᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ Astra sought the altar not for salvation but to cast away weakness. Her life was penned by others — how to breathe, whom to love, who to become. In time, that version of herself turned into a prison beneath her flesh.
᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋She turned from fate’s path, venturing into the cursed caves. Legends of Monte Castillo murmured: it was possible to perceive truths the Gods had hidden from mortal souls. For two nights and three days Astra had been wandering the empty corridors of the caves, her hunger gnawing at sanity, and she____ tasted her own flesh . The first cruel step to relinquish the old shell and feed the new. ᠋Then a Stone Chalice emerged in the gloom before her. There was something primal in it, ancient beckoning…
᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ She clutched the vessel of her past. Countless hands — cold, desperate — were grabbing the Chalice. She heard their whispers ___ the echoes of former selves clinging, trying to hold her back. They hold no hate. Only terror at oblivion.
᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋ ᠋᠋᠋᠋She ripped the Chalice from their grasp, raising it high and _ Her knees press to the altar’s stone ___ acceptance.