My mother's spectral form vanished.
The portrait sealed.
The silver light extinguished.
But her voice remained.
Not physical. Not manifested. Just echo. Just whisper. Just desperate final words from beyond the sealing frame before Luna's bound could silence her forever.
"Wait." The voice was fading. Distant. "One more truth. The most important."
The portrait glowed again.
Struggling.
Fighting against whatever was pulling her back.
"Luna didn't just choose your bloodline to judge her." The words came fast. Urgent. "She chose it to REPLACE her."
What?
"The priestess bloodline can house divine power."
Her voice cracked.
Fading faster now.
"We were guardians. Judges. But also vessels. Capable of containing godhood if Luna ever needed to transfer it. If corruption became too great. If she needed to be unmade and remade."
Astro grabbed my arm.
"That's why the bloodline is sacred. Why it carries divine markers. Why you can integrate Luna's light without being consumed."
