The first follower died at dawn.
---
A Message Written in Blood
Cairo's ruins burned quietly.
The young man who had spread white lunar light lay crucified against broken stone—not by nails, but by gravity itself, his body pinned mid-air.
Across his chest, carved with impossible precision, were three words:
STOP FOLLOWING HER
Luna felt it before the report reached her.
Her knees buckled.
---
Shared Pain
The pain wasn't physical.
It was shared.
Every Chosen connected to Luna screamed at once—not aloud, but inside her skull.
Fear. Regret. Confusion.
Bren grabbed her as she staggered.
"Luna! What's happening?!"
"They found a way," she whispered.
"To hurt me without touching me."
---
The Faction Moves
In the shadows, the unnamed faction watched calmly.
> "She's destabilizing the balance."
"Symbols create martyrs."
"Martyrs inspire revolutions."
A final voice concluded:
> "So we turn her into a curse."
Orders were given.
Targets selected.
---
The Moon Turns Cold
That night, Luna stood alone in a sealed chamber, wrists bound with suppression sigils.
Not because she was captured—
Because she asked to be contained.
"If I'm the reason they're dying," she said quietly,
"then I shouldn't be free."
Bren slammed his fist against the wall.
"This isn't your fault!"
Luna didn't answer.
The moon outside dimmed.
---
The Watcher's Whisper
In the silence, the Watcher returned.
Not screaming.
Not threatening.
"You see now," it murmured gently.
"Freedom always demands payment."
Luna clenched her jaw.
"You're killing them."
"No," the Watcher replied.
"You are."
---
Breaking Point
Another scream echoed through Luna's mind.
Then another.
Two more Chosen—dead.
Luna's breath hitched.
Her calm cracked.
"No more," she said.
The sigils shattered.
Light exploded outward, tearing the chamber apart.
Bren shielded his eyes.
"Luna—!"
She stood transformed.
Not glowing.
Grounded.
---
A Terrifying Decision
"I won't let them follow me anymore," Luna said.
Bren's blood ran cold.
"What do you mean…?"
She looked at the moon—not with defiance this time, but resolve.
"I'll become something they can't worship."
---
Final Scene
Across the world, Chosen felt it.
The connection severed.
Not violently.
Mercifully.
Luna cut herself off—
from hope, from belief, from them.
The moon went silent.
Far away, the Watcher stiffened.
"What have you done?"
Luna whispered back:
"I chose them… over me."