It began with a scream.
Not one of fear, but of raw, unfiltered power.
Elira's body convulsed on the marble floor of her tower suite, her golden hair radiating strands of silver light, her eyes wide open—yet glowing like twin stars.
I was there in seconds.
The moment I touched her hand, the Frame activated.
Alert: Genetic Bond Triggered – Latent Cosmic Trait Detected
Subject: Elira Vaelstrom – Class: Cosmic-Blooded (Locked)
Awakening Imminent – Safety Override Suggested: [Y/N]
I slammed NO.
My sister didn't need a leash. She needed space to become who she was born to be.
Energy crackled across the ceiling. Books exploded into ash. The glass dome overhead melted upward, warping as Elira levitated three meters off the floor, surrounded by a corona of runes no one had written.
And then, just as suddenly—
Silence.
She collapsed into my arms, unconscious but alive.
But not the same.
We ran full diagnostics through RIVEN's AI core.
Subject Analysis: Elira Vaelstrom – Age: 4.3 Years
Awakened Trait: Starwell Heart
Sub-type: Astral Caster / Dimensional Resonance
Unique Potential: Unlimited energy scaling, spatial-rift cognition, and timeline impression.
Estimated Power Growth: Exponential (Unmeasurable over time)
"She… she doesn't just use mana," RIVEN said coldly. "She is an anchor. A conduit to something older than this planet."
And I understood.
My sister wasn't just the future.
She was a seed of cosmic will.
Her coma lasted two days.
During that time, I saw things I can't explain—fractures in the air, as if reality itself was watching her.
I stationed four Aegis Striders outside her door. Reinforced the room with null-runes and quantum dampeners.
But I knew they wouldn't stop what was coming if her power broke loose again.
Still—I refused to be afraid of her.
She was my family.
On the morning of the third day, she awoke.
Not groggy. Not confused.
She sat up with eyes like mirrored galaxies and whispered:
"The stars spoke. They're afraid of what's coming."
I sat beside her, holding her tiny hand in mine.
"What did you see?"
"A tower of glass and bone. A man wearing my brother's face. He kills worlds to build the last one."
I swallowed.Veyr.
He wasn't done.
And neither was I.
But Elira's awakening did more than warn—it changed the kingdom.
Her power passively expanded the ambient mana density of the entire capital by 6.2%.
Crops grew faster. Mages cast cleaner. The Forge became hyperreactive.
And through the Frame, I now had access to a new function:
System Unlock: Astral Codex
New Technologies Available: Gravity Webbing, Quantum Lattice Constructs, Dimensional Pocket Storage, and Low-Orbit Casting Platforms.
Bonus Trait (Sibling Link): Whenever Elira is conscious within 500 meters, +15% regeneration and cooldown reduction.
She smiled at me that night as I read to her—an old book from Earth I'd reconstructed from memory.
And then she said something simple, something devastating:
"Don't let them take me away, James."
I didn't ask who they were.
I only whispered:
"Over my dead body."
System Update:
Elira's Awakening Complete – World Alignment: Disrupted
New Threat Emergence Forecast – 32 Days: "The Luminarch Rift"
Forge Efficiency Boosted – 134% Total Gain (Astral Interference Positive)
Stat Boost: +5 Mana, +2 Strength (Frame Adaptive Sync with Starwell Trait)