The first ripple came as silence.
Not the absence of sound, but the kind that pressed inward, heavy and deliberate, as if the world itself was listening to what it had just allowed to be spoken. The sanctuary stood still, its living stone no longer shifting, no longer reacting. The monolith dimmed further, its glow reduced to a steady, watchful presence.
Valentine felt it immediately.
The truth had not merely exposed the past. It had summoned something older than memory.
Eryx’s gaze sharpened as he studied the Core. “It has acknowledged you,” he said quietly. “That alone should not be possible.”
Valentine did not step away from the monolith. Her pulse was steady now, her fear burned away and replaced by something colder and clearer. “It is not acknowledging me,” she replied. “It is re
