The Celestial Court was silent, but the world below was beginning to stir with unrest.
Aki sat on the train heading back into the heart of Tokyo. The city moved around him in a blur of lights and motion, but his mind remained fixed on the vision from the Gate of Trials. That whisper—his mother's voice—lingered in every breath he took.
Across from him, Hoshikiri stared out the window, her fingers gently tracing a constellation only she could see.
"Hoshikiri," he said, breaking the silence, "what is the Fragmented Oracle?"
She didn't turn to him, but her expression shifted—her eyes dimming just slightly. "It's a relic. A remnant of the first Star Maiden. It holds a piece of the original prophecy."
Aki frowned. "Original?"
"There were many prophecies before yours," she said. "But the gods erased them when they became inconvenient."
The train rumbled on. Aki felt the pendant pulse again.
"And this Oracle… it still exists?"
Hoshikiri nodded. "Hidden. Guarded. Forgotten by most. But if we find it, we might discover the truth behind the celestial game."
The word truth stirred something in Aki. A hunger he hadn't realized he carried.
The city screeched to a stop. They stepped out into a dim district of old shrines and closed storefronts. At the edge of it all stood a weathered torii gate, half-swallowed by vines and time.
Aki hesitated. "It's here?"
"Yes," Hoshikiri replied. "But be warned—this relic is not stable. The Oracle speaks only in fragments. Some truths, once heard, cannot be unheard."
They crossed into the forgotten shrine.
Inside, time seemed fractured. The air shimmered with memories—children laughing, wars raging, stars falling. And in the center of it all sat the Oracle: a crystal sphere floating above a stone altar, cracked, glowing faintly.
As Aki stepped forward, the room trembled. The sphere pulsed.
Then, it spoke—in many voices at once:
"The star you chase…
will lead to her death.
Unless… you become the sky."
Aki froze. His chest tightened. "What does that mean?"
The sphere fractured further. Another voice whispered:
"You will stand among gods.
Or be buried beneath them."
The sphere dimmed. The vision ended.
Aki stumbled back. "It knows."
Hoshikiri steadied him. "It always has."
He looked at her. "Then I have to know everything. I have to see this through."
"Even if the truth breaks you?" she asked.
He nodded. "Especially then."
The Oracle was silent once more. But something had changed.
Aki had stepped closer—not just to the truth, but to the fate that waited at the end of the stars.