Morning light spilled softly across Zaiveil's study when Elder Cryzton arrived, his weathered face carrying the same careful composure he always wore, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of concern the moment he noticed the locket resting on the table before her.
"You wished to see me, my princess?" he asked, settling slowly into the chair across from her, his staff propped against the table's edge.
"I found something at the auction yesterday," Zaiveil said, sliding the tarnished locket carefully toward him.
"I don't fully understand why, but the moment I touched it, I saw something. Like fragments and stars, there's also a voice singing. It felt like those fragments are making me remember something important, though I have no memory of anything like it." Zaiveil added.
Elder Cryzton's expression shifted the instant his eyes settled on the locket, surprise giving way rapidly to something closer to reverent disbelief.
"This cannot be," he murmured, reaching out with trembling fingers to lift the small object, turning it carefully in the morning light.
"That's rather the reason I called for you," Zaiveil said dryly, though genuine curiosity colored her tone.
"Please, explain it all to me, Elder Cryzton."
"This is the Veilbound Locket," Elder Cryzton said, his voice hushed with something between awe and old sorrow.
"A relic believed that was lost since the Ancient Great War itself. According to the oldest texts, it once belonged to the Goddess knwon as Cosmic Veil."
Zaiveil stilled at the name, the same unsettled prickling she'd felt earlier resurfacing along her spine.
"Cosmic Veil? The goddess that Elder Truze was mentioned before? The one who was also tied to the Celestial Charm's legends." She asked wonderingly.
"Indeed," Elder Cryzton confirmed, his gaze lifting to meet hers, heavy with meaning.
"My princess, I've hesitated to speak of this fully, because I'm uncertain on how much you were prepared to hear qn important things like this. But given what you've just shown me so far, I believe it's time you understood the truth more completely." Elder Cryzton said
He set the locket down gently between them, his expression turning into something far more serious than she'd seen from him before.
"The Celestial Charm you carry isn't merely a rare charm, It's a direct inheritance from Cosmic Veil herself, the goddess who once ruled alongside the other deities before the Ancient Great War erased their entire era from this world.
Some ancient texts and history says that there's certain souls in different worlds that was carrying such powerful inheritance from those gods and goddesses and they are not simply blessed by a god's legacy."
He paused, choosing his next words with visible care.
"Some thinks, instead, that such people and sould might be reincarnations of the gods and goddesses themselves." He added.
The study fell silent, the weight of his words settling heavily over the room.
"You're saying that, I might be this goddess? That i was reborn?" Zaiveil said slowly, thinking of such impossible idea
"I cannot confirm it with certainty, My Princess" Elder Cryzton admitted.
"The Ancient Great War remains this world's greatest taboo and it's making lot's of things unknown and still needed to be discover. Even discussing it openly carries a great risk. I only think of this possibility and told it to you because the resonance during your rite, even the intensity of your Awakening Test, and now this locket responding directly to your touch. Those are all things that was connected to Cosmic Veil itself, and i feel that these are not merely coincidences, my princess." He explained.
Zaiveil looked down at the locket, its faint glow was steady beneath the morning light shining through the windows, and thought of the fragmented vision from the auction house. The woman's voice singing that was achingly familiar and those words she sung was like fully understood by her very own soul despite never learning them before.
"If I really am her, the goddess reborn soul then what happened to her? To Cosmic Veil?" Zaiveil asked with a low tone.
Elder Cryzton's expression turned somber, old grief flickering behind his tired eyes.
"No one truly knows, my princess. The Ancient Great War claimed every deity of that era, none of the gods and goddesses was spared, not a single one. They are all erased so thoroughly that even the cause itself was remains shrouded in mystery. Speaking of it openly is forbidden across most of Creignmeia, a taboo carried from generation to generation, though few remember precisely why it had became a taboo in the first place."
"But why? Why things related to an important history should became something that shouldn't talked about?" Zaiveil asked unease coiling tighter in her chest.
"It's a choice made by whatever forces it was, to prevent it from ever repeating. Others believe that the memory itself carries danger, that speaking those certain truths aloud might awaken something dangerous that was better left in a dormant state." Elder Cryzton said.
Zaiveil turned the locket over once more, tracing the faint constellation patterns etched into its tarnished surface.
"And you believe that I'm connected to all of this. That it's not just through her inheritance, but directly as Cosmic Veil itself." She asked while looking at Elder Cryzton.
"I believe that whatever truth exists, you deserve to uncover it in your own time, by your own self. Rather than have it forced upon you all at once, I guess you have to prepare for whatever is coming. Whether my guess is correct or not, I think having prepared for the worst is worth it." Elder Cryzton said gently,
Zaiveil considered Elder Cryzton words carefully, the locket's warmth was steady in her hands and hold a familiar feeling against her palm.
Whatever answers waited beyond Elder Cryzton's belief, she found herself unafraid of any of them. Now there's only a curiosity that was outweighing the unease that might once have consumed her in another lifetime.
"Thank you, Elder, for telling me those information" Zaiveil said sincerely.
"Of course, my princess. Though I would ask, for now, that this conversation remain between us." Elder Cryzton offered a tired, genuine smile.
"I will surely keep it a secret, Elder Cryzton." Zaiveil agreed.
A soft knock interrupted them before Elder Cryzton could respond, and Zyrcus's voice carried gently through the door.
"Zai? Elder Cryzton? Mother wanted me to let you know that breakfast is ready."
"We'll be right there," Zaiveil called back, carefully slipping the locket around her neck, tucking it beneath the collar of her robe where its warmth settled comfortably against her skin.