynamics of this world were more complex than he had initially assud.
A sudden thought struck him—a question that had been nagging at the edges of his consciousness since his arrival. "If this is all about saving and uniting kingdoms," he said slowly, "then why would my mother keep this a secret from ? And why did she suddenly start treating like a monster sotis, then act like a caring mother at others?"
Elena’s expression shuttered, becoming unreadable. "I have no answer for that particular question," she said carefully. "But what I do know is that so kingdoms will see you as a destroyer rather than a savior. A threat rather than a hope."
’Does my mother see as a threat?’ Eren wondered. ’Or is Elena not telling everything?’ The question burned in his mind, but he pushed it aside. His mother would have to answer for herself when the ti ca.
"You should be aware," Elena continued, drawing his attention back, "that the TUNA ritual isn’t solely for pleasure." Her eyes were serious now, calculating. "So Queens or Commanders may require challenges to prove yourself worthy—to demonstrate that you are strong enough to bear their elent."
"What kind of challenges?" Eren asked warily.
"So might challenge you to battle," Elena replied. "Others might demand you complete a deadly quest. The ritual is sacred, and none will enter it lightly."
Eren exhaled sharply, frustration evident in the sound. "I’m trying to save entire kingdoms—an entire world—and I have to jump through hoops to do it?"
"TUNA is by the will of two," Elena said firmly. "It cannot be taken, only given. Rember that, Veilwalker."
A cold resolve settled over Eren as he considered his path forward. His gaze returned to Elena, assessing her with new eyes. "So when am I performing my first TUNA?" he asked, his voice deliberately neutral. "Am I starting with you? What are your demands?"
A flush of color rose to Elena’s cheeks, the first genuine sign of emotion he’d seen from her. "No," she said quickly. "Not yet."
"Why not?" Eren challenged.
Elena’s composure returned, though the color lingered in her cheeks. "With your current body, I’m not certain you could survive a complete TUNA ritual. You might die in the process."
’Is she underrating ?’ Eren thought incredulously. ’If only she knew how won were always eager to be with in my past life. I guess this Queen has no idea that the prophecy chose for a reason. That’s probably why they brought here in the first place.’
"So what am I supposed to do then?" he asked aloud, trying to keep the frustration from his voice.
Elena’s lips curled into that sa cool smile he was beginning to recognize. "You start training your body and soul."
She approached him, circling slowly as if evaluating a prized warhorse. "Each ritual will permanently change your essence," she explained. "The combining elents will create new abilities within you—powers beyond what any single kingdom can wield."
Her hand lifted, hovering just inches from his chest but not touching. "With each TUNA, you beco less your original self. The elents will reshape you, body and spirit."
Eren felt a strange chill at her words. "And what happens when I’ve collected all fourteen? What will I be then?"
"Sothing new," Elena answered, her voice soft with sothing that might have been awe or fear. "Sothing unprecedented in our world’s history." She stepped back, her gaze intense. "The growing connection to each kingdom through their rulers will transform you into a living bridge between realms that have been separated for centuries."
The weight of destiny pressed heavy on Eren’s shoulders. Not just a visitor to this strange world, but potentially its salvation—or perhaps sothing else entirely. The possibilities stretched before him like an uncharted sea.
"I hope you are ready, Veilwalker," Elena said, breaking the montary silence.
Eren squared his shoulders, eting her gaze with newfound determination. "Sure I am."
Elena’s smile deepened, revealing sothing predatory beneath her regal exterior. "I guess you’re ready to pay the price after all."
The blue light in the chamber pulsed once, as if in response to his declaration, and Eren couldn’t shake the feeling that so cosmic bargain had just been struck—a contract written in starlight and sealed with his own unwitting consent.
’Ten years,’ he thought. ’Ten years to master fourteen elents, unite seven fractured kingdoms, and prepare for war against ancient enemies that haven’t walked the world in centuries.’
His fingers traced the air where Elena’s hand had hovered near his chest, wondering what it would feel like when the first elent took root inside him—what parts of himself he would lose in the process of becoming whatever this world needed him to be.
The stone door began to grind open behind them, admitting Commander Maria once more. Her sharp eyes took in the scene, lingering suspiciously on the distance—or lack thereof—between her Queen and the stranger.
"Your training begins at dawn," Elena said, stepping away and resuming her regal bearing as if their intimate conversation had never happened. "Commander Maria will see to your physical conditioning. I will handle the more... esoteric aspects of your education."
Eren nodded, watching as Elena glided toward the exit. Just before passing through the doorway, she paused, looking back over her shoulder.
"Rest well tonight, Veilwalker. It may be the last peaceful sleep you enjoy for the next decade."
The door sealed behind her with a finality that echoed in the chamber. Commander Maria remained, her posture rigid, her expression unreadable.
’And so it begins,’ Eren thought, gazing up at the statue of the First Queen, her stone eyes witnessing yet another Chapter in her world’s tumultuous history. ’One kingdom, one elent, one ritual at a ti.’
He only hoped that when the seven moons aligned for the final ti, he would be ready for whatever awaited on the other side of broken seals and ancient prophecies.
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