đ Whispers of the Moon
By Rapwizzy Debaron
Episode 44: City of Stars
The path to the forgotten city wasn't marked on any map. Lysian led them through silver woods and over mountains crowned with fog. Every night, the moon burned brighterâwatching them, warning them.
They followed constellations etched in the stone sphere the Guardian left behind. Each star glowed when aligned with the night sky, pulling them north.
Juvia walked in silence, clutching the sphere tightly. Since the Mirror of Truth, something had awakened in her. Her dreams bled into reality, and her reflection often smiled before she did.
Ha-jun noticed. "You've changed."
Juvia didn't answer right away. "I don't know if I'm becoming more me⊠or more her."
He touched her hand gently. "Whoever you are⊠I'll find you in the end."
That night, they camped beneath the Cradle Peaks, where ancient moon priests were once buried. The wind carried ancient hymnsâsongs of a queen who fell from the stars.
Suddenly, the air grew still.
A star exploded across the sky, streaking fire and light. And with it, a voice thundered across the heavens:
> "SHE RETURNS."
The mountain trembled.
From the earth rose a temple of light and bone, its gates chained with obsidian vines. The City of Stars had appearedânot as a place, but a living memory reborn.
They stepped forward.
Inside, glowing staircases spiraled around floating towers. Buildings shimmered in silver hues, alive with stardust and forgotten spirits.
"Is this⊠real?" Juvia whispered.
Lysian shook his head. "It's memory. The city only exists for those it chooses."
Suddenly, pillars cracked. A winged creatureâhalf-man, half-stoneâfell from the sky and crashed before them.
Its eyes burned with the Queen's flame.
"Chosen of the Moon," it growled, "to claim the fourth sigil, you must face what you left behind."
Juvia's heart sank.
Because from the shadows emerged a girlâyoung, terrified, with a bleeding heart in her hand.
It was Juvia.
The version of her before the Queen's touch. Before magic. Before fate.
"I was happy once," the younger Juvia cried. "Before you ruined us!"
The mirror self screamed and lunged, blades forming from pain itself.
Juvia stepped back.
Ha-jun drew his sword, but Lysian stopped him. "She has to face it alone."
Tears filled Juvia's eyes. "I didn't mean to forget you."
"But you did!" the mirror girl shrieked. "You wanted to be strong, so you buried me! You became her!"
Juvia fell to her knees, hands trembling. "You're right."
The shadow-self paused.
Juvia stood slowly, looking into her younger self's eyes. "But I'm not her. I'm us. All of itâthe pain, the fear, the strength."
She opened her arms.
The shadow screamed and surged forwardâand dissolved into light, rushing back into Juvia's chest.
The Fourth Sigil burned into her skin, in the shape of a star enclosed in flame.
Then the city began to crumble.
Ha-jun ran to her, grabbing her hand. "We have to goânow!"
They escaped the falling temple just as it vanished back into mist and memory.
Juvia stood outside, trembling, but whole.
"I know who I am now," she whispered.
Lysian nodded grimly. "Then you're ready for what comes next."
Above them, the moon cracked slightlyâbleeding silver light.
The Queen had felt the Sigil awaken.
And she was coming.
---
To be continuedâŠ
đ Juvia has unlocked the fourth sigilâbut at what cost?
â€ïž Like this episode if you felt the power of her transformation!
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Juvia and Ha-jun?
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